Top 20 NFL Players who Wrestled

Top 20 NFL Players Who Are Former Wrestlers
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Over the years in the world of sports, there has been a long tradition
of great NFL stars that have excelled in both football and wrestling
at some point in their careers. Some, with impressive wrestling
credentials and others, affiliated with wrestling at a younger age.
Many tested their strength and determination against the skills of
other competitive athletes in the ring, long before even considering
a future in the NFL. There are eight Hall of Fame Footballers in
Canton, Ohio, that are former, successful wrestlers. There is such a
vast majority of great footballers that attribute their football
achievements to their wrestling background and use it to an
advantage when they are on the field.
Although making it in the world of NFL is tough, making it in the
wrestling industry is even more difficult. However, some legendary
NFL players that have gone down in history have made it in both.
Each player, with individual experiences and outlooks on the
sports, believe that if anything, the strength and agility gained from
wrestling are skills that every footballer should have when
considering a career in NFL.
Football and wrestling are more connected than most people
realize, perhaps because of their extreme similarities. They both
feature strong athletes, with an incredible determination to win.
Life in the NFL and wrestling world has grown more closely than
many know and continues to grow as athletes leave the mats and
join an industry that takes football to a whole new level. Hall of
Fame NFL coaches and honorary players continuously support the
beneficial aspects that wrestling can have on football. Now, there
have been endless legendary NFL stars that have proved that the
relationship between football and wrestling is all too real. These
players have proved to be not only a force on the field, but on the
wrestling mat as well. Here are 20 NFL players that are former
wrestlers.
20. Kelly Gregg
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Kelly Gregg, who is now a radio personality, had been wrestling
since middle school because of his solid build. The veteran, who was
a championship wrestler in Oklahoma, attended Edmond North
High-School, where he was both a standout footballer and wrestler.
Gregg was a three-time state champion between 1993-1995 in the
Heavyweight division and in the end, was named wrestler of the
year. He channeled that ability into his football career as he had a
solid college career at Oklahoma before becoming a solid
contributor to the Ravens defense.
19. Fred Weary
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Graduating from the University of Tennessee in 2001, Houston
Texans’ Center Fred Weary spent his school years as a wrestling
legend with an impressive trail of success on the school team. From
1994-1997, the NFL star was a three-time state Heavyweight
champion and at the end of 1997, became his high-school’s AllAmerican Heavyweight Wrestling Division champion. The
footballer and former wrestler won Reno Tournament of
Champions in the National Wrestling Tournament in 1997, before
moving towards a career in NFL.
18. Warren Sapp
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Hall of famer Warren Sapp played defensive tackle for thirteen
years in the NFL. During his decorated career with the Buccaneers
and Raiders, he made seven Pro Bowls, won Defensive Player of the
Year and won a Super Bowl. However, before he became a force on
the football field, Sapp spent his high school years as a
talented wrestler, where the Pro Bowl defensive legend became a
Florida State Champion on the wrestling mat.
17. Bob Breunig
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Dallas Cowboys’ Bob Breunig admits that his success in football can
be attributed to his experiences on the wrestling team at Alhambra
High School in Phoenix. Breunig had a solid ten-year football
career, as a three-time Pro-Bowl linebacker, however he strongly
believes that his most important lesson came from wrestling. He
was an undefeated wrestler in his Junior and Senior years, before
getting eliminated in the first round of an important tournament.
He remembered being cocky and how that loss helped him learn to
be more humble. An important lesson that helped lead to an
impressive pro career.
16. Carlton Haselrig
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Carlton Haselrig, who played with the Steelers and Jets, wrestled
for the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, where he was a
three-time NCAA Champion. Haselrig, was drafted in the 12th
round as a nose tackle in 1989, but quickly moved to right guard in
1991, where he made his single Pro Bowl appearance. While in
college, the Pittsburgh star won NCAA Heavyweight championships
from 1987-1989 in both Division I and Division II. One notable fact
about Haselrig’s wrestling career is that he once beat future
Olympic champion and WWE star Kurt Angle.
(Side Note….Coach Knight was on USA Wrestling Teams with both Carlton and Kurt)
15. Ray Lewis
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Pro Bowl Linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens and state highschool wrestling champion in Florida, Ray Lewis proved to be a
force on both the field and the wrestling mat. At 189 lbs while
wrestling, Lewis won two high-school state wrestling titles and
admits that wrestling gave him the skills to become one of the best
footballers in NFL. After reaching the NFL, the wrestler-turnedNFL star was selected for 13 Pro Bowl teams, was named Defensive
Player of the Year twice and won two Super Bowls.
14. Chad Hennings
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Inducted into GTE Academic All- America Hall of Fame, Chad
Hennings’ has a string of impressive sporting achievements
attributed to his high-school wrestling career, where he became
Iowa’s state champion. Despite all of this achievements in college,
he dropped to the 11th round in the NFL Draft as teams were
worried about his military commitments. After the 1991 Gulf War,
he was released from the military and would go on to have a solid
nine-year career with the Cowboys, the team that drafted him,
where he won three Super Bowls.
13. Stefen Wisniewski
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Coming for an NFL family, where his father Leo played for the Colts
and his uncle Steve played for the Raiders, much was expected of
Stefen Wisniewski. Coming through high school, he was highly
touted as a guard, but he was also an integral part of his high school
wrestling team. He then went to Penn State where he earned AllAmerican honors before being scooped up by the Raiders in the
second round of the 2011 NFL Draft. He’s since joined the Jaguars,
after three solid seasons with Oakland.
12. Tim Krumrie
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NFL’s Tim Krumrie was a Wisconsin State Wrestling Champion
when he attended high-school. Krumrie continued to use his
wrestling skills as a defensive tackle at Wisconsin from 1979-1982,
before being drafted by the Bengals in 1983. Krumrie had an
impressive football career as a defensive tackle for the
Bengals, making two Pro Bowl appearance and helping the Bengals
make a Super Bowl appearance. He’s most remembered for the
horrific leg injury he suffered during that Super Bowl
appearance, where a national audience saw his leg snap.
11. Errict Rhett
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Errict Rhett graduated from Florida in 1995 and in 2005 was
inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame. The
NFL player has also been honored in the Broward County Wrestling
Hall of Fame, where he claims that, “I still remember back to the
days when I wrestled here. It probably did more for my life as an
athlete than anything else.” Rhett, who was a two-time state
champion and three-time Broward County champion for the
McArthur Mustangs, lasted seven years in the NFL, with the
Buccaneers, Ravens and Brows.
10. Jay Hilgenberg (Iowa High School Wrestler)
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Finishing sixth in the Iowa State High-School wrestling
championships in 1976 and second in 1977, Jay Hilgenberg had a
wrestling career that was a catalyst to his successes in NFL. During
his football career, Hilgenberg was a seven-time Pro-Bowler, twotime First Team All Pro and had a 13 year career, that was mostly
spent with Chicago. He was also a member of the Bears’ 1985 Super
Bowl winning team as their starting center.
9. Kevin Glover
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Drafted in the second round of the 1985 NFL Draft out of Maryland,
Kevin Glover was known for his ability to hold his own in the
middle line. He played in three consecutive Pro Bowls from
1995-1997 and was one of the most respected and liked players in
the NFL. Glover, who played for three years at Maryland,
also dabbled in wrestling before deciding on football.
8. Roddy White
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Roddy White, who is still with the team that drafted him (the
Atlanta Falcons), claimed two state championships in South
Carolina before leaving his impressive high-school wrestling career
to become a footballer. Nonetheless, his skills merely assisted in
getting him a place on the team at the University of AlabamaBirmingham. White is positive that the strength that he gained from
his short wrestling career is constantly used to defeat press
coverage on the field and attributes his NFL career to his impressive
background in wrestling.
7. Ricky Williams
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The 1998 Heisman Trophy Winner had an impressive college career
at Texas, where Ricky Williams, along with his Heisman, was a
consensus All-American twice and won numerous other awards.
However, in high school, Ricky Williams was just as impressive on
the wrestling mat as he was on the field and even had the chance to
wrestle with another NFL superstar, Stephen Neal, who ended up
becoming a NCAA Champion (and an entry on this list). Sadly for
Williams, he lost to Neal.
6. Lorenzo Neal
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A four-time Pro Bowler, Lorenzo Neal is also a two-time NCAA AllAmerican and California State Wrestling Champion. The former
fullback, before his sixteen season career, attended Lemoore High
School in California, where he was a letterman in both football and
wrestling. Neal went onto becoming a premier fullback in the NFL
and one of the best players at a position that’s being less used every
passing year.
5. Tiki Barber
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Surprisingly, Tiki Barber not only has a history in football, but also
in wrestling and track, which he took up in high school. The former
New York Giants running back is a former successful wrestler at his
hometown high-school in Roanoke, VA. In 1997, Barber was drafted
in the second round of the 1997 NFL Draft and had several 1,000
yard seasons. Tiki’s twin, Ronde Barber, claims that on the junior
high wrestling team, Tiki Barber excelled because of his heavier
build and proudly acknowledges both of their district winning titles.
4. Riley Reiff
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Not only was Riley Reiff the first-round pick for the Detroit Lions in
2012, but he was also one of the most dominating wrestlers in high
school. Reiff collected three state titles in South Dakota, with a
career record of 121- 1 and uses his wrestling skills to achieve great
things on the field. He played tight end for his high school football
team, until moving to the offensive line at the start of his freshman
season. His strength and understanding of leverage are attributed
to his time on the wrestling mat.
3. Jeff Bostic
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The former Washington Redskin was a wrestling champion before
turning to football in University. Jeff Bostic, whilst attending North
Carolina high-school, became a State Champ. It wasn’t until his
attendance at Clemson University where Bostic played college
football, which secured his hopes of making it in the NFL. Bostic
had a lengthy NFL career that spanned 14 years where he made one
Pro Bowl appearance and won three Super Bowls. After his football
career, the former NFL star has returned to wrestling as Head
Coach of the Green Youth Wrestling Club.
2. Tedy Bruschi
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Tedy Bruschi wrestled at Roseville high school before becoming the
New England Patriots inside linebacker. During high school,
Bruschi excelled in all sports, becoming letterman in football,
wrestling, track and field. He went to Arizona University, where he
focused on football and became a third round pick of the Patriots in
1996. He would become one of the faces of their franchise, along
with Tom Brady and Ty Law, while leading his team to three Super
Bowl titles.
1. Stephen Neal
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Native Californian, Stephen Neal is possibly the most successful
wrestler-turned-footballer in the NFL, excelling in many
Heavyweight competitions; placing fourth in the California State
Wrestling Championships for San Diego High-school, winning
Junior National freestyle titles for his Californian team, and
competing for Cal-State Bakersfield, which resulted in Neal
becoming a two-time NCAA champion, three-time NCAA finalist
and four-time NCAA All-American. Although the New England
Patriots offensive lineman’s 10 year career has ended, this year the
NFL football star has been named honorary chair of the 2015
Freestyle Wrestling World Cup.