7 NFL players who made appearances in professional wrestling

One of a handful of NFL players to graduate from the Division-II Ferris State Bulldogs football team, Brown was brought in by the Buffalo Bills after his standout, record-setting college career. Spending time with both the Bills and the Patriots, he finished his career with 106 documented tackles in 43 games played.

He last played in an NFL game in 1996, making the transition to wrestling that officially manifested in an appearance on TNA six years later. His main stint was with Jeff Jarrett's "Planet Jarrett" stable, though he also appeared briefly in ECW. He seems to be happily retired, given his recent tweet.

A five-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro selection, Kevin Greene was utterly dominant for the Rams, Steelers, Panthers and Niners throughout the 1980s and 1990s. With 10 double-digit sack seasons, Greene ranks third all-time with 160 sacks to his name. It was a pretty incredible career for a player who walked on the Auburn football team and was only a fifth-round pick in the 1985 NFL Draft.

But we also have to remember that Greene competed with some of the top names in pro wrestling history during his brief WCW stints, joining forces with some other names on this list as well as with guys like Ric Flair and Roddy Piper.

No one is going to forget about this one. In fact, the most surprising aspect of Gronkowski's WWE career was the abrupt nature in which it came to an end and he announced that he'd be returning to the NFL -- on the same new team as Tom Brady, no less.

While his wrestling stint was weird for a few reasons, including its extra gimmicky nature and the coronavirus pandemic that removed the crowd for the majority of his time there, he did become the WWE 24/7 champion with relative ease.

Ladd is someone who was equally dominant in both his football career and his professional wrestling career. He was elected to four Pro Bowl rosters in his first five seasons, with three first-team All-Pro appearances in there as well, dominating opposing offensive lines for the Chargers and helping them to capture the 1963-'64 AFL championship.

His wrestling career began before his retirement from football after the 1968 season, but that's when it really took off. Feuding with fan favorites like Andre the Giant, Bob Backlund and others, Ladd was a prominent heel for over a decade. In 1995, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in addition to his San Diego Chargers Hall of Fame honors from over a decade prior.

A two-time Pro Bowler who really hit his stride in the mid-1980s, McMichael was nearly a career Chicago Bear outside of one-year stints in New England and Green Bay that began and ended his NFL career. From 1983, the first year in which he became a regular starter, to 1994, at which point he retired, he was one of 16 NFL players who had recorded at least 90 sacks, joining two other members of this list in that club. Coincidence? Perhaps not.

It's that type of big, muscular frame that converted well to the wrestling lifestyle, and McMichael's transition to the new sport was fairly seamless. Though he started as a color commentator, he soon teamed up with Kevin Greene to face off against two members of the Four Horsemen (Ric Flair and Arn Anderson). By the match's end, he had joined the Four Horsemen, a stable he would remain a part of until they were disbanded in September 1997.

He stayed true to his NFL roots, though, never forgetting his allegiance to the Bears.

If you've got a nickname like "The Refrigerator," professional wrestling seems to be a good secondary venture. With a 6-foot-2, 335-pound frame during his playing days, Perry was used as a fullback in addition to his wrecking ball-esque approach on the defensive line.

He made his debut and only wrestling appearance ever in 1986 on the grandest stage: WrestleMania 2. He took part in a 20-man battle royale that featured wrestlers and NFL players, but Perry was the representative of the gridiron who stole the show, eliminating not one but two future WWE Hall of Famers in Tony Atlas and John Studd. For this achievement, Perry was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006.

I don't need to go into too much detail about the football career of Taylor. I think we're all aware of just how dominant the Hall of Famer was, setting the standard for a quarterback's worst nightmare and becoming a rare league MVP as a defensive player.

His pro wrestling career was a little bit stranger. He appeared in exactly one match after he had already retired from the NFL, stemming from a feud with Bam Bam Bigelow that eventually resulted in the two facing off at WrestleMania 11.

Taylor's posse that surrounded him during the match featured Reggie White, Steve "Mongo" McMichael, Chris Spielman and other NFL stars.

Travis Wakeman of Bleacher Report called it a turning point for the WWE, considering the WWE had expanded their boundaries to enter the world of celebrity cameos -- celebrities who won the matches against their professional wrestlers -- in a decision that had both positive and negative effects on the viewing experience.