Gable Steveson: Buffalo Bills pin hopes on Olympic gold medalist wrestler

CNN
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The Buffalo Bills signed Olympic gold medalist wrestler Gable Steveson to a contract, the team announcement Friday.

The Bills named Steveson, a gold medalist in the 125 kg weight class at the Tokyo Olympics, as a defensive tackle.

“I have been fortunate to compete at the highest level of competition in my sport, but I look forward to the challenge of seeing how my wrestling skills can translate to football,” Steveson said, according to ESPN.

“I’m grateful to coach (Sean) McDermott, (general manager) Brandon Beane and the Buffalo Bills organization for giving me this opportunity.”

At the Olympics, the 24-year-old American became the youngest freestyle wrestler to win gold in the super heavyweight division at the age of 21 years, two months and six days.

He won gold after beating three-time world champion Geno Petriashvili of Georgia with a two-pointer with less than a second remaining in their match. Steveson later declared it “the match of the century.”

Following the 2021 Tokyo Games, Steveson signed with World Wrestling Entertainment until he was released by the organization earlier this month.

He also enjoyed a successful NCAA career, wrestling collegiately at the University of Minnesota, where he was a two-time national champion and three-time All-American. After so much success, Steveson also became famous for his celebratory running jumps after winning matches.

The undrafted free agent will wear number 61 for the Bills.

Steveson is not the first high-profile athlete to move from another sport to the NFL this season, following in the footsteps of Welsh rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit who agreed a deal with the Kansas City Chiefs in March .