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Unearthed Photo of Dwayne Johnson Before NFL Dreams Came to a Screeching Halt

Published 07/26/2022, 10:30 AM EDT

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There are a handful of celebrities in the world who have achieved success in multiple fields. Dwayne Johnson is one of those celebrities who was a top WWE star and currently is the highest-paid Hollywood star.

However, before becoming an action hero in Hollywood and dropping The People’s Elbow in WWE, The Rock wanted to make a career in football. He wanted to grow into NFL and aspired to play in the Super Bowl.

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Dwayne Johnson was serious about making a career in football. He was part of the football team at the University of Miami from 1991 to 1994. That team included future NFL start and Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Warren Sapp too.

In his freshman year, Johnson was a member of the University of Miami’s 1991 national championship team. Recently, Pro Wrestling Stories shared a picture of young Dwayne Johnson signing autographs for his fans during the time he played for the University of Miami.

Johnson looked stiff in his young days too as he worked out daily. Also, his hairstyle indeed looks funky, and it seems The Rock was popular while playing college football. Everyone expected the Hollywood star to have a great career in the NFL. However, he wasn’t picked in that year’s NFL draft. 

The Rock played at the defensive tackle position since high school. However, when he signed with Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League, they moved him to the linebacker position. They cut Johnson from the team two months after he joined in the 1995 season.

via Getty

After Calgary Stampeders cut him from the team, Johnson decided to join the family business. He started his professional wrestling training and made his WWE debut in 1997.

Dwayne Johnson is excited about Simone Johnson’s future in WWE

Dwayne Johnson was the first third-generation WWE superstar. Following her father’s footsteps in wrestling, Simone Johnson, aka Ava Raine, has become the first fourth-generation WWE star. She made her non-televised WWE debut at an NXT Live event in Orlando.

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Recently, Dwayne Johnson appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live to promote his upcoming movie DC League of Super Pets. The guest host Kerry Washington asked him how proud he feels about Simone Johnson making a WWE debut.

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Johnson said, “I’m very proud of her. So Simone Johnson my oldest daughter I have with Dany, she made her debut in WWE (in) their smaller federation NXT. So she did so good. She went out with the microphone, you gotta be poised when you go out there. She has a cool wrestling name. It’s Ava Raine.”

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Watch this story:-  Dwayne Johnsons Daughter Simone to The Undertakers Daughter Kaia – Meet Daughters of Top WWE Stars

It seems The Rock is not only excited as a father but is also excited as a fan to see Ava Raine make her televised WWE debut. He is sure Raine is going to have a great WWE career and will make memorable moments by being there.

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Written by:

Tushar Deogharkar

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Tushar Deogharkar is a WWE writer at EssentiallySports. Tushar has done his Master's in Tourism Management and is an ardent fan of pro wrestling. He follows WWE and AEW very closely and wants to learn how the promotions are run.
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Edited by:

Sreeda U M