Drew Drechsel

Drew Drechsel

Remember how I talked about athletic freaks in the post about Joe Moravsky? Well Drew Drechsel is American Ninja Warrior’s answer to LeBron James and Rob Gronkowski. Drechsel began his American Ninja Warrior career in ANW3. His interest in ANW grew because the parkour tricks that he needed to do for an adrenaline rush were becoming too dangerous. That is right, the tricks that Drechsel was doing were so dangerous that a parkour runner, who is well aware of the dangerous nature of parkour, thought the tricks were becoming unsafe. Rather than risking his life with parkour, Drew Drechsel chose something that he felt was equivalent, American Ninja Warrior.

While many athletes receive nicknames based on an aspect about themselves like their job or a physical feature, Drechsel’s nickname was based on an observation. Drew Drechsel is “The Real Life Ninja.”

Since he began in ANW3, Drew Drechsel has been one of the longest tenured ninjas to compete in American Ninja Warrior. He has kept a consistent level of success, always reaching at least the Second Stage of the National Finals. Additionally, Drechsel is one of the few Americans that competes on SASUKE. Not only does he compete on SASUKE, but he excels. Drechsel has reached the third stage in every season of SASUKE except for his first when he suffered a serious knee injury, tearing his right meniscus, ACL, and MCL in addition to breaking multiple bones in his lower leg.

Despite his injury, Drechsel was soon ready to compete for American Ninja Warrior thanks to aggressive rehabilitation. From ANW4 through ANW6, Drechsel and David “Flip” Rodriguez were rivals, testing each other’s limits. After ANW7, however, Drew decided to refocus and worry about finishing the course rather than outpacing Rodriguez.

The single most impressive point in the career of Drew Drechsel, in my mind, is his work on Wingnut Alley. On the Second Stage of the National Finals of ANW9, one obstacle became a clear ninja-killer: Wingnut Alley. The transitions proved too difficult for many of the athletes, many had trouble building up enough momentum to move between the wingnuts, and those who could often had trouble keeping a grip on the wingnut upon landing due to the power they had built up.

Drew Drechsel, on the other hand, was too strong for the obstacle. Because of the advice of the other ninjas, Drew Drechsel launched at nearly full strength from one wingnut to the other. While he managed to reach the other wingnut with ease and keep a grip, his landing was rough and he injured his arm, causing him to fail the proceeding transition.

As evidenced by his failure on Wingnut Alley, if anyone has the physical skills and focus to be the next American Ninja Warrior, it is “The Real Life Ninja,” Drew Drechsel.

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