NEW DIRECTION
Former Hodge winner Neal forced to re-learn football before joining NFL's New England Patriots
After not playing football for seven years, Stephen Neal knew there were plenty things he had to re-learn about the gridiron sport.
That included a sense of direction.
“When I was wrestling, I was usually attacking and going forward,” said Neal, the former two-time NCAA champion and 1999 Hodge Trophy winner from Cal-State Bakersfield. “In football you go forward in run blocking but in pass blocking you’re backing up and you have to stay on your feet.”
Considering Neal’s success on the mat, where he also won a world championship in freestyle for the United States in 1999, it’s hard to imagine the former heavyweight wrestler ever being knocked off his feet. But in falling short in his bid to represent the U.S. at the 2000 Olympics — Neal lost to two-time Olympian Kerry McCoy at the Olympic Trials that year — a door was also opened to live out another dream: playing football on the pro
fessional level for New England Patriots.“The success I had in wrestling gave me the opportunity,” said Neal, who has since grown into a 6-foot-5, 305-pound starting guard for the defending Super Bowl champions. “I got to meet with an agent through (former two-time Olympic Greco Roman heavyweight) Matt Ghaffari. (The Patriots) gave me a workout and saw that I was a little bit athletic. Wrestling got me in the door.
“The other things about wrestling — like work ethic — helped me learn the game a little quicker than other people.”
And Neal had plenty to learn considering the native of San Diego, Calif., had not suited up for an organized football game since his senior year at San Diego High School in 1994, the same year he finished fourth in the California state high school tournament.
“I looked at my options for football,” Neal said. “I had a Div. II opportunity with California-Davis and Northern Colorado. I wanted to be at Div. I whatever sport that I played.”
That sent him to Bakersfield, where he won 156 of 166 matches and earned four All-American honors between 1996 and 1999 (Neal finished second to McCoy in 1997 and fourth in 1996).
Neal said there are many wrestling skills that he took with him to the NFL.
“The things that carry over are the balance and the hand-fighting,” Neal said. “You always want your hands inside your opponent.”
Neal had plenty of challenges to overcome before earning a starting spot for the Patriots. In fact, even though he was first signed by New England, July 23, 2001, he was actually cut by the Patriots one month later and spent that fall on the Philadelphia Eagles practice squad. But by season’s end, he was re-signed by the Patriots.
“(New England coach Bill) Belichick told me that he wanted to pick me up the next year and work with me in the off-season,” he said. “I was pretty excited about that, but then the Eagles picked me up on a practice squad so I was there for 12 weeks. After that the Patriots called me up and put me on their active roster. They were just locking me in for the next year. Once they put you on an active roster, no one else can touch you.”
Neal actually earned his first start in 2002 against the Green Bay Packers. Unfortunately, that success was short-lived as he suffered a shoulder injury and was sidelined for the rest of that season and 2003.
“I was really disappointed,” Neal said. “I was a little banged up before the game and tried my best. It just didn’t work out.”
Neal took the same no-quit attitude that first brought him to wrestling –— “I started wrestling in high school because some kid in high school told me it was harder than football,” Neal said. “I didn’t believe him and I didn’t want to quit and give him the satisfaction and I stuck with it.” –– during his rehab period.
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