Last night on Monday Night Raw, Roman Reigns addressed thousands of people inside the arena and millions at home to say he is battling a serious illness. He mentioned he has been battling Leukemia for 11 years and it has recently returned.
WWE does not seem to have publicized Reigns’ previous health struggles but an article from 2015 featuring one of Reigns’ college football teammates, Calvin Johnson, indicates Reigns may have had to cut his NFL career short due to battles with a serious illness.
Johnson and Reigns played together at Georgia Tech in 2006. The article references Reigns having gone undrafted but getting a chance to play with the Vikings. The article then references a serious illness Reigns was dealing with cut his NFL dream short.
“As a free agent, Anoa’i got a shot with the Minnesota Vikings and Jacksonville Jaguars, but a serious illness forced him to take some time off,” the article reads. “After spending a season in the CFL, it was clear the NFL dream wasn’t going to happen.”
Roman Reigns’ Health Concerns
This was around 07-08 which matches up with the 11-years-ago timeline Roman referenced last night on Raw. Reigns’ final year in football was 2008 with the CFL’s Edmonton Eskimos. The Edmonton football team is the rival of the Rock’s former CFL team, the Calgary Stampeders.
The full article can be read here.
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