The Buffalo Bills are taking an unconventional approach to free agent signings, announcing that they plan to sign former Olympic gold medalist wrestler Gable Steveson, who also competed for WWE.
read more: Kansas City Chiefs signing rugby player Louis Rees-Zammit is quietly a good move
At 6'1″ and 275 pounds, Gable Steveson is expected to play on the defensive line, a position he has never played in his career. In fact, Steveson put on cleats for the first time during a recent Bills workout. https://t.co/1MP9siJKOI
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 31, 2024
Longtime NFL commentator Adam Schefter first broke the news on his Twitter/X account, and also revealed that Steveson will become just the second player in NFL history to try to win both a Super Bowl and an Olympic gold medal, joining Bob Hayes.
Steveson is 6'1″ and weighs 275 pounds, making him a perfect fit for a defensive lineman position, as Schefter noted in his post. What's interesting about this deal is that the Olympic gold medalist has never played defensive lineman in his career.
Tom Pennington/Getty Images
It's unclear whether Steveson will make the Bills' 53-man lineup, as any position is difficult to master in the NFL, but judging by his overall athleticism, he could be a contributor on special teams.
Now that the NFL has implemented new kickoff rules that mimic how kickoffs are handled in the XFL, teams are considering changing their special teams strategies.
Under the new rules, the kicker of the kicking team will line up at the kicking team's 35-yard line and the rest of the kicking team will line up at the receiving team's 40-yard line. The receiving team will line up with at least nine players between their 30-yard lines and the 35-yard line.
The new kickoff rules essentially make the kicker the last line of defense, and teams are toying with the idea of positioning a defensive player as the kicker to ensure he can tackle a receiver if he breaks through the only line of defense around the 40-yard line.
Steveson has the build to be seen as a back-up kicker or even a kicker himself, and while this is just speculation, the general strategy of kickoffs is about to change forever.
Steveson was a phenom coming out of high school, going 35-2 as a freshman at the University of Minnesota, before going on to win four state championships, a gold medal at the Junior World Championships in 2017, a gold medal at the Pan American Championships in 2021 and a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
In 2021, Steveson moved from the competitive world to WWE, signing a next-in-line (NIL) contract with the company. Steveson was drafted to the Raw brand in the 2021 WWE Draft. After just a few years under the WWE banner, Steveson was released from his contract in May 2024.
Steveson also found himself in controversy in 2019 while attending the University of Minnesota, when he and fellow wrestler Dylan Martinez were arrested on suspicion of sexual offenses, but all charges were dropped in December 2019 due to “insufficient evidence.”
Rare knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom, seeking common ground and finding connections.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom, seeking common ground and finding connections.
