Could Gable Steveson actually play in the NFL?

Since his release from the WWE in early May, former Gopher great Gable Steveson has had a few NFL teams reach out to come in for a workout during the offseason.

Gable Steveson is one of the University of Minnesota’s most decorated and dominant athletes of all time, after going 85-2 with 2 NCAA National Championships in his 4 years of college wrestling. With this Gable claimed the Heavyweight gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics, only adding to an already impressive wrestling career. Still having another year of eligibility, Gable decided to pursue the WWE, but his career there was short-lived after he was released in early May. He is now essentially a free agent with numerous different options he has ahead of himself, some being; a return to college wrestling, focusing on Olympic wrestling, MMA, and even possibly trying his hand in the NFL, where he has already had two teams bring him in for a tryout. 

NFL Route?

The first team to bring him in for their OTAs was the Buffalo Bills in mid-May and earlier this week he was seen at the Miami Dolphins facility. With his freak athleticism, the assumption is that Gable would play the defensive line, where he would be slightly undersized compared to the league average. Gable currently sits at 6’1 and 265 pounds, where the average size is around 6’3 and 310 pounds. Although athleticism and speed on the defensive line can outweigh size at times, future hall-of-famer Aaron Donald dominated while being 6’1 and about 285 pounds. If there is legit interest from Gable to give the NFL a shot, we may see more teams bring him in for a workout, as the NFL has programs in place to try players out during the offseason without taking a spot on the 90-man, such as their international player pathway program. 

There has been interest in getting Gable onto the gridiron dating back to college, and probably high school as well but that cannot be confirmed. P.J. Fleck joked on numerous occasions about getting Gable to play for the football team while he was on his tear through college wrestling. Although unsuccessful, there were obvious signs all along that Gable’s insane athleticism would be a gift to any head football coach across the country. As for the NFL, the talks about getting him to try out date back to after his 2020 gold medal campaign, where the Bills were the first to reach out, and the interest is still prevalent. Although Gable opted to try his hand at the WWE first. 

There has been a small pipeline between the NFL and the WWE in the past, as numerous wrestlers have tried their hand at the NFL, and vice versa. Gopher legend, Brock Lesnar, got to play in some preseason games with the Minnesota Vikings before his eventual release. Also getting a chance with the Vikings was 6-time WWE champ Roman Reigns, who was actually an All-ACC player during his time at Georgia Tech. Other wrestlers such as; Lex Luger, Mojo Rawley, Ron Simmons, and more all had their own small careers in the NFL after wrestling in the WWE. As well as NFL stars, such as Pat McAfee and Rob Gronkowski, have made recent appearances in the WWE after their NFL careers. All in all, the pipeline between the two leagues has been apparent for a long time, and while it has mostly been unsuccessful, Gable could utilize his size and strength to try and top the list of wrestlers turned football players. 

All things considered, the likelihood of anything coming of these workouts is unlikely, the interest from teams is real and it is always fun to speculate during the football offseason. Gable’s release from the WWE came at a bad time for him, as he had missed trials for the 2024 Olympic roster… sooo maybe there is a chance?