Justin Britt, Seattle Seahawks: Tom Cable, assistant head coach and offensive line coach for the Seahawks, told the team’s official website in May 2014 how likes a wrestling background in his linemen, especially Britt. “Love it. Yeah, I love it. (Britt’s) competitive. Loves to grind. Loves to work. He’s got his priorities in line.” Britt credits his mat background, telling Seahawks.com, “I think that’s where my competitive edge comes from. In football, O-line doesn’t get looked at a lot. But you know you’re one-on-one every play with somebody. So either you’re going to win or you’re going to let him win. It’s whoever works harder and prepares harder. Being a wrestler, you get pushed to limits you didn’t even know you could be pushed to. Everybody is looking at you, and you don’t want to be the guy that gives up in front of however many people are there. So the adrenaline kicks in. You get a second breath of fresh air and you start going again.”
Josh Kline, New England Patriots: It was Kline's wrestling skills that caught the Patriots' eye when he came out of college. "Bill Belichick (Patriots coach) has always loved wrestlers as football players," Mason football coach Brian Castner told WCPO-TV, the ABC affiliate in Cincinnati. "Those skills marry well together." His high school wrestling coach, Craig Murnan, added, “It's hand-fighting and footwork. It's push-pull, one-on-one, and it's the same for linemen. What impressed the coaches was his great footwork. Plus, he has that mentality to thrive under pressure, like when you're wrestling in front of 17,000 people in the state finals. Those things and his work ethic, I think, helped him stand out as an undrafted free agent." "He had the perfect recipe for success," Castner told WCPO. "The tenacity was there. The skills he developed at Mason helped get him a scholarship to Kent State, where he played for a great coach, Darrell Hazell (now at Purdue). When he didn't get drafted, he was lucky enough to land with the New England Patriots, one of the best franchises in the NFL. And now the Super Bowl. It's a great story." Belichick said Kline has "come a long way," adding, “He was an undrafted player, spent time on the practice squad, spent time on the roster, hasn’t had a lot of playing time, but he’s a very tough, competitive guy. He’s smart. He learns well. He’s been a multi-position player for us.”
J.R. Sweezy, Seattle Seahawks: In an Oct. 2014 post to its Facebook page, Hazen Highlander wrestling program in Renton, Wash. – where the Seahawks’ training facility is located – described an interview Sweezy had given to KIRO radio, saying, “He attributes his body awareness, positioning, and relentlessness to the sport of wrestling. He stated that every high school student should wrestle. He also said that he can beat teammate and fellow state champion Justin Britt!”
Curley Culp (retired): There are two sides to Curley Culp. There’s the imposing physical specimen with broad shoulders and massive chest who made crowds go “ooh” when he stripped off his robe to wrestle, described by his high school wrestling coach as having “muscles on top of muscles on top of muscles ..." employing a strategy one of his rivals at the 1967 NCAAs said was "to get his hands on his opponent and destroy him with his strength." Culp pinned his NCAA finals opponent in less than a minute. Yet, Culp was an A student, member of his high school’s National Honor Society and president of the school’s Future Farmers of America… his Arizona State classmates voted him Homecoming King and “Boy with the Best Smile”… and his opponents in wrestling and football uniformly described Culp as a gentleman. As a linebacker for Arizona State, Culp was named a football All-American by both The Sporting News and Time, one of the few college athletes to earn All-American honors in both football and wrestling. Legend has it that he was so strong, he broke the helmets of three of his teammates in practice. In the 1968 NFL Draft, Culp was a second-round pick of the Denver Broncos, which planned to switch him to offense… but, instead, during training camp, traded him to the Kansas City Chiefs where he was starting left defensive tackle. In his second season, he helped the Chiefs upset the Minnesota Vikings 23-7 at Super Bowl IV in January 1970. In 1974, he was traded to the Houston Oilers (now Tennessee Titans)… then, in 1980, to the Detroit Lions, where he concluded his career in 1981. In fourteen seasons, he was first- or second-team All-AFC five times, a six-time Pro Bowl selection… and owner of a Super Bowl ring. In August 2013, Curley Culp was welcomed into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
Stephen Neal (retired): In a 2013 interview, Neal told the San Diego Union-Tribune that wrestling had made him more fit than NFL players, saying, “The coaches saw that, this guy may not know too much about football, but he’s a hard worker and he’s willing to learn,” he said. “And so, I think they kept me around for those attributes that I got from wrestling.” Buck Rasmussen, a defensive lineman on the Patriots' practice squad and a former state high school wrestling champ in Nebraska, told USA Today in 2005, “(Neal) uses leverage to his advantage a lot, body position and stuff like that. ... Wrestling really helps." The Patriots weren’t always so impressed with the former mat champ. "When I tell you he didn't know where the field was, he didn't know where the field was," Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was quoted in a 2005 New York Times profile of Neal. "He didn't know how to put his pads on. He didn't know where to line up. He didn't even know where to go in the huddle. When I say starting from scratch, we're starting from below scratch."After Neal’s retirement, Belichick had changed his tune, saying, "They don't come any better than Steve Neal. In terms of improvement and development as a player, Steve may have accomplished more than any player I have ever been around. His toughness, intelligence and competitiveness were at rare levels and all contributed to him going from being a champion in an individual sport to being an integral part of championship teams.”