Everyone loves a comeup story. The teenager from Austria who grew into the Oak, the troubled kid from Brooklyn who morphed into the Predator. With Dwayne Johnson’s triumphant story, it’s no wonder why they call him The People’s Champ. Anyone who know’s about The Rock’s origins knows his life hasn’t been all glitz and glamour. He opened up to Muscle & Fitness in 2014, talking about his bouts with poverty and depression. 

“I always keep those moments that were defining for me in my past and challenged me in my past—from getting evicted out of my apartment when I was 14 years old, to being cut from the CFL and only having seven bucks in my pocket, to bouts with depression,” Johnson said. “I keep moments like that very close to me because it continues to be great motivators for me.”

SEE ALSO: 8 Things You Should Know About Dwayne Johnson

He recently harkened back to his past football struggles again, and pinpoints the moment where he decided to make himself better. We’d say he did a kickass job, here’s the post:

 

#TBT Pre-season. 18yrs old and ballin' so hard I was going to be the only freshman that season to not redshirt and play….

Posted by Dwayne The Rock Johnson on Thursday, July 16, 2015