10 Wrestlers Who Played Professional Sports

"Hacksaw" Jim Duggan is one of the most unique personalities in wrestling history and one of the few who stayed a babyface nearly his entire career (aside from a pointless WCW turn near the end of the company's life). Duggan's charisma was apparent and his ability to connect to a crowd was instrumental in his success as a wrestler. Hell, he was so over with the WWF fanbase that he was able to get a crowd in Toronto, Canada to chant "USA! USA!".

Before he lit up the ring as "Hacksaw", he was simply Jim Duggan from Glens Falls, New York and he was a very successful athlete. He won the New York State High School wrestling championship and was also a letterman in track, football, and basketball. However, his favorite sport was football and he was recruited heavily out of high school by legendary coaches Joe Paterno and Woody Hayes.

Ultimately, Duggan chose to attend the Southern Methodist University, where he was voted team captain and started at linebacker. He was signed by the Atlanta Falcons once he graduated from college but a series of serious knee injuries ended his NFL career before it could get started.

He then signed with the Toronto Argonauts and played in the CFL before being trained by Fritz Von Erich and embarking on his career in professional wrestling. It was because of his connections to SMU that he met Von Erich, so Duggan's football skills actually led him to a successful wrestling career.