The world might have seen Dwayne Johnson as a footballer if he would have not failed in his footballing career. Johnson after suffering a setback changed his profession and switched his career to professional wrestling. After experiencing success and reaching his prime in WWE, The Rock found an alternative and joined Hollywood.
As an actor in the movie industry, he reached new heights, and became one of the highest-paid actors in the entire world. Over the course of his career, he has starred in several top films and franchises. However, despite such career changes, he still maintained his love for football. His once rejection from NFL led him to various current actions which prove his love for football.
Johnson recently took to Instagram to share a promotion for Deion Sanders’ documentary series on Prime Video. However, in the process, he shared his own NFL draft story, with Sanders aka Coach Prime and all of his students.
Johnson’s story was extremely motivating since it provided him with the inspiration to do much better in life, and reach new heights. Johnson had gathered around all of the students and said, “So, there are 53 men on an NFL roster, I was on Number 54. DJ you are good but you are not good enough. And this is where the dream ends.”
He further motivated the students and helped them build their inner fire. He expressed how as athletes they should be motivated. Johnson stated, ” The f***g chip that it put on my shoulder never goes away. You all have different numbers on your chest. But you are all no.54. You are that player.”
Although, he himself suffered dejection as a footballer, he currently helps motivate future and budding athletes grow and secure their career.
The 50-year-old once suffered from depression and major career setback, after he was rejected from playing in the NFL, and had to play in the Canadian League. His childhood dream of playing in the NFL was torn, when out of 53 different players on the roster list, he came 54th. However, as fate would have it, he later on in his life, fulfilled the dream, but in an unsual way.
Dwayne Johnson played a retired NFL player in the television series, ‘Ballers’. However, he himself never got the chance to play in NFL. Johnson belonged from a wrestling family, a family full of athletes. He went to Miami University on a scholarship.
During his time with his University, he was in a dominant team and won several accolades. However, as he was about to achieve his moment, he injured his shoulder and was replaced by the legendary Warren Sapp. Sapp’s emergence as a player became a barrier in Johnson’s pathway.
Warren Sapp’s rise stopped Johnson’s career. And he went undrafted in that year’s NFL draft. However, he fulfilled his dream by playing in the series, “Ballers”.
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