Before getting signed to WWE, Reigns spent two years in the NFL. He attended Georgia Institute of Technology and, after breaking into the squad in his sophomore year, ended his college career as team captain. During that time he made 29 tackles for loss, the thirteenth best record in Georgia Tech history, and in 2006 he was named first-team All Atlantic Coast Conference as a senior. He went undrafted in the 2007 NFL draft before eventually being picked up by Minnesota Vikings, but he failed to make an impact. He was released a year later and joined the Jacksonville Jaguars to provide more depth to the defensive end. He was again unsuccessful and accepted an offer from Edmonton Eskimos, for whom he played five games before being released again. The video below shows Reigns (wearing number 96), perhaps practising an early version of the Spear https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-fKkFfXtus
