Okay, so the other day I was watching a movie with Dwayne Johnson, you know, The Rock. And it got me thinking, this guy is built like a tank, surely he played in the NFL at some point? It feels like one of those things you just assume, right?
My First Thought Process
My brain immediately went to football. I definitely remembered hearing stories about him playing ball. So, my first step wasn’t even a search, it was just digging through my own memory banks. Yeah, football, definitely. But NFL? That part was fuzzy.
Hitting the Search Button
So, I grabbed my phone. Typed in something simple like “did the rock play nfl”. The first things that popped up were about his college career. This seemed like the right path to follow.
He played for the University of Miami Hurricanes. And man, they were good back then. Big time program. He was even on the national championship team in ’91! So, okay, serious college player. That part checked out. I saw mentions of him being a defensive tackle, a pretty demanding position.
The Pro Football Part (But Not NFL)
But then, reading further, I saw that he didn’t get drafted by an NFL team after college. That seemed weird for a guy on a championship team, but injuries happen, and sometimes things just don’t pan out. So, no NFL draft pick.
However, he didn’t give up on football right away. This is where I found the Canadian connection. He actually signed with a team in the Canadian Football League (CFL).
- Which Team? The Calgary Stampeders.
- What Happened? He was on their practice squad.
So he did play professional football, just not in the league most people think of in the US. He was there for a short time, apparently just a couple of months back in 1995.
Getting Cut and Changing Paths
The story goes that he got cut from the Stampeders. Must’ve been a tough blow. Imagine working that hard for something and then getting let go. But reading about it now, it feels like that was the moment things shifted for him.
That’s when he decided to follow in his family’s footsteps – wrestling. And well, the rest is history, right? From WWE superstar to one of the biggest movie stars on the planet.
So, Did He Play in the NFL?
Nope. Plain and simple. He had a great college football career at Miami, gave pro football a shot in the CFL with Calgary, but he never actually played in an NFL game or was on an active NFL roster.
It’s kinda funny how things work out. Getting cut from the CFL probably felt like the end of the world then, but it pushed him towards the career that made him famous. So, yeah, that’s what I figured out when I looked into it. No NFL for The Rock, but a heck of a journey nonetheless.
