Soul player, Temple grad Morkeith Brown joins WWE with developmental contract

Apparently beating people up on the football field wasn't enough for Morkeith Brown. He wanted to literally beat people up for a living.

Brown spent the last several months taking part in his first foray into professional football as a defensive lineman for the Philadelphia Soul.

He's putting his professional football career to the side after only one season to take up professional wrestling, according to the Arena Football League.

The Temple product and former Army veteran has signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment, the largest wrestling/sports entertainment company in the world.

"It was a great opportunity," Brown told the AFL's website. "I went to a couple matches in Philadelphia. It gave me a nice adrenaline rush like I get on the field."

Brown helped the Soul make a second consecutive trip to the ArenaBowl this past season.

In 10 games with the team, he recorded 14 tackles, 4 1/2 of which were for a loss of yardage and 1 1/2 sacks.

This year's ArenaBowl was held in Orlando, Fla., which just so happens to be home to the brand new, state-of-the-art WWE Performance Center.

During the halftime festivities, wrestling legends such as Kevin Nash, Tommy Dreamer and Ken Shamrock made special appearances. Not long after the game, Brown was offered a developmental contract.

"They flew me down for a workout in Tampa and said they were interested in signing a developmental deal," Brown said. "After the championship game with the Soul, I came back down to Orlando."

Brown stands 6-feet-5 and weighs 255 pounds of solid muscle, which assuredly impressed the WWE and went a long way into them signing him. What also may have impressed the company was Brown's charisma on the field, which was on display whenever he made a big play for the Soul.

But Brown isn't going to start throwing people around just yet. His wrestling career is merely weeks old.

Despite being a lifelong fan, Brown has no prior wrestling experience and will have to learn all of the basics, including things as simple as running the ropes and taking simple bumps.

"I'm learning the small things first - how to hit the ropes, how to fall, how to take a hit, how to hit people and how to tell a story in the ring," Brown said.

Brown is far from the first football player to turn trade in his cleats for a pair of wrestling boots.

Wahoo McDaniel, "Big Cat" Ernie Ladd, Ron Simmons (Farooq), Bill Goldberg and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson are just a few of the men who have made a name for themselves on the gridiron and in the squared circle.

Pickard mentions in the story a current WWE superstar who once played for the AFL's Utah Blaze. Thaddeus Bullard, better known as Titus O'Neil, is one half The Primetime Players in WWE alongside Darren Young.