Get this guy a helmet and some pads

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Gopher028 said:
Get this guy a helmet and some pads and some straight cash with his own NIL!
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Read an article today saying his parents really want him to stay in school, finish his degree, and go for another natty. I'm sure WWE is offering a lot, but they're not going anywhere. Maybe he decides to mess with football and see if there's NFL interest in the spring... Meanwhile keep wrestling and cash in on NIL in lieu of WWE.
 

NIL means he might actually wrestle for the Gophers again. Without NIL there was no chance. Now, he could make huge bucks.

WWE isn't going anywhere.
 


TruthSeeker said:
NIL means he might actually wrestle for the Gophers again. Without NIL there was no chance. Now, he could make huge bucks.

WWE isn't going anywhere.
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Thing is .... what is there left to prove in "amateur" ( :sneaky: ) wrestling? He's the undisputed best in the world at heavyweight freestyle.

Is he going to take on that Cuban guy? Would be fun to see I guess .... except the problem is that guy is in the next weight class up, and he wrestles a completely different style than what Gable does. He does Greco-Roman which mainly focuses on holds & throws around the upper body, while freestyle (Gable's) allows attacks on the legs.


So, I actually would say -- while you're still relatively healthy and young -- if you want to give football a try, seriously, it's kinda now or never.

Not saying that means the Gophers have a chance.

Will be interesting to see what he chooses to do next.
 



a recent Gabe tweet seems to suggest a path to the nfl. then again, that could be just his sense of humor.
 

MplsGopher_fan said:
I'd add that the timing is perfect since this year he wouldn't be taking one of the 85 schollys because we can go over 85.
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He can't use a wrestling scholarship, though. Per NCAA rules, anyone on the football roster who has a scholarship in any other sport, that scholarship has to count against the football maximums.

Otherwise, could you imagine how much SEC schools would pump up football rosters by giving football players track, golf, swiming, etc. scholarships??
 


I’m not sure why football is seen as a sport where really fast guys can step in and play wide receiver at a really high level, or where quick talented powerful wrestlers can play line positions.

There are talented heavyweight wrestlers every year. How many of them have transitioned successfully to D1 or NFL roles? The country is filled with track stars. How many have found their way onto D1 or NFL teams (without having played football all along).

on one hand, football is a sport that can be taken up successfully after junior high by some. On the other hand it does require skills, knowledge, and a mentality that simply can’t be turned on successfully at the highest level.

why can’t we just celebrate great wrestlers and speedy tracksters for their successes in the sports they actually chose and leave it at that? I’m not sure why this bugs me the way it does. Perhaps because it feels like it cheapens the chosen sports that these guys participate in and makes them look like the minor leagues for a “real” sport like football. Steveson perfects his craft over his entire life and pours himself into wrestling, wins an NCAA championship and gold medal, and the message back is “maybe he could try football.”
 



Schnauzer said:
I’m not sure why football is seen as a sport where really fast guys can step in and play wide receiver at a really high level, or where quick talented powerful wrestlers can play line positions.

There are talented heavyweight wrestlers every year. How many of them have transitioned successfully to D1 or NFL roles? The country is filled with track stars. How many have found their way onto D1 or NFL teams (without having played football all along).

on one hand, football is a sport that can be taken up successfully after junior high by some. On the other hand it does require skills, knowledge, and a mentality that simply can’t be turned on successfully at the highest level.

why can’t we just celebrate great wrestlers and speedy tracksters for their successes in the sports they actually chose and leave it at that? I’m not sure why this bugs me the way it does. Perhaps because it feels like it cheapens the chosen sports that these guys participate in and makes them look like the minor leagues for a “real” sport like football. Steveson perfects his craft over his entire life and pours himself into wrestling, wins an NCAA championship and gold medal, and the message back is “maybe he could try football.”
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I don't disagree with what you are saying, it does happen and I can see your angle. IMO, the reason it happens with sports like wrestling and track is because they do not offer "professional level" opportunities like the big 4 sports. So, a person like Gable now has to chose which direction he wants to go rather than just naturally progress to the professional wrestling association.
 

GopherPete said:
I don't disagree with what you are saying, it does happen and I can see your angle. IMO, the reason it happens with sports like wrestling and track is because they do not offer "professional level" opportunities like the big 4 sports. So, a person like Gable now has to chose which direction he wants to go rather than just naturally progress to the professional wrestling association.
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you don't think gabe could earn about $10M per year with wwe?
 

Schnauzer said:
Steveson perfects his craft over his entire life and pours himself into wrestling, wins an NCAA championship and gold medal, and the message back is “maybe he could try football.”
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Hasn't he exhausted all there is with wrestling? What else do you want, him to just practice free style wrestling for 4 more years and go for another gold medal? Same with track stars, they are done with it, there is no more future, so they have to try something. Catching a football or some fly balls in the outfield is a lot easier to learn than shooting a basketball accurately, etc. so they take their chances.

Go fund a pro track team out of your own wallet if you don't like what happens to them.
 

GopherOhana said:
you don't think gabe could earn about $10M per year with wwe?
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I don't know if you've watched any of the wrestling bios and interviews that are available on YouTube, Hulu (Vice: Dark Side of the Ring), or A&E, but professional wrestling is a brutal way to make a living. Although progress has been made in treating the wrestlers better, it's still a grind with a lot of physical risk.

As for football, as Schnauzer pointed out, line play requires a ton of technique and a guy--no matter how strong or how athletic--just can't walk onto a field and succeed. I'm old and can remember when sprinters like Jim Hines and hurdlers like Renaldo Nehemiah found their way onto NFL rosters without an extensive football background, but that was decades ago. Don't see it a whole lot anymore. Bob Hayes is the only man in history to have an Olympic Gold Medal and a Super Bowl ring, but he was a two-sport guy in college. With spring practice, you just don't see a lot of two-sport guys anymore.
 



MplsGopher said:
He can't use a wrestling scholarship, though. Per NCAA rules, anyone on the football roster who has a scholarship in any other sport, that scholarship has to count against the football maximums.

Otherwise, could you imagine how much SEC schools would pump up football rosters by giving football players track, golf, swiming, etc. scholarships??
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Yeah, it would be ridiculous in the SEC if that happened. But it's not just football, the scholly has to count towards the highest revenue sport you are participating in.

But this year, instead of replacing 1 of 85 athletes that have played football for years, Gable could just be on the team as an "extra" so long as the U of M wanted to pay for it, which I hope they do.
 

GopherOhana said:
you don't think gabe could earn about $10M per year with wwe?
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Of course he could, but my point is that he has already reached the height of his sport of wrestling. There is no professional wrestling league. Sure, there is WWE, but that is not really wrestling. Not saying he doesn't want to go that route, but now he is at a crossroads and will need to decide which direction to move forward.
 

MplsGopher_fan said:
I'd add that the timing is perfect since this year he wouldn't be taking one of the 85 schollys because we can go over 85.
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And as to scholarship availability, Bryce Witham just retired ... in case there is a non-public University imposed scholarship limit that is under the NCAA limit for 2021 football.
 

GopherPete said:
Of course he could, but my point is that he has already reached the height of his sport of wrestling. There is no professional wrestling league. Sure, there is WWE, but that is not really wrestling. Not saying he doesn't want to go that route, but now he is at a crossroads and will need to decide which direction to move forward.
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guessing thats why anthony cassar went MMA. wanted to stay a competitive athlete and not become an entertainer in scripted events. Anthony was the PSU wrestler who beat Gabe twice during Gabe's freshman year.
 

Gable is an absolute FREAK of nature, I mean they dont make many like him. I dont think its out of line to compare him to a Lebron-NBA, Aaron Donald-NFL, Ohtani-MLB in terms of just physical gifts. That said, football isnt just something most people can pick up and dominate. Sure he has great hands in wrestling, but guys in the College/NFL have been working on football specific techniques for their whole lives. Is there a chance he plays football and it clicks and hes great? Sure, But look at Lesnar, also just a mammoth of a man with a ton of athleticism and he couldnt make it off the practice squad. Would I love to see Gable give it a go with the Gophers football team, absolutely, but lets be honest, he has an easy path to big money in the WWE if he wants it. He was made for that, take out the wrestling part, hes a big personality who generally everyone seems to like.
 

He's not going to pursue football and the NFL tweet was a joke.
 

MplsGopher_fan said:
Hasn't he exhausted all there is with wrestling? What else do you want, him to just practice free style wrestling for 4 more years and go for another gold medal? Same with track stars, they are done with it, there is no more future, so they have to try something. Catching a football or some fly balls in the outfield is a lot easier to learn than shooting a basketball accurately, etc. so they take their chances.

Go fund a pro track team out of your own wallet if you don't like what happens to them.
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They are all difficult as it takes great hand eye coordination with any of those.

Gable wouldn't fit any of those, but even playing DL in football is not any easy transition for someone who has never played the sport. It's one thing go 1 on 1 on a mat and use your size, skill, quickness to takedown the other person. At DL there are so many other things that he has to know and be aware of on any play that it will take some time at a lower level than the NFL to master. He has the frame for it, but there is so much more he would need to learn first.
 

50PoundHead said:
I don't know if you've watched any of the wrestling bios and interviews that are available on YouTube, Hulu (Vice: Dark Side of the Ring), or A&E, but professional wrestling is a brutal way to make a living. Although progress has been made in treating the wrestlers better, it's still a grind with a lot of physical risk.
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The biggest part of this is how awfully Vince McMahon treats his wrestlers. Forces them to sign contracts as independent contractors, so that he doesn’t have to pay any benefits to them or pay for any healthcare due to injuries (physical and mental!) they sustain for killing the selves for his company. Let alone when they become addicted to pain killers and then hard drugs.


You got the brutal part right.
 


Gophergrandpa said:
And as to scholarship availability, Bryce Witham just retired ... in case there is a non-public University imposed scholarship limit that is under the NCAA limit for 2021 football.
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I think all the guys who qualify for that, IE not counting against the 85 had to be seniors last season. Don’t think Gable could qualify.

But in a sense you could still be right, if they have more room to treat Gable as an 85 and some other guy as a super senior.
 

GFBfan said:
They are all difficult as it takes great hand eye coordination with any of those.
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I'd have to disagree. With no prior baseball experience, I don't think it would be hard to catch fly balls if you had any athletic talent whatsoever. Think "prime time" playing for the Braves, they wanted his speed so they just put him out there in the outfield. But if you haven't played basketball before, no NBA team is even going to consider you when you think of how long it takes to get your shot down accurate enough to be on the court.
 

MplsGopher_fan said:
I'd have to disagree. With no prior baseball experience, I don't think it would be hard to catch fly balls if you had any athletic talent whatsoever. Think "prime time" playing for the Braves, they wanted his speed so they just put him out there in the outfield. But if you haven't played basketball before, no NBA team is even going to consider you when you think of how long it takes to get your shot down accurate enough to be on the court.
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Deion played baseball in High School and at FSU. He was a 3 sport star in high school (FB, BB and BaB), then went to FSU where he ran track and played baseball at the same time, while also playing FB.
Catching a fly ball at any level is very difficult AND then going up to the plate and trying to hit is even more difficult. No way you can pull a kid like Erriyon Knighton off the track and give him a glove and say go play center field if he's never played before. More than likely he would get a concussion from the ball hitting him in the head.
I'm not disagreeing on the basketball thing, but getting someone to play baseball who hasn't ever is more difficult than you seem to think.
 

GFBfan said:
Deion played baseball in High School and at FSU. He was a 3 sport star in high school (FB, BB and BaB), then went to FSU where he ran track and played baseball at the same time, while also playing FB.
Catching a fly ball at any level is very difficult AND then going up to the plate and trying to hit is even more difficult. No way you can pull a kid like Erriyon Knighton off the track and give him a glove and say go play center field if he's never played before. More than likely he would get a concussion from the ball hitting him in the head.
I'm not disagreeing on the basketball thing, but getting someone to play baseball who hasn't ever is more difficult than you seem to think.
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Agree. Hitting is especially hard but even catching fly balls is harder than it looks.
 





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