Gable Steveson moves from wrestling to football by signing with the Buffalo Bills

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Olympic gold medalist wrestler Gable Steveson looks to trade the mat for the gridiron by signing a standard undrafted rookie free agent contract with the Buffalo Bills on Friday.

The Bills list Steveson, 24, as a defensive lineman in hopes his leverage skills and agility can translate to the football.

Listed at 5 feet 11 inches and 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 titles colleges at Minnesota in 2021 and ’22, and was twice named the Dan Hodge Trophy winner 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 with a head coach in Sean McDermott, who was a two-time national champion in high school wrestling and grew up in Pennsylvania. And although McDermott continued to play football after high school, he credits wrestling with helping shape his life.

Although Steveson’s contract with Buffalo is three years, it is only guaranteed if he makes the team.

Steveson won gold at the Tokyo Games with a dramatic last-second victory over Geno Petriashvili. He had many options after the victory and chose to return to college for a year and take advantage of the new name, image and likeness rules that allowed college athletes to make money.

He signed an NIL contract 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 and won both in dominant fashion. This qualified him for the world championships, but he chose not to compete.

Steveson initially joined WWE to great fanfare. It was primarily part of his developmental brand, NXT, before being released in May.

Steveson is from Minnesota and his mother named him Gable after wrestler Don Gable, who won gold at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

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AP Sports Writer Cliff Brunt in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

John Wawrow, Associated Press