Brian Ferguson, author of the Verne Gagne biography “Verne: Inside and Outside the Ropes,” said Gagne was drafted by both the Cleveland Browns and the Chicago Bears in the 1947 NFL Draft despite not playing a single down of football at the University of Minnesota that season because his grades were so bad he was ineligible, and that Gagne’s own family did not know this until the book was researched.
Speaking on the Shut Up and Wrestle podcast with Brian Solomon, Ferguson said Gagne’s athletic ability was so well known that two NFL teams drafted him even though he had been academically ineligible for the entire 1947 season.
“Before he was even drafted into the NFL, he could not play football at the University of Minnesota in 1947 because of his grades,” Ferguson said. “His grades were awful. However, right at the end of ’47 when they had the NFL Draft, he didn’t play a down, and he was still drafted by the Cleveland Browns and the Chicago Bears. That’s how good of an athlete he was.”
Ferguson said Gagne was on academic probation at the University of Minnesota at least four times. Despite being a poor student, his reputation as an elite athlete in both football and amateur wrestling was so strong that NFL teams were willing to draft him sight unseen for the 1947 season.
The Family Didn’t Know
Ferguson said one of the most surprising aspects of researching the book was discovering how much of Gagne’s history was unknown to his own children. The family knew Gagne was from Corcoran, Minnesota, but did not know the family originally came from France. They also did not know about the NFL draft history.
“When I started doing my research, I was very honestly surprised at some of the stuff they didn’t know about,” Ferguson said. “They always knew they were from Minnesota, but they actually came over from France, and they didn’t know that. They just thought they were from Canada. And things like Verne’s athletic ability, they talk about it, but they never knew he was drafted by the Cleveland Browns as well.”
A 95 Percent Success Rate
Ferguson also highlighted Gagne’s contributions as a trainer, saying Gagne trained over 144 professional wrestlers during his career with an estimated 95 percent success rate of producing performers who went on to become main event-level talent. His most famous class, the class of 1972, included Ric Flair, Ken Patera, the Iron Sheik, and Jim Brunzell.
“He trained Ric Flair, Rick Steamboat, Sergeant Slaughter, Baron Von Raschke, all the Anderson brothers,” Ferguson said. “If you couldn’t cut it, you’re out, you’re gone. It doesn’t matter.”
Ferguson said Gagne ran his training camps in what he described as “this crappy barn in Minnesota that had horses in it before,” where trainees worked six hours a day, six days a week.
“I don’t think he gets enough credit for that,” Ferguson said. “That’s another reason why I wrote the book.”
Only Two Champions Retired as Champion
Ferguson noted that Gagne is one of only two recognized world champions in wrestling history to retire while still holding the title. The other is Frank Gotch, who retired as world champion in 1913.
“He’s been the only world champion to ever retire as a world champion ever that I know of,” Ferguson said. Host Brian Solomon confirmed the only other example is Gotch.
Ferguson said he wrote the book because he felt Gagne’s contributions to the business had been underappreciated in recent years. “In the last several years, especially since his passing, he’s kind of been lost and not appreciated as well as he should be,” Ferguson said. “Verne was huge in Minnesota, Wisconsin, the Dakotas, Iowa, all the northern part of the Midwest. He was it. And I just think his story was lost.”
The book, “Verne: Inside and Outside the Ropes,” is available on Amazon in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats. It was written with the cooperation of the Gagne family, including Greg Gagne and two of Verne’s three daughters.
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