Former WWE Wrestler Drozdov Dead At 54
Darren Drozdov, who played briefly for the NFL before rising to fame as a professional wrestler, passed away at the age of 54.
In 1993, his only regular-season game, Drozdov, a defensive tackle, joined the Denver Broncos after playing college football at Maryland. Along with the CFL, he also played for a while with the Jets and Eagles. Drozdov gained some notoriety during the 1993 preseason when he puked on the football during a nationally broadcast game. Drozdov told the media that his inability to control his vomiting was an issue.
“I get sick a lot,” Drozdov said at the time. “I was a quarterback in high school, and I’d start throwing up on my center’s back. I don’t have a lot of control out there.”
Drozdov’s gastrointestinal problems actually aided his career after his professional football career ended. In the wrestling documentary Beyond the Mat, he was shown seeing Vince McMahon and puking in his office on cue while McMahon encouraged him and called him “Puke.”
However, Drozdov’s career in professional wrestling was ended when he suffered a serious spinal cord injury while competing in a WWF match.
Drozdov was slammed by another wrestler, who caused him to fall on his head and break two vertebrae. He did not move again. In a statement today, Drozdov’s family said that he passed away from “natural causes.”
