Brock Lesnar a Viking.... WHY?

envoy98

Lesnar Press Release

As a Vikings fan... I don't get it.

Aknot

Finally a reason to point and laugh at another team........

pandrews

so did he quite wrestling?

envoy98

I don't understand it... I realize Mixon has a DWI and a 2 game suspension, but this is our answer? This seems like someone paying back a favor to someone else if you ask me.

Oh well. Maybe he'll turn out to be the next Reggie White.

By the way, did Miami offer us Ogunleye for Onterrio Smith yet? Or is Miami going after Travis Henry...Edge...Lamar Smith...? What's the word down there?

envoy98

yeah, he quit wrestling a few months back. one of the local radio show hosts (Mike Morris...Former Vikes LongSnapper) used to train with Lesnar and is good friends with him. Morris has been just raving about how good an athlete Lesnar is. Football isn't just about being an athlete though, its a whole lot more than that. Technique, plays, footwork...It will be interesting to see how Lesnar does. If he even makes it off the practice squad or sees time in pre-season.

Aknot

"Down There" Im in Washington DC.......well I guess Its still Down form you!!

For all intense purposes we are going with what we got. E. James has made refrence that he would like to play for Miami yet there is no chance of that happening this year.

envoy98

I didn't literally mean "down there" as to your position relative to the Dolphins. Just Down There meaning Miami, which is miles away from me up here in frigid Minnesota.

Well, not so frigid right now at least.

ctsoxfan

I didn't realize he quit the WWE either...been a while since I watched it. But, he really was one of the better athletes to join the WWE in recent years. He was a great collegiate wrestler, and by all accounts, strong as an ox. Worth a shot for the Vikings, even if just for the publicity.

Twolvesfan

The thing I heard as to why, was that he hated all of the traveling that goes along with the WWE(something like 45-50 weeks a year)
I don't really get how you could walk away from multi millions per year for an amazingly huge longshot in the NFL.
But I guess I can't really judge the guy, I don't know him. Best of luck though.

ranch

There is nothing wrong with giving him a try. Who knows what might happen?

envoy98

Well, we have to drop a prospect in order to pick him up. We didn't need the salary cap room and he's got little to no football skills. I don't think he's going to pan out, but if I am wrong I'll come on here and admit it first. I would have been much happier seeing some other team sign him. But...who knows....

iupkid

Steelers fans may remember that Carlton Haselrig was drafted late 80's, early 90's from University of Pitt-Johnstown having never played college football. He was a championship wrestler for UPJ and the Steelers took a shot. A few years later he was a pro bowl offensive lineman. Pure athletic ability will get you far. Tice even admitted that it is likely that he will not make it farther than the practice squad so they really don't have anything to lose. Calling the guy that they released a prospect is probably way overestimating his potential.

It may be a gimic more than anything, but what do they have to lose.

Steve

DaBigHurt

How much skill do you think is required to play DT or NT if you have the speed and strength? He obviously has both and plenty of agility. He's raw and definitely worth signing, considering the Vikes are taking zero risk in a free agent. If he does well, he'll stay on the team, if not, he'll be cut in training camp. What's the problem?

envoy98

I think there is a lot of skill. Nevermind Hovans mindless ramblings, he doesn't count. I'll be interested to see how he does, but like I said before. I'm not convinced this was anything more than a gimmick. I hope he proves me wrong, believe me, as a season ticket holder I'd love to see anything that can improve my team, I'm just not convinced this is the answer. At least he's cheap.

BigKidAtHeart

<< <i>Lesnar will attempt to play defensive tackle in the NFL, but remains a long shot to make the team.

He did not play college football. >>




has any other NFL player ever made it
(really made it)
that did not play college ball?

dilferaff

Eric Swann - DT for the Cardinals in the 90's. Pro Bowl player

envoy98

Lets just hope they give him good scripts to follow. "Ok Brock, today, you're going to stunt to the inside and sack Favre. Then, in the 3rd quarter, you're going to knock down a pass..."

He's a bulked up actor with some real athletic ability that hopefully he can get to work for him on the football field. I just don't see him being a factor.

autobilia

Lesnar will probably end up on the practice squad which is why his contract is league minimum ($230,000). If they were confident that he would make the team, he would have gotten more.

BigKidAtHeart

<< <i>Lesnar will probably end up on the practice squad... get league minimum ($230,000). >>

so that is what you get paid
to get your ass kicked every day in
practice and never ever get any glory.

hmmmmmmm

I think I would do it!

stevek

My initial reaction to this was that there is no way this guy would ever make a final NFL cut. But after reading about this guy's strength and 40 yard time, plus the absolute determination he seems to have, I think one day he has a decent chance to make an NFL team and possibly even start. I'm not making any exact comparisons whatsoever, but his "spirit" reminded me a little bit about the late Pat Tillman in that he is doing what he wants and not in it for the money. I couldn't care less about the Vikings but I'd like to see him do well, except on Sundays when he plays the Eagles. On those Sundays I hope Runyan and Andrews pancake him - LOL.

BigKidAtHeart

UPDATE on the story

Lesnar gets another (long) shot at dream
Posted: 7/29/04

Tom Pelissero
KFAN dot com

EDEN PRAIRIE - Brock Lesnar could have done this four years ago.

He could have accepted an offer from then-Buccaneers coach Tony Dungy to audition for the NFL. But Lesnar turned down the offer, and headed for the glitz, glamour and -- most importantly -- financial security of professional wrestling.

Heck, Lesnar could have done this nine years ago, when he received several football scholarship offers from Division-II schools.

The South Dakota-native turned down every one, choosing to stay close to home and wrestle at Bismarck Junior College. He later received a scholarship and wrestled two years at the University of Minnesota.

Wrestling -- from winning the 2000 NCAA heavyweight title at the 'U' to being the Next Big Thing in the WWE -- has always been Lesnar's safety net.

Most recently, a seven-year, $45 million safety net. (that is the contract he walked away from to persue this dream).

Football was the elusive, foolish dream.

"I came to a fork in the road where I had the sure thing with money and fame in wrestling," Lesnar said at a press conference Wednesday, "but I didn't know if the football deal was a sure thing.

"I'm not saying I made a poor judgment. I would do it all…again."

But now, at 27 years old and nine years removed from his last game, Lesnar is falling back on every kid's favorite backyard football phrase.

He wants a do-over.

"I just want to be happy," Lesnar said. "Life is way too short to not be happy, and there was three years of my life where I don't even remember if I was happy or sad because I was gone so much."

After three years in the WWE, Lesnar had burned out on the lifestyle, burned out on the travel, burned out on not seeing his two-year-old daughter, Mya, for upwards of 280 days a year.

He abruptly announced his retirement from pro wrestling in March and headed to Arizona, where he worked for three months with a personal trainer to get into playing shape. A motorcycle accident in April slowed his training and left him with a lingering groin injury that ruined his first workout with the Vikings last month.

But head coach Mike Tice gave Lesnar a second chance Tuesday morning, scheduling a last-minute workout for the 6-foot-3, 286-pound physical specimen at Winter Park.

Several undrafted rookie offensive linemen, also auditioning in front of the coaching staff, knocked around the inexperienced defensive tackle.

Lesnar's footwork was below-average. His hands were worse. But something about the workout persuaded Tice and company to offer the ex-Big Thing a notably small contract (for $230,000, the rookie minimum) within the hour.

"I think I showed them that I was healthy enough and hungry enough and really serious on doing this," Lesnar said.

Getting a contract was one thing. Making the 53-man roster, or even the practice squad, will be another task entirely. Tice has acknowledged that Lesnar will have to fight for one of the eight spots on the taxi squad.

Things probably would be easier if Lesnar was going the other direction.

Pro football players have been making the transition to wrestling for years, many with great success -- Don "Hard-Boiled" Haggerty in the 50's, AFLer Ernie Ladd in the 60's, Sylvester Ritter (AKA "The Junkyard Dog") in the 70's and, most recently, former NFL defensive tackles Bill Goldberg and Steve McMichael.

WWE superstar Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who also left wrestling at the height of his career (to pursue acting), gave opponents the People's Elbow as a defensive lineman at the University of Miami.

Even Hall-of-Fame running back Bronko Nagurski -- Lesnar's fellow 'U' alumnus -- stepped in the ring after his football career ended in the late 30's. He won three world heavyweight titles.

But making the transition in reverse -- from the choreography of pro 'rassling to the competitive grind of the NFL -- has been a rare feat.

Steve Neal, a three-time All-American and two-time Division I wrestling champion who didn't play football at the University of California-Bakersfield, has spent the past two-plus seasons with the New England Patriots.

Neal impressed scouts with his work at guard during the 2001 scouting combine and signed with the Pats as an undrafted free agent. He was released and spent three months on Philadelphia's practice squad before re-signing with New England late in the season.

Thanks to the Patriots' success, Neal is now the proud owner of two Super Bowl rings, but he has played in just two games over his three pro seasons. His greatest personal NFL moment likely is his takedown of ex-Dolphins running back Ricky Williams -- while wrestling at San Diego High School.

A handful of athletes from other sports -- basketball player Cornell Green, hurdler Renaldo Nehemiah and shot-putter Jeff Stover, to name a few -- also played in the NFL without college playing experience.

Chargers tight end Antonio Gates starred on the basketball court at Kent State, averaging 20.6 points per game and 7.7 rebounds as a senior in 2002-03, but never set foot on the college gridiron.

The most successful crossover was track legend "Bullet" Bob Hayes, who enjoyed a Hall-of-Fame career with the Dallas Cowboys from 1965-75. But Hayes had doubled as a football player at Florida A&M.

During his rookie season, in which he racked up 46 catches for 1,003 yards and 12 touchdowns, Hayes remarked, "I can't believe that pro football is this easy. All I have to do is run downfield."

The Cowboys hoped to catch lightning twice, drafting legendary sprinter Carl Lewis in the 12th round of the 1984 draft. He never signed.

Lesnar won't have the benefit of a single, exceptional skill that sets him apart in professional football.

He's big, muscular, fast and nimble. So are a lot of other guys -- and they've played some football in the past decade.

"I'm very humbled by this experience," Lesnar said. "I'm going to be struggling. It's going to be a battle. I'll have to learn things. I'm going to be frustrated. There's going to be a lot of information given to me in a short amount of time."

He'll also get more than his share of media attention when training camp opens this weekend in Mankato.

But Lesnar doesn't see this as a phony publicity stunt -- after all, his life has been one giant stunt for the past three years.

He just wants to compete again.

When the airhorn sounds this Saturday at 8:45 a.m., Lesnar will have to do just that -- compete, for the first time in more than four years -- to avoid being the NFL's Next Big Cut.


--Tom Pelissero covers the Vikings for KFAN Sports Radio and KFAN dot com. E-mail him your thoughts here.

vikesfan40

World class strength.

Proven athletic ability.

Relentless determination, a workout monster, and a non stop motor.

Willing to work his tail off.

Doesn't care about money.

Sounds like a great guy to have on your practice team to me. He may be a long shot, but it's worth a shot. Should motivate other players if nothing else.

DaBeef

<< <i>World class strength.

Proven athletic ability.

Relentless determination, a workout monster, and a non stop motor.

Willing to work his tail off.

Doesn't care about money.

Sounds like a great guy to have on your practice team to me. He may be a long shot, but it's worth a shot. Should motivate other players if nothing else. >>





w3rd

mercurynut

Who cares! A WWE personality being a looser just because he can lmao!