#1950 - Derek Wolfe

Joe Rogan (0:04)

The Joe Rogan Experience.

So, first of all, that's a ____ hell of a ring, sir. Look at that, that's the real deal. I always want to see what one of those like, holy shit. Look at the size of his finger.

My thumb slides up and ____ nothing. That's hilarious. If you don't think Vikings were real, size 18, that's hilarious. That is so ____ big, dude. What's your thumb?

Derek Wolfe (0:35)

I don't know.

Joe Rogan (0:35)

Your thumb's like a ____ broomstick. That's ridiculous.

Derek Wolfe (0:38)

Fucking giant thumb.

Joe Rogan (0:42)

How big were you in high school?

Derek Wolfe (0:44)

My senior year, I was like six, five, 280 pounds. I wrestled, I was a heavyweight.

I wrestled heavyweight, so.

Joe Rogan (0:51)

Wow.

Did you ever think about doing MMA? Yeah. Yeah, did you?

Derek Wolfe (0:55)

Well, I trained, I started boxing with Henry Hoof down in South Florida with the Black Zillions.

Joe Rogan (1:00)

I love those guys.

Derek Wolfe (1:00)

Back in 2011, 2012, when I first got into the league, and I was training for the Combine, and I was like, man, I'm really into this MMA stuff, and I just started doing it.

Like, sparring with, just like wrestling with Overeem a little bit. Oh, wow. So I wrestled with him, keep him against the cage, and just drop to a single, bring him down, and he was like, you wrestle? I was like, yeah, I wrestled, man, I know what I'm doing.

And then when I moved to Colorado, like full-time training, because I used to go to South Florida to train, and I stopped that once I got married. So I had to step in that. And I moved to Trevor Whitman's gym.

Joe Rogan (1:38)

Oh, that's a great fucking gym, too.

Derek Wolfe (1:40)

Yeah, and Trevor was like, hey, you should really think about maybe fighting, because it's like you're 290 pounds and you're moving like this, imagine a 265

And I was like, dude, I'm not doing that. It's just not worth it.

Joe Rogan (1:54)

Is it not worth it? Well, I know you retired from football and you're still in the prime of your life.

Did you retire because of injuries? Did you decide that you had enough?

Derek Wolfe (2:07)

Yeah, it was a combination of all that. So I had double hip surgeries, I tore the labrums off the bone.

Oh, Jesus Christ. My NFL, the injuries I had while I was in the NFL were just out of control, man. 2013, I bruised my spinal cord, I was paralyzed for three hours, and then I played two weeks later.

Joe Rogan (2:24)

Oh, my God.

Derek Wolfe (2:25)

And I played for 12, it was miserable. Every time I got touched, my arms would go numb.

And I'm a defensive lineman, so my head's getting hit every play.

Joe Rogan (2:33)

Holy shit, what was the play that made your spine get bruised?

Derek Wolfe (2:37)

So I was playing on the end of the line on the right side, and I was playing a cut block. Somebody tried to cut my legs out, so I'm playing like sprawled out to play the cut block, and then the fullback hit me on top of the head. Oh.

And I was awake, it didn't knock me out. It just like, it felt like, you know when you're sitting on a shitter for too long? Get up.

Joe Rogan (2:53)

Yes.

Derek Wolfe (2:53)

Exactly how my whole body felt, from the nose down.

Joe Rogan (2:56)

Oh my God, you must have been terrified.

Derek Wolfe (2:58)

I was scared, but then when I could feel them touching my toes, like a couple hours after it happened, I was in the hospital, that's when I just started making jokes and stuff, because I knew something in my head just said, you're gonna be fine. I just had a feeling, I had no choice, I was a young kid, 22 years old, 23 years old.

Joe Rogan (3:14)

Wow.

Derek Wolfe (3:15)

And then 12 weeks later, I was playing good football still somehow. 12 weeks later, I had a seizure, like a bad seizure, it almost killed me, I was in a coma for 36 hours.

Joe Rogan (3:25)

Oh, sorry. So what, did the seizure come out of a play or did it?

Derek Wolfe (3:33)

No, it was because I wasn't getting fresh blood to my brain, because there was a bruise on that spinal right at the base of my brain stem, and it never healed. I didn't let it heal, two weeks isn't gonna heal a bruise, you know?