Grapplers of the Gridiron

Grapplers of the Gridiron

Break out the chips, dip, drinks, pizza and wings (if you’re not cutting weight), it’s time for another Super Bowl. Just a few days ago we posted a video of

Feb 7, 2016 by Ryan Holmes
Grapplers of the Gridiron
Break out the chips, dip, drinks, pizza and wings (if you’re not cutting weight), it’s time for another Super Bowl. 

Just a few days ago we posted a video of Broncos’ Linebacker Shaq Barrett giving some props to his wrestling background in an interview from October. Along with Barrett, former wrestlers James Ferentz, Ryan Harris and Evan Mathis will each be taking the field for the Broncos, as well. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the slew of game changing grapplers of the gridiron. 

In 2013, USA Wrestling released its inaugural All-Time NFL Honor Roll, featuring pro football stars who wrestled. And recently we just saw three of the country's best heavyweights (#9-Nick Coe, Jake Beistel, Allen Stallings and #1-Osa Odighizuwa) sign National Letters of Intent to play football.

But as we listened to Barrett talk about his days on the mat, it got us thinking about the number of our NFL stars who once got it done on the mat before strapping up on Sundays. So we did some digging to find former wrestlers to play in a Super Bowl, and we found some pretty big names that once toed the line.

Some of the biggest names include: 

Jim Thorpe
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Ray Lewis

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Lorenzo Neal

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Warren Sapp

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Larry Czonka

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Jeff Saturday

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Tiki Barber

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Ronde Barber

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Tony Siragusa

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Adam Vinatieri

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Ronnie Lott

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Stephen Neal

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Bruce Smith

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Tedy Bruschi

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The list of former wrestlers that either play or have played in the NFL is even longer and can be seen on the list linked above to the article by USA Wrestling. But here is a video of Ray Lewis' state final match where he lost. The video starts in the third period.



Also, here is Chris Cooley and Fred Davis going a few periods after a practice. It's pretty clear that Cooley knows what he's doing. Watch out for some dirt in this first period.



And even though we live in the wrestling world, it didn't stop us from making our own picks of who we thought will be taking home the Vince Lombardi Trophy this season.

Predictions


 Willie: I said the Panthers in like week 10. Gotta stick with them even though I'm rooting for Peyton, Carolina 27-19.

CP: Carolina is way too athletic and dangerous defensively.  There will be too much pressure against Peyton.  The Panthers will protect Cam and control the line of scrimmage.  This one has Broncos/Seahawks blowout potential but I'm giving maybe a little too much respect to Peyton coming off a cycle of HGH. 28-23 Panthers.

Nick: BRONCOS, This game's a lock. Bet big on Manning to win his 2nd.
  • Denver has the #1 ranked defense in the league.
  • Over the last 15 years, 5 Super Bowl-winning teams had a #1 ranked defense –if Seattle would've won last year, the number would be 6 out of 15. 7 of the last 15 Super Bowl winners had a defense ranked in the top 5. 
  • Of the 8 winning teams who didn't have a defense ranked in the top 5, all but one (the lucky '07 Giants) had an offense ranked in the top 10. 
  • Carolina has neither a top 5 defense nor a top 10 offense.
Bader: Honestly.....before this I didn't know who was playing, that's no joke.... I'll take Penn State.

JoeFlo
: I want Manning to get his ring so he can retire and stop beating the Chiefs. Broncos...OMAHA....OMAHA!!!

Bratke: The Sheriff (Peyton) does enough, and the Broncos defense slows down the Panthers, Broncos 24-17.

Brock:  They send Manning off well, Broncos 20-13.

Holmes: The Broncos #1 defense will try to stop Cam from dabbin'....and fail, Carolina 27-17.