WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Neal made huge impact
By Gary Abbott Stephen Neal was a star in both wrestling and pro football. Anybody who saw heavyweight
Stephen Neal hit a blast double leg in a wrestling match knows that he is a great athlete. Not many athletes in U.S. wrestling history could execute that pow- erful move as effectively as Neal did throughout his career.
Just ask any of the competitors at the 130 kg weight class at the 1999 World Championships in Ankara, Turkey, when Neal slammed through the field on the way to his World freestyle gold medal. However, in the summer of 2001, when Neal decided to put aside his Olympic dreams for a professional football tryout, people thought he was crazy. He did not play football in college and was not a big football prospect in high school. Also, at 24 years old, Neal still was in the prime of his wrestling career, with many more opportunities ahead.
“Sometimes, I tell people I was too dumb not to know I shouldn’t do these things,” said Neal. “I had total belief I could make it. I had total belief I got a fair shake, I’d be OK. Fortunately for me, that positive attitude and the work ethic I learned in wrestling helped me stick around so long.”
His wrestling background was a big key in making such a big transition in a short time. Initially pegged for defense in the tryouts, he was switched to the offensive line, where he went on to be one of the best in the NFL.
“There were a lot of things in wrestling that helped me such as hand position and inside ties. If I were to get beaten, I could recover with my wrestling hips. I could anticipate what a defender is trying to do. There were a few things that didn’t translate. The language is so different. In wrestling, there are two people, in foot- ball, there are 22 people. You have to know what other people are doing, not just yourself. You have to rely on people and trust people,” said Neal. Ten years later, after an outstanding professional football career playing offen- sive right guard for the NFL New England Patriots, Stephen Neal retired from his new sport. He was a starter for the Patriots, protecting all-Pro quarterback Tom Brady and opening holes for a vari-
36 USA Wrestler36 USA Wrestler
World champion and former New England Patriots standout Stephen Neal was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2012. Larry Slater photo.
ety of Patriot running backs. “With Tom Brady, it was his attitude. He always has a chip on his shoulder. He is such a great competitor. It is so conta- gious around the locker room, seeing your leader getting after it,” said Neal. With his Patriot teammates at his side and Coach Bill Belichick on the sidelines, Stephen Neal walked away with three Super Bowl championship rings from his football career. “We really were a team. You see a lot of good players on football teams, but you don’t see a lot of good teams. We all checked our attitudes at the door. We had a common goal, and we achieved it three times,” said Neal. Initially, wrestling wasn’t the sport Neal was expected to master. His parents were both successful athletes, but neither had a wrestling background. His father played college basketball and had a foot- ball background. Stephen discovered wrestling on his own. “I started in ninth grade on a dare. I didn’t want to quit because I’d admit defeat to my buddy who dared me. After a year, I fell in love with the sport. My first year was at 135 pounds, then 140 pounds and 152 pounds on the JV. By my senior year, I was 189 pounds, the same height, but I was skinny,” said Neal. While at San Diego High School in California, Neal was a talented athlete
who was mostly under the radar in wrestling. He placed fourth in the California state championships in his sen- ior year. However, that summer, Neal won a gold medal at USA Wrestling’s Junior Nationals in freestyle, the first indication of his vast potential.
“At Junior Nationals, I competed at 220 pounds and didn’t drop any weight. It opened up a lot of doors for me. I had already signed with Cal State-Bakersfield. Having the confidence to win that tourna- ment, I knew if I believed in myself I could have success,” said Neal. At Bakersfield, Neal not only grew in size, but quickly asserted himself on the national level. As a freshman for the Roadrunners, Neal was the starting heavyweight and placed an impressive fourth at the NCAA Championships, also helping lead the team to third place in the NCAA standings. “We had great leadership and coach- ing, led by coach T.J. Kerr. We were from California and we didn’t have any funds, but we had a lot of tough kids who want- ed to work hard and gave up our sum- mers on the mat. We had great assistant coaches, Darryl Pope and Rich Bailey. There were a lot of great people there,” said Neal.
Neal was big and strong, but did not wrestle like a typical heavyweight. He
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