Goldberg Talks Playing for the Atlanta Falcons, What He Misses Most About Football, His Super Bowl Pick

With Super Bowl 51 coming up on Sunday featuring the Atlanta Falcons, WWE star Goldberg recently spoke with WWE.com about his days in the NFL. Below are some interview highlights:

Playing in the NFL and for the Falcons:

“My football career in a short synopsis was that I had to fight to stay afloat. I was smaller, so I had to be tenacious. I had to be smarter than the next guy. I had to try harder, be the first guy to show up, you know? I had to do everything right. It was a tough journey just to get that opportunity, but I gotta say something about the Falcons ’cause everybody always asks me what the coolest wrestling moment of my life was, and, obviously, 99.9 percent of the people think I’m gonna say beating [Hulk] Hogan in the Georgia Dome. That’s true, but not for the reasons they probably believe. Now, it’s true, putting 44,000 people with four days’ notice in the Georgia Dome was pretty cool, and to be able to wrestle Hogan six months into the business was cool, but the coolest thing for me was after I won and after we went off the air, The nWo was beating me down, and they handcuffed me to the corner. And then, who came out from the back to save me but 15 to 20 of my [Falcons] teammates.”

Super Bowl 51 prediction:

“At the end of the day, I played for the Falcons, I want the Falcons to win. If they’re gonna have a good shot, it’s this year. They’re a hot team, but on the other side of the ball are the New England Patriots [laughs]. But really, I just want a good game. I just want it to be entertaining.”

Misses most about playing football:

“[Laughs] Banging peoples’ heads. Dominating people. Smashing a running back. That’s what I miss. I miss the camaraderie, too, the locker room, the smell of the grass. Man, I miss every single thing about it, except for running, except for meetings, except for the stuff that traditionally is not too much fun. I do miss it terribly.”