Why Wrestle?

Tim Krumrie is known for his intensity as a football player and coach. He spent 12 years in the NFL with the Bengals.

Krumrie rattled off a laundry list of skills learned in wrestling that transfer to the football field. He says, being aware of your opponent and focusing on their every movement. Hand control. Technique. Stance. Balance. Footwork. Endurance. Quickness. Strength. He credits those traits to wrestling. Krumrie was 29-0 as a senior at Mondovi High School in Wisconsin, winning a state heavyweight championship his senior year.
"Wrestling gave me the technique to succeed in football," said Krumrie, who went on to work as a defensive line
coach for 15 years in the NFL after retiring as a player.

Conviction

“I love wrestlers; they are tough and make great Football players.” –Mike Stoops National Championship Football Coach at Oklahoma University.

“Wrestlers make coaching football easy. They have balance, coordination, and as a coaching staff, we know they’re tough.” –Tom Osborne, College Hall of Fame football coach-University of Nebraska

“I draft wrestlers because they
are tough, I have never had a
problem with a wrestler.” - Joe
Gibbs, Hall of fame Football
Coach

Community

At least 18 NFL teams have an ex-wrestler on the roster. Many teams have multiple wrestlers. The Pittsburgh Steelers have seven ex-wrestlers. The Indianapolis Colts have four, including kicker Adam Vinatieri, and Austin Blythe, a center who was a 2016 seventh round pick from the University of Iowa who is from Williamsburg, Iowa, where he won three state titles and recorded a state record 143 pins during his career.

“I think you learn more from wrestling than any other sport,” Zimmer says. “You find out so much more about yourself and about competition. When it gets down to it, it’s you and the guy across from you. When I was wrestling, for the six minutes that you’re out there, it is one of the toughest, most demanding sports that I’ve ever been around. I think guys that can go through that and compete with all the different things going on, it really defines who you are.”