Heavy metal is something that millions of people around the planet enjoy, with many athletes among them. 

Which past or present players in the NFL are big fans of this music? You might be surprised to see some of the names we came across.

The Three Former Football Players Who Now Play Together
 
Sometimes NFL spreads friendship bonds that go further than the locker room and last for a lifetime. Free Reign is a heavyweight group that includes three players who once made a living by playing in the NFL. 

Cory Procter is the drummer, but you might have seen him as a guard for the Miami Dolphins or one of the other teams he played for after a successful spell playing college football for the University of Montana.

You might also have seen him on the Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp TV show on VH1. Procter came together with the other members of Free Reign when they all played together at the Dallas Cowboys at the same time. 

The second member of the trio is Marc Colombo, who has made the switch from offensive tackle to guitar and vocals in his new career. Before this, his love for metal was inspired by a trip to see a Metallica concert when he was 13 years old. He went on to play in bands like Blackmuff and Mercs before joining Free Reign.

Finally, Leonard Davis carved out a career as a guard, with the Arizona Cardinals the other team he spent a lot of time with, apart from the Cowboys. He’s now the bass player for Free Reign, having retired from the NFL about a decade ago.

This group has one final member in it, although he doesn’t come from a football background. Justin Chapman plays guitar and joined the rest as he was already their friend. The others say that creating a band made up of former NFL players wasn’t some sort of gimmick they had in mind.

It was simply a natural progression from jamming together in the locker room and talking about music. In fact, they started performing under the Free Reign name when the former players were still playing in the NFL, which gained them a lot of publicity at the time.
The group is still performing, although their media profile isn’t as high as it once was. The members of Free Reign have admitted that it used to be difficult for them to find time for their music while they were playing pro football, so the fact that they can now concentrate on heavy metal is sure to be a good thing for this music career.

Kyle Turley Has a Unique Brand a Music

Kyle Turley made quite the impact during his time playing in the NFL. He was a pro for nine years, turning out for teams like the Los Angeles Rams, The Kansas City Chiefs, and the New Orleans Saints. Playing as an offensive tackle, Turley had a decent career and got a Pro Bowl invite in 2001, among other honors.

However, he probably regrets the fact that he’s still best remembered among football fans for an unfortunate incident where his temper got the better of him. This occurred in 2001, when he was playing for the Saints against the New York Jets.

In the last minute of the game, Jets safety Damien Robinson grabbed the Saints quarterback, Aaron Brooks, and twisted his facemask. Turley reacted to this by grabbing Robinson, causing a giant altercation to take place.

When order was finally restored, Turley appeared from under the scrum of players, holding his rival’s helmet. He then tossed the helmet down the field. He got ejected from the game for his part in the incident and while many people blamed him for the Saints losing the game, others supported his actions.

Turley retired from pro football at the end of 2007. This came after a series of injuries and surgeries had left him sitting on the sidelines more than he played. However, he has since started a new career playing a unique brand of music that he calls power country. He had jammed with other players and played in a death metal cover band called Perpetual Death Mode while playing, but the end of his career allowed him to concentrate more on music.

His style mixes heavy metal elements with country and rock to produce a powerful sound that has earned him a large following of fans. 2010 was the year that he brought out his debut album, under the title of Anger Management. His song Flying Helmets on the album alluded to the infamous incident from a few years before.

Turley has appeared under different musical guises since then, such as the Kyle Turley Band and Delta Doom, which is a doom metal group. He’s also been in the news more for his position as a cannabis advocate than for new musical ventures, so it’s not clear when we can expect to see him perform new songs.