# @wrestlingnewsco on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DWPfJOEgct0
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/60977008-wrestlingnewsco-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/63d3b93641.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-03-23T21:26:07.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Wrestling News - WWE, AEW (@wrestlingnewsco) — https://gondola.cc/wrestlingnewsco

## Caption

Brian Ferguson, author of the Verne Gagne biography "Verne: Inside and Outside the Ropes," revealed on the Shut Up and Wrestle podcast that Gagne was drafted by both the Cleveland Browns and the Chicago Bears in the 1947 NFL Draft despite not playing a single down of football that season because his grades were too bad to be eligible.
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"He could not play football at the University of Minnesota in 1947 because of his grades. His grades were awful. However, right at the end of '47, he didn't play a down, and he was still drafted by the Cleveland Browns and the Chicago Bears. That's how good of an athlete he was."
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Ferguson said Gagne's own family did not know about the NFL draft history until the book was researched. "They always knew they were from Minnesota, but they actually came over from France, and they didn't know that. They never knew he was drafted by the Cleveland Browns as well."
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Ferguson also said Gagne trained over 144 professional wrestlers with an estimated 95% success rate, including Ric Flair, Rick Steamboat, Sgt Slaughter, the Iron Sheik, Baron Von Raschke, and all the Anderson brothers. "If you couldn't cut it, you're out, you're gone."
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Gagne is also one of only two recognized world champions in history to retire while still holding the title. The other is Frank Gotch in 1913.
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Ferguson said he wrote the book because Gagne's contributions have been underappreciated. "In the last several years, especially since his passing, he's kind of been lost. Vern was huge in the Midwest. He was it. And I just think his story was lost."
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Full article at the link in bio.
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#VerneGagne #AWA #WWE #WrestlingHistory #ClevelandBrowns

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## Tags

awa, wrestlinghistory, vernegagne, clevelandbrowns, wwe

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