New England Patriots lineman recalls beating UFC Champion Brock Lesnar

New England Patriots offensive lineman Stephen Neal is one of a few men who holds a victory over Brock Lesnar in amateur wrestling. Neal defeated Lesnar in the 1999 NCAA wrestling tournament. "He was just this big, strong, powerful man the wrestling world hadn’t seen,” Neal told the Boston Herald. “He was so big and strong, you didn’t want to make a mistake against him.”

Lesnar said he wasn't intimidated when he faced the returning national champion. "I literally had about three months of wrestling at the Divison 1 level and the next thing I knew I was the Big Ten champ in the NCAA finals against returning national champion Stephen Neal,” Lesnar recalled. "I didn’t even know what was going on until it was over. It was a whirlwind. I didn’t have time to be scared or nervous. I just figured, 'Well, I’m beating everyone else, I don’t know why I can’t beat this guy.' But I came up a little short.” To read the full story, visit BostonHerald.com.

Powell's POV: Interesting read. It's worth noting that Neal accomplished what Lensar could not when he made a successful conversion to the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2001 and picked up some Super Bowl rings along the way.