ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Olympic gold medal wrestler Gable Steveson is seeking to trade the mat for the gridiron by signing a standard undrafted rookie free agent contract with the Buffalo Bills on Friday.
The former University of Minnesota standout and Olympian is expected to play on the defensive line where he hopes his leverage techniques and agility can translate to football.
Listed at 5-foot-11 and 266 pounds, Steveson, at 21, became the youngest freestyle wrestler to win gold as a super heavyweight at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. He then went on to win two college national titles at Minnesota in 2021 and '22, and twice was named the Dan Hodge Trophy winner as the nation’s best college wrestler.
After his second college championship, Steveson left his shoes in the center of the mat, symbolizing his retirement from amateur wrestling.
Steveson isn't the first former U of M wrestler to try and carve out a career in the NFL. Brock Lesner, who starred for the Gophers in 1999 and 2000, signed with the Minnesota Vikings back in 2004. He saw the field sparingly in the preseason, but was ultimately cut before the season kicked off.
In Buffalo, Steveson joins a team with a head coach in Sean McDermott who was a two-time high school national wrestling champion growing up in Pennsylvania. And while McDermott went on to pursue football after high school, he credits wrestling for helping shape his life.
Although Steveson's contract with Buffalo spans three years, it is not guaranteed unless he makes the team.
Steveson won gold at the Tokyo Games by scoring a dramatic last-second win against Geno Petriashvili. He had numerous options after the victory, and chose to return to college for a year and cash in on the new name, image and likeness rules that allowed college athletes to make money.
He signed an NIL deal with World Wrestling Entertainment before his final college season and later joined the company.
After joining WWE, Steveson briefly returned to amateur wrestling last year. He competed at the U.S. Open and Final X and won both in dominant fashion. That qualified him for the world championships, but he chose not to compete.
Steveson initially joined the WWE with much fanfare. He was mostly part of its developmental brand, NXT, before being released in May.
Steveson is from Minnesota, and his mother named him Gable in honor of wrestler Don Gable, who won gold at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
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