Derek Wolfe is a former NFL player who played professionally for a decade. Wolfe played as a Defensive end for Denver Broncos and Baltimore Ravens.
The ex-NFL player played for Denver Broncos from 2012 to 2019. Wolfe was the second-round pick for Broncos in the 2012 NFL Draft.
After his tenure at Denver, he was signed by Baltimore Ravens in 2020. He played for Ravens unit on June 14, 2022.
The same year, he signed a one-day contract and retired as a Denver Broncos player on 29th July 2022.
His decade-long career saw various ups and downs.
He has 316 tackles and 24.0 sacks under his belt. He won Super Bowl 50 with Denver Broncos in 2016 when they defeated Carolina Panthers with a fourteen-point difference in the final score.
Meanwhile, his career was full of injuries. Some of them include neck injury, hip injury, and spinal cord injury.
Derek Wolfe was Temporarily Paralyzed Due to Spinal Injury
Derek Wolfe revealed in his recent interview that he was temporarily paralyzed and returned after two weeks to the ground.
In the recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience Podcast, Wolfe was interviewed by Joe Rogan. The episode aired on 3rd March 2023.
During the interview, the former NFL player opened up about his career and spoke with Rogan about things like the Viking Past, 200° Workout, and NFL experience.
The highlight and the most important talk between them was the paralysis incident.
Wolfe states, "In 2013, I bruised my spinal cord. I was paralyzed for three hours, and then I played two weeks later." The incident occurred when Denver Broncos met the Seattle Seahawks in their preseason game on 17th August 2013.
The defensive player was rushed off the field by the medical team as Wolfe was lying motionless, facing the ground. The medical team took the player in an ambulance and transported him to a nearby local hospital.
Derek stated to Rogan that he was in a miserable condition and felt numbness all over his body. Wolfe said, "every time I got touched, my arm would go numb." He further added, "They told me it was a stinger. And you're fine."
After the incident, the ex-NFL player resumed his practice the subsequent week. The medical team gave him the green light, and within the span of two weeks, he played against Baltimore Ravens in Bronco's season opener.
Derek Wolfe Also Suffered A Life-threatening Seizure
Derek Wolfe also suffered a life-threatening seizure weeks after his paralysis incident. The incident occurred on November 29, 2013.
After being sidelined for only ten days due to a spinal injury, Wolfe was again admitted to the hospital.
"12 weeks later, I was playing good football still somehow. 12 weeks later, I had a seizure, like a bad seizure, and almost killed me," Derek said on the podcast. He added, "I was in a coma for 36 hours."
The Denver Broncos were heading for their next game in Kansas City, and while on the way to the airport, the unfortunate incident happened with Derek on the bus. The seizure was an after-effect of the spinal injury as fresh blood could not make its way to Derek's brain.
As per ESPN, Wolfe stated that he was thinking about getting a nap before boarding the plane.
The first to notice Wolfe's condition on the bus were his teammates, Von Miller and Terrance. They stopped the bus, and the player was taken to the hospital.
Wolfe was kept in the University Hospital in Denver, where they ran a series of tests for four or five days.
Following the incident, the defensive player also battled some other health problems. His mental state was also affected, and his body lost some weight during that period.
It was time for the player to get his mind and body on the right track. In the report by USA Today, Wolfe stated that "And the crazy thing was, the quickest way to get back to football was for me to just forget about football and worry about my life, get my life together."
The optimistic approach helped the player heal and regain his older self back. He gained over twenty pounds and did yoga.
He started practicing with the team for their pre-season game in April 2014. A better version of Wolfe returned to the field after two hospitalizations.
What is Derek Wolfe Doing Now?
Derek Wolfe has taken up hunting as his hobby. Currently, the former NFL player is seen on his hunting trips as per his social media accounts.
After calling the end to his decade-long professional football career in 2022, he joined "The Drive," a sport-talk radio program. He hosts the show that airs on the radio station named 104.3 The Fan.
Talking about hunting, one of the first pictures he posted on his Instagram account was on 7th March 2022. You can find him under the IG handle 'derekwolfe_95.' He has 1,119 posts and 207K followers.
Wolfe also has a YouTube channel entitled 'Wolf Untamed.' He has got 4.39K subscribers.
Recently, in January, Derek was called to hunt down a mountain lion in the Rocky Mountains, Colorado. He took down the animal and posted it on Instagram.
The mountain lion appears to be gigantic in the photo. The animal was terrorizing the area and had killed several local dogs and deer, because of which it was hunted down.
