Bill Goldberg may be known as a Hall of Fame wrestler, but he was once a highly sought-after Atlanta Falcons defensive end.
Goldberg always loved football. Due to his stature, he began working as a bouncer at a club at the age of 16. A guy who, for the most part, is known as a Hall of Fame wrestler used to be quite the athlete on the football field and earned a scholarship to play for the Georgia Bulldogs as a defensive tackle.
Residing in Oklahoma, Goldberg aimed to escape from home and make a name for himself on the gridiron. Signing with Georgia as a blue-chip recruit, he would catch the eye of NFL scouts with a career 348 tackles, 12 sacks, 10 tackles for loss, 7 pass breakups, 3 fumble recoveries, and 2 forced fumbles in 43 games.
He earned First-Team All-SEC recognition in 1988 and 1989 and was elected defensive team captain as a senior. The Los Angeles Rams drafted Goldberg in the 11th round of the 1990 NFL Draft. He would never appear in a game for L.A. but would instead make his NFL debut on Dec. 3, 1992 for the Atlanta Falcons.
With the Atlanta Falcons, he played in 10 games and totaled 4 tackles. In 1995, with the NFL's Expansion Draft taking place, he was selected to play for the Carolina Panthers but suffered an injury by ripping his abdomen from his pelvis. He has stated that he "felt like he was wasting his time" while attempting to return from the gruesome injury.
While in rehabilitation, he was contacted by professional wrestlers Lex Luger and Sting. Choosing to now pursue a career as a professional wrestler, he decided that he could not reach the level in the NFL that he desired and wasn't happy just making it to the league.
On Sep. 22, 1997, Goldberg made his television debut in WCW wrestling when he defeated Hugh Morrus. A bit of an inflated streak and push would make Bill Goldberg one of the hottest attractions wrestling has ever seen. His 173-0 mark led him to a career in professional wrestling, movies, television shows, commercials, etc.
As the old saying goes, "And the rest is history." There will always be a trajectory of historical success for Bill Goldberg; fans often wonder how his career would have played out being such a force in college. What if he would have never been injured? Would he have reached the same stardom as he had in professional wrestling?
His first love was always football as an undersized defensive end at 6-foot-2-a player whose stint in the NFL was short-lived but just as impactful as anyone.
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This story was originally published March 23, 2025 at 7:52 AM.