10 Wrestlers Who Played Professional Sports

Almost any longtime wrestling fan would recognize the name Lex Luger but only a small percentage of them would recognize the name Larry Pfohl, Luger's real name and title when he played professional football.

Luger played football in the Buffalo, NY area before being recruited to attend Penn State. He soon transferred to the University of Miami and played alongside future NFL Hall of Famer Jim Kelly. Luger quickly grew frustrated with his lack of playing time and was kicked off of the team for "off-the-field issues". More specifically, he snapped one night and trashed his hotel room, earning himself an early exit from the Miami Hurricanes football team.

At only 20 years old, Luger was signed by the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League and spent the next three years with the professional team. At that point, Luger finally achieved his dream of reaching the NFL when he signed with the Green Bay Packers. He suffered a groin injury during training camp and spent the entire team on the injured reserve list, being released before the next season could being. Luger actually holds the distinction of being the last Packer to wear number 66 before it was retired for the legendary Ray Nitschke.

Luger moved on to the new upstart USFL and played for a number of teams including the Tampa Bay Bulls where he was teammates with future WCW wrestler Ron Simmons.