Illegal Foreign Object

Danny Hodge was the embodiment of strength and unbreakable will. He was a silver medalist Olympian, a Golden Gloves boxer, a multi-time high school, college, and professional champion wrestler, and a member of the U.S. Navy.

Hodge earned the value of hard work as a small child. To help his family make ends meet, he picked cotton, shucked corn, and chopped wood.

When he was a teen, Hodge’s home burned to the ground. His mother was severely injured, with burns covering 70% of her body that required 52 blood transfusions and more skin grafts than Danny could remember. With his mother in the hospital and his alcoholic dad working in the oil patch, Danny shuffled between aunts, uncles, and an alcoholic grandfather who beat him regularly. His high school wrestling coach, the legendary John Divine, came to his aid, working out a deal with the local fire department. In exchange for a cot at the firehouse, Danny dusted the firetrucks before school each morning. After wrestling practice, he worked at a Conoco gas station until 10 p.m. to pay for his food. During the summers, Hodge worked in the oilfields with his father. He credited climbing 140-foot oil derricks for his incredible physical strength at a young age. All this while dominating amateur wrestling. In 46 collegiate contests at the University of Oklahoma, his opponents never took him down from a standing position.

It is, however, the following story that best describes Hodge’s unbelievable inner strength.

Driving down a poorly lit Amarillo, Texas road late at night in 1976, Hodge fell asleep at the wheel. His car flew off the road and into an embankment full of water. The impact broke his neck. Unable to open the door of his mangled vehicle, Hodge punched through the driver’s side window. While holding his head in place with one hand, Danny crawled from the car, waded through the water, and climbed the embankment. Then, while still securing his head to prevent additional damage to his head and neck, Danny Hodge walked until he could flag down a passing car to carry him to a hospital.

Hodge returned to professional wrestling after the injury, eventually hanging up his boots for the last time in 1983 after an accident while working in the oilfields.

Known for his otherworldly strength, Hodge had a collection of strongman parlor tricks, including crushing apples, ripping phonebooks, and bending wrenches with his bare hands. Even into his late eighties, he retained this level of strength, something he attributed to his work ethic and being born with double tendons in his hands and forearms.

He is the only person in history to win amateur wrestling and boxing championships.

Danny Hodge died the day before Christmas in 2020. When he met his maker, he likely shot for the double leg takedown, took Him down, and tied Him into a pretzel.