Club Shay Shay - Roman Reigns Part 2

Shannon Sharpe (0:00)

Thank you for coming back. Part two is underway.

You mentioned your wife. You've been with her since college. She was a track and field athlete. She ran the hurdles, she long jump, she triple jump. And he's like, did you know at first sight that, yeah, this gon be me, this gon be me, this me?

Roman Reigns (0:19)

I don't know if I knew she was gon be my wife, but I was definitely, I mean, the moment I saw her, I knew I was interested. I knew I needed some time with her. You know what I mean? This was like right when Facebook was hittin off.

Shannon Sharpe (0:30)

Okay, okay.

Roman Reigns (0:31)

And you had to be in college and have a college email. So it wasn't like a creepy situation back then. And I was sittin there like, man, I might have to send her a little poke. You know, I need to notify her. I don't know what we were callin it back then, but I was like, I need to send a notification.

Shannon Sharpe (0:48)

Did you see, did y'all have classes together? Or did you just happen to see, oh, you're both athletes.

Roman Reigns (0:54)

So we're around the Athletic Association quite a bit. In the training room, the first time I saw her, it was in the training room in the wet area, in the cold tub, hot tub. I was doing contrast, always had terrible ankles, cut blocks, you know the deal. And I'm just sittin in there switching back, and they had just finished morning runs, and a group of them came in. And yeah, she was just right there, and I was like, huh, where the heck? And it's tech, so it's like, you know, like you said, it's a lot of nerds, and there's not a lot of women. Atlanta provides that, but those are grown women. So you know what I mean? And I wasn't a grown man at that point.

But yeah, when I saw her, but she had seen me a couple of times, and apparently she was in there too. So yeah, I was sittin there like debatin, man, should I message her, should I send her a little something? And then she messaged me.

I was like, oh, we're in, we're in, it's easy. But it wasn't, yeah, we dated for a while, we dated for a while.

Shannon Sharpe (1:48)

Who's the bad athlete, you or her?

Roman Reigns (1:49)

She would say her, but come on. But this is still, it can get heated too.

Shannon Sharpe (1:55)

Really? Yeah, yeah.

Roman Reigns (1:56)

Well she was, I mean, she tore her knees up going into college, because man, I didn't realize how tough triple jump and how violent it is. I mean, I still remember broad jumps when we were being tested. Landing a broad jump, when you're jumping as hard as you and far as you can, that can be a rough landing. And till I actually started paying attention, the way those girls, and I mean, the guys too, but to be such a little human, the way they land, I mean, it's-

Shannon Sharpe (2:21)

I was a triple jumper.

Roman Reigns (2:22)

She cra, okay, so you already know then. She cracked her kneecap.

Shannon Sharpe (2:25)

I got two heels and a little bad knee.

Roman Reigns (2:26)

Yeah, yeah, she cracked her kneecap, and it was hard for her to, she recovered from it, and she actually did compete in college, but she was a shadow of herself. But yeah, she put up some good numbers back in her day.

And she was a much higher recruited athlete in her field, but I was a football player. You know, I was a football player.

Shannon Sharpe (2:47)

It's king. In America, it's king. It absolutely is.

How would you say your wife sacrificed what she's been able to put aside so you can chase your dreams? Because I think in order for anybody to be great, especially if you have someone in your life, they have to understand the sacrifices that they have to make so you, so that individual can chase his or her dreams. And it's not always easy.

Roman Reigns (3:11)

Oh, she sacrificed more than anyone. I mean, in our household, more than I have, that's for sure. I mean, to make our family what it is, I mean, when a woman puts her body on the line to carry and deliver and we had twins, we had two sets of twins.

Shannon Sharpe (3:26)

Two sets of twins.

Roman Reigns (3:27)

Yeah, I mean, she had to go under the knife two times. And the second time I was sitting there with the doctor watching how he was getting his, I was like, man, this is even more serious than they ever let you expect it to be because you think it's just so routine. It's just, but like, it's such a big deal to go through that process and see the sacrifices and the alterations that are made to the body and then they can bounce back but they got to put that work in. So to see that type of work ethic and that love for her family and that selflessness, yeah, there's nothing like it. And then to be able to give up her identity so I can go chase mine, so I can, you know, like conquer a goal that, you know, or, you know, whatever this thing is I'm chasing, she allows me to do that and holds down the fort. Yeah, nobody, in my opinion, makes more of a sacrifice than our wives, you know, the mother of our children.