Did Dwayne Johnson Play In The NFL?

Dwayne Johnson, also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor, producer, and semi-retired professional wrestler.

Dwayne Johnson’s Playing History

Dwayne Johnson, also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor, producer, and former professional wrestler. He was a college football player for the University of Miami, where he won a national championship on the 1991 Miami Hurricanes team. After being cut from the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League (CFL), he began training for a career in professional wrestling.

High school

Dwayne Johnson was a high school football player for Freedom High School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. As a teenager, he was diagnosed with a rare condition called steatohepatitis, which caused him to put on a lot of weight. He eventually stopped playing football and began working out, which led to his transformation into “The Rock.”

College

Dwayne Johnson played college football at the University of Miami, where he was a member of the 1991 national championship team. He originally entered the University of Miami in January 1991 on a full football scholarship as a defensive lineman, but was later moved to offensive tackle. He was on the practice squad for two months his freshman year before he was waived. After being cut from the team, Johnson focused on his academics and graduated in 1995 with a Bachelor of General Studies degree in criminology and physiology.

Dwayne Johnson’s NFL Career

Many people know Dwayne Johnson as a famous actor and wrestler, but did you know that he also had a brief career in the NFL? That’s right, before he was The Rock, he was a football player. Let’s take a look at his brief NFL career.

Pre-draft

Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor, producer, and former professional wrestler.

Johnson was a college football player for the University of Miami, where he won a national championship on the 1991 Miami Hurricanes team. After being cut from the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League (CFL) two months into the 1995 season, he began training for a career in professional wrestling, following in the footsteps of his grandfather Peter Maivia and his father, Rocky Johnson.

Draft

Dwayne Johnson was not drafted in the NFL.

After the NFL

After being cut by the Calgary Stampeders of the CFL, Dwayne Johnson decided to pursue a career in professional wrestling. He made his debut in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 1996, and was given the ring name The Rock. He gained mainstream fame after becoming one of the organisation’s top stars during the late 1990s. He left the WWF in 2004 to pursue an acting career, and has since starred in several films, including The Mummy Returns (2001), The Scorpion King (2002), Get Smart (2008), Race to Witch Mountain (2009), Tooth Fairy (2010), Snitch (2013), Hercules (2014), and San Andreas (2015).

Dwayne Johnson’s Acting Career

Before Dwayne Johnson was “The Rock” he was a football player. He played for the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and then was cut by the team. He then turned to acting and has had a very successful career. Some of his movies include “The Mummy Returns”, “The Scorpion King”, “Walking Tall”, “Gridiron Gang”, “Get Smart”, “Race to Witch Mountain”, “Tooth Fairy”, “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island”, “Snitch”, “G.I. Joe: Retaliation”, “Hercules”, “San Andreas”, “Central Intelligence”, “Moana”, “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle”, and “Rampage”. Let’s take a look at his career.

Movies

Dwayne Johnson’s career took off when he landed his first starring role in The Scorpion King in 2002. He has since gone on to star in many blockbuster movies, including The Mummy Returns, The Fast and the Furious franchise, Snitch, Pain & Gain, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, and Central Intelligence. He has also starred in several Disney movies, such as Moana, Jungle Cruise, and Tooth Fairy. In 2019, he starred in Hobbs & Shaw, a spin-off of The Fast and the Furious franchise.

Television

Dwayne Johnson’s first television role was in 1995 as “Bulldog” in an episode of the American television sitcom, Married… with Children. Johnson made his professional wrestling debut in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) on Monday Night Raw in 1996 as “Rocky Maivia”, a combination of his father and grandfather’s ring names. He was given the nickname “The Rock” a week later, and won his first WWF Championship three months after his debut when he pinned then-champion Bret Hart atIn Your House 13: Final Four. He soon proved to be one of the most electrifying performers in all of entertainment, quickly rising to main event status.