Guys who have their own Web site – not to mention, dozens of Web sites – aren’t supposed to be unnerved by dates of significance.
Guys who have 21-inch biceps and heavyweight title belts aren’t supposed to worry about not being tough enough.
Guys who look like Brock Lesnar aren’t supposed to be scared of anything at all.
But Lesnar, the menacing, muscular 285-pound star of professional wrestling’s WWE, is a ball of nerves these days.
Scared that his dream might come to an end very soon.
“I’m a fortunate person to even get this opportunity,” Lesnar said in a phone interview last week between practices with the Minnesota Vikings. “I’ve worked hard, and whatever happens, happens. I hope I don’t hear my name called. More than likely, it will.”
He’s not the only one concerned about his immediate future. As NFL’s first cutdown day approaches this week, some of Lesnar’s possible upcoming opponents are worried that they’ll never get a chance to play against him.
“I hope he makes it,” said Seahawks linebacker Tracy White, a fan of professional wrestling, “I’ll shake his hand afterward, just to say I’ve met him.”
The Seahawks and Vikings will play a game at Qwest Stadium this Thursday, but there is no guarantee that Lesnar will be there. The pro wrestler-turned-defensive tackle could well be one of the first players cut by the Vikings before Tuesday’s deadline.
Lesnar seems to be taking it all in stride, even if he can hear the clock ticking.
“I can’t sit around worrying, because that’s all just wasted (nonsense),” Lesnar said, using the kind of vernacular often overheard in WWE crowds. “It’s something I can’t worry about.”
Lesnar first began dreaming of playing in the NFL last spring, when his agent approached teams about giving him a tryout. He hadn’t played football since he was a high school senior in 1995, but the 27-year-old had enough of a physical presence to warrant a look from pro scouts. And he was willing to leave his high-profile wrestling career, which pays him a reported $9 million a year.
At least half a dozen teams showed interest – including Minnesota – but an April motorcycle accident left Lesnar with a groin injury and uncertain football career.
Two months later, his groin healed, Lesnar approached the Vikings again. The South Dakota native begged for another chance, and made the most of his opportunity. He showed enough promise in that tryout that the Vikings invited him to training camp as a defensive lineman.
True to his craft – Lesnar has been in professional wrestling since 2000 after winning the NCAA heavyweight championship at the University of Minnesota that year – the grappler started a fight during the Vikings’ first scrimmage. An overaggressive hit on Kansas City quarterback Damon Huard nearly caused a riot during an exhibition that was touted as “minimal contact.” He ended the scrimmage with four tackles and a sack.
Unfortunately, Lesnar’s impact fell off from there. He got a standing ovation in his first official preseason game, but didn’t make a single tackle. Last week, against Atlanta, Lesnar was in on less than a handful of plays.
The hourglass on his NFL career was running out of sand, and Lesnar could sense it.
“I’ve done a lot of different things,” Lesnar said. “I’ve been an amateur wrestler. I’ve been to boot camp with the National Guard. I’ve been a professional wrestler. If those things hadn’t prepared me for this, I would have broken down long ago.”
In a lot of ways, trying out for the NFL has been more difficult than Lesnar ever could have expected. That doesn’t come as much of a surprise to other players fighting to get onto an NFL roster.
John Schlecht, a defensive tackle trying to make the Seahawks’ final cut to 53, knew Lesnar when they both attended the University of Minnesota five years ago. Schlecht isn’t so sure Lesnar has what it takes to play in the NFL right now.
“He’s a big, athletic guy, but he hasn’t played football since high school,” Schlecht said. “I’m interested to know how he’s doing so far. I hear he’s playing inside, and you need a lot of technique to play in there.”
One of the similarities between playing defensive tackle and being a professional wrestler, Schlecht noted, is the incessant trash talking that goes on.
“On the football field, it’s real,” Schlecht said. “In wrestling, it’s all scripted.”
Vikings coaches weren’t trash-talking Lesnar this week, even though his days appear to be numbered. He won over some hearts with his hard work and team-first attitude.
“Initially, I didn’t understand why we signed him, and I was mad that we cut a young rookie player who at least knew how to play football,” defensive line coach Brian Baker told the Minneapolis Star Tribune last week. “But Brock earned it. You could pick 1,000 guys in his situation and not one of them would have lasted this long.”
Whether Lesnar gets the call before Tuesday’s cutdown deadline or sometime next week, he won’t regret putting a high-profile wrestling career on hold to chase a different dream.
“You only live once, that I know of,” Lesnar said. “When I’m 60 years old, I can say I went to Vikings training camp. Or maybe I’ll say that I played with the Vikings for four years, or some other team for four years – whatever it is.
“Not a lot of people get to say they were an amateur wrestling champion, a WWE champion, and then went on to football. I don’t know of anyone who can say that.”
Until now.
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