The Rock was born to be a WWE star. His stop at Miami to play college football was just practice for the brighter stage.
Strangely enough, his best preparation for the violence he eventually would see on the mat came off the field – in his coach’s office, nonetheless.
In an extensive feature in Sports Illustrated, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson opened up about the time he got into a WWE-style brawl with teammate Kevin Patrick following an argument over his lack of playing time.
After a strong preseason, Johnson had set himself up to be the only true freshman on Miami’s roster in 1990, until a shoulder injury cost him his spot and paved the way for future Hall of Famer Warren Sapp at linebacker. At the time, Johnson thought he deserved to be playing, and he often made his feelings known to the dismay of his coaches – “Are you going to cry about it or are you going to overcome that and make the play?” he recalls them saying after he voiced a complaint – and his teammates.
Patrick, Johnson’s linemate and friend, who always was “talking s–t,” chose the wrong moment to mock the muscle-man who would go on to earn millions pummeling people for a living. But, sure enough, Patrick’s words got under his skin, and Johnson went straight for the source.
Johnson goes up against a Pittsburgh lineman during a game in 1992.Photo: Getty Images
“It was like a movie fight — the desk got turned over, stuff was flying all over the place,” Johnson said. “We spilled out onto the weight-room floor, still going at it. He wouldn’t stop talking, so I decided to pull his tongue out. I stuffed my big ol’ hand into his mouth, and I had a couple of fingers around his tongue, but it was so damn slippery! I was quite serious about pulling it out, but I couldn’t quite get a hold of it. Eventually I gave up, the fight ended, and two minutes later we were hugging each other. It was so dumb.”
Johnson finished his college football career with 78 tackles and four sacks, but the more noteworthy “tackles” would come later for the eight-time WWE champion.