Leati Joe Anoa’I would have never become the dominant Roman Reigns in WWE had his football career not come to a premature end, the Tribal Chief has claimed.
Years before he entered the ring, Reigns played football and made it to both the NFL and the CFL (Canadian Football League.) Speaking to ESPN, Reigns admitted that had his football career not ended, he doesn’t believe he would have tried for pro wrestling. Reigns added that he wanted to be an athlete fans could look up to just as he had looked up to others.
“I wanted to have an impact on young men. I wanted to be the way Emmitt Smith and Michael Jordan and Joe Montana and the stars of when I was a child, the way they made me feel. I wanted to make other young athletes feel that way.
“But no matter what, it was either you’re going to be a wrestler, or you’re going to be a football player.”
Roman Reigns in Football
Reigns played for Pensacola Catholic High School and later at Escambia High School. He would go on to play for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team. In 2007, he was signed to the Minnesota Vikings but was diagnosed with leukemia and swiftly released.
After the Vikings, Reigns signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars but was released less than a week into his deal. In 2008, he played for the Edmonton Eskimos in the CFL and played a handful of games before his release in November 2009. He proceeded to retire from professional football.
The Bloodline & Football
Reigns is hardly the only member of his family to have stepped foot on the gridiron. The Rock played college football for the University of Miami Hurricanes and later played for the CFL’s Calgary Stampeders. He was cut from the team two months into the 1995 season.
Like Reigns, Jimmy and Jey Uso played football at Escambia High School in Pensacola before becoming linebackers for the University of West Alabama. Jimmy played for the 2003 season while Jey played from 2003 to 2005.