Demitrius Bronson facts for kids

Demitrius Bronson (born March 6, 1990) is an American athlete. He played professional football as a running back in the National Football League (NFL). Later, he became a professional wrestler with WWE's developmental brand, NXT. During his time in the NFL, Bronson was a member of the Seattle Seahawks and Miami Dolphins.

Early Life and High School Football

Demitrius Bronson was born in Kent, Washington. His parents are Johnny and Sandra Bronson. He has two brothers who also played college football. His brother John played for Penn State and the Arizona Cardinals. His brother Josiah played for Temple and the UW Huskies.

Demitrius was a very good football player in high school. He ran for a total of 3,810 yards during his high school career. In his final season, he gained 1,450 rushing yards. He graduated from Kentwood High School in 2008. After high school, he received a football scholarship to the University of Washington.

College Football Career

Bronson first attended the University of Washington for two years. He didn't play much during this time. In 2009, he was a backup running back and carried the ball 19 times for 89 yards. He did not play at all in 2010.

Later, Bronson transferred to Eastern Washington University. He made his debut there on September 3, 2011. This game was against the Washington Huskies. He carried the ball 5 times for 5 yards and caught one pass for 5 yards.

During the 2012 season, Bronson mostly dealt with a hamstring injury. However, he was named the starting running back for the 2013 season. Over his entire college career, he ran for 687 yards on 197 carries. He also scored 14 touchdowns. He caught 8 passes for 51 yards. While at Eastern Washington University, Bronson was also a good student and studied sociology.

Professional Football Career

Demitrius Bronson was not chosen in the 2014 NFL draft. He also wasn't invited to the NFL Combine, which is where college players show off their skills to NFL teams.

He signed a contract with the Seattle Seahawks on June 17, 2014. He was released later that year, but the Seahawks re-signed him two days later. He was then placed on their practice squad. A practice squad is a group of players who train with the team but don't usually play in games. In the 2014 preseason, Bronson ran for 76 yards. He was re-signed to the practice squad again in February 2015. In May 2015, he was released by the Seahawks. On August 10, 2015, the Miami Dolphins signed Bronson to their team.

Professional Wrestling Career

WWE NXT (2016–2018)

In October 2016, Demitrius Bronson was announced as one of nine new athletes to sign with NXT. NXT is the training program for WWE superstars. He began training at the WWE Performance Center.

He made his first professional wrestling appearance at a NXT live event on March 3, 2017. This event was in Crystal River, Florida. He teamed with HoHo Lun but they lost their match. Bronson then made his first appearance on TV on the September 27, 2017, episode of NXT. He teamed with Patrick Scott, and they lost to Heavy Machinery. On June 2, 2018, Bronson was released by WWE.

See also

• List of gridiron football players who became professional wrestlers