Roman Reigns was a guest on The Pat McAfee Show and discussed how he got interested in becoming a professional wrestler, which wasn't the expected route due to his devotion at the time to playing football as a defensive tackle.

"When I was in football, that's all I wanted to do. My family is so big in sports entertainment that, I didn't want that to be my identity. I wanted to be able to create my own path and then everything played out the way it was. When I made the decision hang up the cleats and pick up the boots...I told one of the Usos, we were at the bar one night, and this is when I was working for my sister and selling office furniture, we were smashing beers and he was in FCW, back for the holidays, I told him, 'I think I want to wrestle.' Under his breath, he laughed, and was like, 'What do you have to bring to the table? What's so special about you to where you think you can do this?' I never really trained, I've been around the business and watched it growing up just like him and his brother. It was a very on-point statement from him because he was going through the grind and development. He was in the fire.

From that moment on, I don't know how to put my thumb on it, but I got 'it' and I was starting to shed that football weight and I started to see the old me coming back. When I got to Tech or, even football in general, if I wasn't starting, I would sit in the back and watch guys in walkthroughs. I would see how they play the technique and how to counter or what the game plan was and I'd study it. I knew I could make myself do what was happening and what needed to be done, and also put my own spin on it. That's exactly what I did in WWE,"

Roman signed with FCW in 2010, before becoming a member of The Shield with Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins.