Former NFL OT Brennan Williams Signs with WWE

Former NFL offensive tackle Brennan Williams signed a developmental deal with WWE and will begin training at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, on Monday, the company announced on its official website.

"

Boy that was a hard secret to keep.

— SHOGUN of NXT (@GREATBLACKOTAKU) August 1, 2016"

"

Things don't always go as planned but everything happens for a reason. I'm where I'm supposed to be and couldn't be happier.

WE
DO
IT
!

— SHOGUN of NXT (@GREATBLACKOTAKU) August 1, 2016"

Williams, who has been performing under the ring name Marcellus Black, had a WWE tryout in February but was not signed at the time. He has been training with WWE Hall of Famer and current analyst Booker T since leaving football in 2015.

A third-round pick of the Houston Texans in 2013, Williams never played an NFL down. He underwent microfracture surgery on his knee during his rookie season and failed to make the Jacksonville Jaguars and New England Patriots rosters in 2015.

"I don't want to be a football player who came to wrestle. I want to be a wrestler," Williams told Bleacher Report's Ryan Dilbert in December.

The list of former football players who went on to find stardom in sports entertainment is long. Goldberg, The Rock and JBL are among the biggest names who stepped into the squared circle once their football dreams faded. Baron Corbin and Mojo Rawley are current WWE Superstars with NFL pasts.

Still just 25 years old, Williams has plenty of time to develop into a viable in-ring performer. He measured in at 6'6" and 318 pounds at the 2013 NFL combine, but his billed weight at Booker T's Reality of Wrestling was 280 pounds. He'll likely slim down even more with a regimen at the Performance Center.

WWE Superstar Xavier Woods congratulated Williams on Twitter following the announcement:

Making Williams' potential all the more tantalizing is that he's been a wrestling fan since childhood. He wanted to transition to a career in wrestling once he realized he'd never become an NFL staple. 

"It's everything I thought and more. I love it," Williams told Dilbert.

The road to stardom in WWE might be even longer than it was in the NFL. With NXT becoming a haven for talent from all around the world—and becoming a successful promotion in its own right—we may not see the fruits of Williams' labor for a while.

At best, he might make his debut at an NXT house show in a few months. For now, it's a wait-and-see game.

Follow Tyler Conway (@jtylerconway) on Twitter.