Gable Steveson relishes his college wrestling comeback: "That little bell just kept ringing"
MINNEAPOLIS — Gable Steveson hasn't wrestled for the University of Minnesota for two-and-a-half years, but he never truly left.
When not pulled elsewhere, the pull to the Gophers was still there for the two-time NCAA heavyweight champion and Olympic gold medalist in the 2021 Tokyo Games.
"As a lot of guys were coming in I was kind of like the first one they saw as they came in because they were always like, 'Hey, I'd like to meet Gable, and like to take a picture with the gold medal we got in the office,' so that's how it started," Steveson said.
He retired from college wrestling after the 2021-22 season, but he still had one season remaining of eligibility.
"It was really hard being in the spot I was in. I was trying to come back and I was trying to finish it. And that little bell just kept ringing, like, 'Hey, you got the year left, you should do it.' And then someone else would tell me, 'Hey, you got the year left, you should do it,'" he said.
Then there's the NFL dream, a path other wrestlers have attempted. Last summer for a brief stint, Steveson signed with the Buffalo Bills, his first time ever playing football.
"You go from being great at one thing to going straight to the bottom to the next thing, and you got to really adapt to who you are and who you can be in that sport," he said. "I feel that being with Buffalo went really well and it was a great experience. Hopefully I get to, after this season, get back to it and kind of get a full offseason with a team and go into training camp and hopefully I can crack a 53-man [roster]."
He's a man of many interests, but the road hasn't always been smooth. Steveson's WWE career ended prematurely. Now, he's back in amateur wrestling, hoping to lift up the Gopher program while pushing himself forward.
"There's going to be a lot of people that are going to try to take that spark away, try to take the confidence away and kind of devalue who you are. And I feel like just going through everything and getting out of a few big companies, just not losing that spark and keeping your face out there in a positive manner," he said. "I feel like I did a decent job at it, just to keep people realizing who Gable Steveson is and what he can be."
