Five football players from Ohio State University had the rare opportunity to explore the inner workings of the WWE Performance Center this week as part of a joint effort between WWE and the university’s player development externship program.
Defensive tackle Davon Hamilton, linebacker Justin Hilliard, long snapper Liam McCullough, offensive tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere and safety Shaun Wade toured the Performance Center, met with members of the coaching staff and learned about the various aspects of WWE’s talent development system, from strength and conditioning and in-ring training to content creation.
Additionally, the players sat in on a presentation about the WWE brand given by Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon, met Triple H and Shawn Michaels, and shadowed the likes of WWE Performance Center Coach Terry Taylor and NFL player-turned-NXT Superstar Tino Sabbatelli.
An unforgettable experience for @dmhamilton53 @JHilliard47 @LiamMcCullough2 @NicholasPetit @shaunwade2017 at their internship with @WWE @WWENXT in Orlando ‼️#GoBucks #RLW pic.twitter.com/JVbIe0bFOz
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) June 12, 2019
The goal of initiatives like this is to educate players about opportunities available to them once they transition from their primary sport, according to Paul Fair, WWE’s director of talent development.
“In this case hosting student athletes from the Ohio State football program, they were able to experience a complete immersion of what makes WWE so unique while seeing everything from production and marketing, to a day in the life of an NXT Superstar,” Fair said. “It’s collaborations like these that open up doors for the future and provide so much value to all parties involved.”
The Ohio State players capped off their visit by witnessing the excitement of NXT live and in person, as they attended the NXT TV taping at Full Sail University on Wednesday night.
The WWE Performance Center similarly hosted four Oakland Raiders in March 2018 as part of an initiative with the NFL’s offseason player engagement program.
Article source: WWE.com
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