The Rock was brutally rejected by the NFL, but he considers it the “best thing that never happened to me.”

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, a Hollywood actor, has spoken candidly about not being selected by any NFL club. And how the shocking snub helped the WWE legend establish his long-term career away from the football field.

Johnson, often known as The Rock, began his American football career in college while playing for the University of Miami. He looked outstanding at the beginning of his career. In 1995, he made himself eligible for the NFL Draft in the hopes of being selected by a team. However, he was unable to generate enough interest to be selected.

The 51-year-old defensive tackle decided to play for the Canadian Football League’s Calgary Stampeders instead. Johnson’s tenure in the CFL would be very limited since he was eventually released and it appeared that the rest of his professional football career was over.

Johnson later entered the world of professional wrestling, following in the footsteps of his father, Rocky Johnson. Before becoming a Hollywood A-lister, he rose to fame as a global superstar while competing for the WWE. Johnson now claims that his early rejection by the NFL served him well in the long run.

On the second day of the draft, Johnson did have some optimism that his NFL future would still be in tact. But it turned out that the call he got was not from a potential club, but from his own grandma.

Johnson stated on the podcast The Pivot that joining the NFL “ended up being the best thing that never happened to me.” “It significantly influenced and shaped who I am. I could sit here right now and express to you how appreciative I am that I failed. When the phone rung on the second day, I thought, “This is it.” I answered the phone and greeted the person.

“And I hear my deceased grandma call me “Tuife’ai,” which is my Samoan name. I said, “Grandma.” You got drafted to the NFL? she asks. ‘Grandma, no. No, thank you. I adore you, ” boom In any case, it has molded me and contributed to who I am. Years later, Johnson would get back into football when he and his business partners Dany Garcia and RedBird Capital invested in the XFL, a minor league for American football. Johnson claims that one of the main factors in his decision to return to football is his desire to assist athletes who do not make it to the NFL.