Roman Reigns’ Football Coach Says Reigns Once Branded Himself With A Coat Hanger

In an interview with Bleacher Report, Roman Reigns’ high school football coach Greg Sibert spoke about how Reigns is in real life. He also revealed that Reigns originally showed up to training camp when he was a sophomore with an “L” (for Leati, his real name) branded on his arm, which he did with a coat hanger. Here are highlights:

On how he reacted to the branding: “Whoa, you’re just a little bit different from everyone else. I’m going to put you in a position to hurt people, because you’re mad. You burned your own arm.”

On Reigns’ father Sika watching him practice: “It wasn’t until a bit later until I realized that that was The Wild Samoan. That’s when it became real to me. That is not just fly-by-night, national armory wrestling family that’s hanging out at my football practice. That’s one of The Wild Samoans.”

On his reaction to seeing Reigns on WWE TV: “Oh, my God. There’s Joe Anoa’i. There’s the kid who used to lift weights in our weight room. The kid I tried to teach in class. He’s the kid I couldn’t get to behave.”

On Reigns’ TV portrayal: “I know that Joe is playing a character. He’s fiercely loyal to the people that are loyal to him. If you’re hating Joe’s character on TV, then Joe and the WWE are winning. If you’re still turning on [the TV] to see what he’s going to do, then he’s done his job as it’s being asked to do.”