ORCHARD PARK — Gable Steveson got into a stance and couldn’t pick his head up. He’s used to wearing headgear, but a football helmet is a little heavier than what he’s grown accustomed to as a wrestler.
Steveson didn’t elaborate as to how his foray into football began, other than he was moving boxes when the Buffalo Bills called for a tryout. Steveson, a two-time NCAA heavyweight wrestling champion and 2020 Olympic gold medalist, but less than a month after being released by an unsuccessful run in the WWE, he was on a football field.
He had never played youth football, high school football or college football. But the Bills signed him anyway, hoping his skills can translate. Steveson says those hand-to-hand combat skills from wrestling are the reason Bills coach Sean McDermott — a former amateur wrestler — put him on the defensive line.
Steveson wouldn’t be the first player with limited experience to become a football player, but he understands that becoming an everyday NFL player is a longshot and that’s why he wants to pursue it.
“I won the Olympics in 2020 off a last-second takedown,” Steveson said. “That’s near impossible. But to win the Olympics, it’s not impossible. But in that instance, you want to be the best that you can. And I want to come to a new field and be the best that I can. In my eyes, it’s mandatory. It’s a goal. It’s not about just joining a football team. It’s about making it through and being a product that people can look at and be, `Hey, this guy has never played football in his life and he made it.’”
Growing up in Minnesota, Steveson said his mother refused to let him play football because it was too dangerous, but now he’s a grown man and he can make his own decisions. He confirmed the first time he wore football cleats was during his tryout with the Bills.
McDermott’s love for wrestlers is no secret at this point, so perhaps Steveson is a pet project. The Bills coach even offered individual instruction to Steveson during a defensive line drill during the first day of mandatory minicamp Tuesday.
But Steveson is not the first non-football player to get a shot with the Bills under general manager Brandon Beane and McDermott.
English rugby star Christian Wade spent three seasons on the practice squad as a running back from 2019-2021, but never saw action in a regular season game. British-Nigerian defensive end Efe Obada had brief football experience before getting a shot in the NFL and played for the Bills in 2021.
This year the Bills drafted offensive tackle Travis Clayton in the seventh round after never playing a down of football and getting noticed through the NFL’s International Pathway Program. Buffalo even gave lacrosse star Zed Williams a tryout during rookie camp despite not playing football since attending high school at Silver Creek.
“Having not played football ever, not even in high school, that’s a little bit different, that’s a little bit unique,” McDermott said. “And so there’s more work to be done, in terms of starting from scratch, from zero and then trying to build each day and he’s worked extremely hard with our defensive line coaches and coach Babich as well. And so it’s about just daily improvement.”
It’s hard to stand out in shorts and T-shirts, but Steveson does from a size standpoint. He wrestled at 285 pounds in college, but wrestlers only need to be 197 pounds to wrestle as a heavyweight and Steveson is generously listed at 6-foot-1, 265 pounds.
Steveson will undoubtedly need to add size to play regularly in the NFL, but McDermott acknowledged Steveson’s burst and power were obvious during his tryout and feels like those traits can be utilized.
“The battle that we’re playing on the field of being a D-tackle, a nose or a three-tech, it’s the same thing as wrestling,” Steveson said. “It’s just we have different play calls. We have different gaps to go through. We have different ways of switching your hips. But you get out there and you hand fight and you run guys back, you’re going to win these battles. And that’s what they’re asking for me. And like I said, no ifs, ands or buts, no questions. If you tell me to do something, I’m going for it and I’ll do it.”