Olympic gold medal wrestler Gable Steveson is looking to trade the mat for the court by signing a standard undrafted rookie free agent contract with the Buffalo Bills on Friday.
The Bills list the 24-year-old Steveson as a defensive lineman in hopes his leverage techniques and agility can translate to football.
At 6 feet tall and weighing 266 pounds, Steveson, at age 21, became the youngest freestyle wrestler to win gold as a super heavyweight at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. He went on to win two national college titles in Minnesota in 2021 and ’22, and was twice named winner of the Dan Hodge Trophy as the nation’s top college wrestler.
After his second college championship, Steveson left his shoes in the center of the mat, symbolizing his retirement from amateur wrestling.
In Buffalo, Steveson joins a team headlined by Sean McDermott, who was a two-time national high school wrestling champion and grew up in Pennsylvania. And while McDermott pursued football after high school, he credits wrestling with helping shape his life.
“I have been fortunate to compete at the highest level of competition in my sport, but I look forward to the challenge of seeing how my wrestling skills can translate to football,” Steveson said in a statement released by his agent Carter Chow. “I am grateful to Coach McDermott, (GM) Brandon Beane and the Buffalo Bills organization for giving me this opportunity.
Although Steveson’s contract with Buffalo is for three years, it is not guaranteed unless he makes the team.
The Bills opened a spot to add Steveson by releasing Matt Haack, one of three punters on the roster. Buffalo re-signed Haack this season after adding him to their practice squad in the playoffs as insurance when Sam Martin suffered a hamstring injury.
Steveson becomes the second player with no football experience that Buffalo has added to its roster this season. Last month, the Bills used their last pick to select former England rugby player Travis Clayton in the seventh round of the draft. The 23-year-old Clayton, listed at 6-foot-4 and 303 pounds, is expected to play on the offensive line after learning about American football in the NFL’s International Pathway Program this past winter.
Steveson won gold at the Tokyo Games by scoring a dramatic last-second victory against Geno Petriashvili. He had numerous options after the win and chose it back to university for a year and take advantage of the new name, image and likeness rules that allowed college athletes to make money.
He signed a NIL deal with World Wrestling Entertainment before his final college season and later joined the company.
After joining WWE, Steveson briefly returned to amateur wrestling last year. He competed in the US Open and Final X, winning both in dominant fashion. That qualified him for the world championships, but he chose not to compete.
Steveson initially joined the WWE with much fanfare. He was largely part of the NXT developmental brand before being released in May.
Steveson isn’t the only former Gopher wrestler to make a career in the NFL – a 2004 native of South Dakota Brock Lesnar signed a contract with the Vikings. He never played a regular season match for Minnesota and returned to wrestling.
Steveson comes out Apple Valley, Minnesota, and his mother named him Gable in honor of wrestler Don Gable, who won gold at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
