Gable Steveson Talks 1st Game with Bills; Ex-WWE Star Won Olympic Gold Medal in 2021
Joseph Zucker@@JosephZucker
Featured Columnist IVAugust 12, 2024
Former WWE star and amateur wrestler Gable Steveson had a "great time" in his NFL preseason debut with the Buffalo Bills.
"Man, my first football game ever. Definitely a great time," he told reporters after Buffalo's 33-6 defeat to the Chicago Bears. "Definitely cool to see all the Buffalo Bills fans come out. Not the way we want it to end, but it's preseason. We're here to grow and we're here to get better."
Steveson added it's a "big adjustment" to go from an individual sport to one where he fits into a larger team.
"But just like you said, we prepared for this," he said. "Four equals one and we got four guys on that line that want to get one thing and that's the ball. So you got to do what you got to do."
Steveson signed with the Bills in May as an undrafted free agent.
The 24-year-old hadn't played organized football to that point, excelling instead on the mat. He was a two-time Division I national champion at Minnesota and won a gold medal in the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. He was also signed to WWE but got released this past spring following a forgettable spell with the wrestling promotion.
Lindsey Moppert @lindseymopptv<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Bills?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Bills</a> DT Ed Oliver when asked about DT Gable Steveson, an Olympic gold medal wrestler who has never actually played the sport of football...<br><br>"Talk about being the best at what you do, he epitomizes that." <a href="https://twitter.com/WGRZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WGRZ</a> <a href="https://t.co/lvwjYFtgWf">pic.twitter.com/lvwjYFtgWf</a>
Buffalo showed interest in the 265-pound defensive tackle dating back to 2021 on the heels of his Olympic success, so the partnership had been a long time coming.
Steveson finished with one tackle against the Bears. He and the Bills will be back in action Saturday against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
