BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Hall of Fame pro wrestler Bill Goldberg isn’t just another celebrity that coach Deion Sanders has walking along the Colorado sideline. He’s not just another big name brought in to deliver motivational speeches.
Goldberg’s got a vested interest in the program with his son, Gage, a freshman walk-on linebacker for the Buffaloes. Gage Goldberg, a two-sport standout in high school, could’ve gone just about anywhere — almost did, too — but the family picked Boulder in part due to his father’s relationship with Sanders. Because three decades ago, Sanders took Bill Goldberg, a young and hungry defensive lineman trying to earn a spot with the Atlanta Falcons, under his wing.
It’s something Goldberg has never forgotten.
“I’m greatly appreciative for it,” Goldberg said in a phone interview as he wrapped up filming in Oregon for an upcoming TV show so he could make it to Colorado’s season opener Thursday night against North Dakota State. “I couldn’t be happier for Deion, for my son and the team.”
From Saban to Sanders
Coming out of Champion High School in Boerne, Texas, Gage Goldberg flew a bit under the radar. He wasn’t a high-profile recruit simply because he split his time between football and baseball.
Ultimately, the 6-foot, 210-pound linebacker wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father, a defensive lineman out of Georgia who got picked by the Los Angeles Rams in the 11th round of the 1990 draft.
Gage Goldberg was set to go to Alabama and try to make Nick Saban’s squad. But that changed when Saban announced his retirement. The family reached out to Georgia and Colorado.
Within minutes, the Buffaloes called back and had a walk-on spot for him.
“As a father, you obviously want your son to go to a place where he fits in, where he can prosper, where he can learn, where he can get a great education and just learn how to be a good person,” Bill Goldberg said. “So all of that pointed to picking up the phone and calling Deion.”
And no, this wasn’t a special favor for an old friend. Sanders is trying to turn around a team that went 4-8 last season.
“My son will earn his spot on his own,” Bill Goldberg said. “I can guarantee you that since he’s been there, he’s shown that to everybody.”
The friendship between Sanders and Goldberg
Sanders and Goldberg were teammates for a few seasons with the Falcons. Sanders was already on his way toward a Hall of Fame career, while the 6-2, 272-pound Goldberg was just trying to make the roster under coach Jerry Glanville.
Goldberg had a relentlessness to him that earned the respect of Sanders.
In a 2016 NFL Network interview, Sanders told Goldberg: “You were one of my favorite teammates ever.”
That’s because Goldberg was Sanders’ personal protector. He once drew a $10,000 fine for charging over and smashing an opponent who hit Sanders out of bounds on a kickoff return.
“Anybody that challenged Deion? I was his guy,” Goldberg said. “He’s a brother of mine.”
From the football field to the wrestling ring
How’s this for a streak: For more than a year beginning in September 1997, Goldberg went 173-0 in the ring with World Championship Wrestling. Sure, he had his signature moves — the “Spear” and ”Jackhammer” — but more than that, he just had a defensive lineman’s mentality.
“What you saw in the wrestling ring was me as a football player, only wearing my underwear, little gloves and boots,” Goldberg said. “I was just a defensive lineman. That’s all I am, period.”
Goldberg was inducted into the World Wrestling Entertainment’s Hall of Fame in 2018.
For that, he credits turning in the extra effort. He remembers being hunched over the steering wheel of his car once after a two-a-day practice session with Atlanta when Glanville approached.
“He comes up to the door and says, ‘You all right?‘” Goldberg recalled. “I’m like: ‘Yeah, Coach, it’s just another day. I’m just trying not to get cut.’
“He says, ‘If I had 22 of you, I’d win the Super Bowl every year because I know that you’d run through a wall for me, for yourself and for your teammates.’”
Motivational talk
Recently, Goldberg was invited to speak to Colorado’s defensive unit. New defensive coordinator Robert Livingston introduced him to the group and said that of all the celebrities that have arrived for practices at Colorado, Goldberg was the one that left him star-struck.
“When I was growing up, he was the baddest dude in the world,” Livingston said in a video posted by “Thee Pregame Show Network,” which creates content for Sanders.
Goldberg’s message that day was prepare to take advantage of any opportunity.
It’s a credo he followed as a football player, in the ring, as an actor (he was in the 2005 remake of “The Longest Yard” with Adam Sandler) and as an avid car collector (his new TV show revolves around that passion). It’s a message he also preaches to his son, Gage. Bill Goldberg forecasts big things from his son the more he works under watchful eye of Sanders and the Buffaloes staff.
“I see him as an All-American, as the best linebacker in college football,” Goldberg said. “That’s an extremely high ceiling to shoot for, but if you don’t shoot for being the best, then why do it?”
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