Why did Ronnie Coleman leave the Police force?
Ronnie Coleman served as a Police officer in Texas during his peak bodybuilding years, from 1998 to 2003.
Cop and bodybuilder - both of these roles take up one's effort and energy, and it certainly wasn't easy to manage without the senior officers being supportive of Coleman. In a video by @generationiron on YouTube, Coleman reminisced about his seniors' support for him:
"The chief came and said 'Hey man, uh I know you won the Olympia and we really want you to stick around so you don't have to come to work." [1:26]
Ronnie Coleman as a cop, had to study and qualify for certain legal subjects. But his chief had excused him, allowing him to take as much time off as he wanted to.
"I would work for the most part until the Olympia came around and I'd take three months off and get ready for the show, and I didn't go to work," Coleman said. [1:52]
Thanks to his chief, Coleman could show up at work whenever he could and wanted to. But that chief quit and came a new one, who didn't feel as free as the previous one did. He, in turn, required Coleman to show up at work full-time.
"I'm like man, I can't be working all the time and getting ready for the Olympia too. So I ended up having to quit," Coleman said. [2:29]
Watch Ronnie Coleman speak about his days of managing two demanding jobs at a time:
Ronnie Coleman inspires trainee Street Cops in Orlando
The fact that he won his first few titles while still being in service, is an inspiration for many. This was evident when few months ago, Coleman was invited as a guest at a Street Cop Convention in Orlando. There he gave a speech for the trainee cops. Coleman sat on the stage and acknowledged that his calling was still like that of a cop:
"We were put here for a reason and I believe wholeheartedly, we have a calling to make this world a better place for each and every single one of us. We all have a purpose, we all have a calling." [1:10]
Coleman continued despite the applause almost suppressing his voice:
"The passion I had for working out the passion that I had for working for the Police department, I was doing two of the jobs that I truly loved doing each and every single day. I had the best life ever and I still to this day, miss working that job, continue to serve with honor, courage and compassion." [1:25]
The trainee cops were excited to have the bodybuilding legend among them, and one spoke:
"He's a mentor to a lot of people, (not just as a cop), in general, just to show that you can do two full-time jobs all at one time with the bodybuilding and law enforcement having its own specific battles. I'm really thankful that they brought him out here for this type of event." [3:15]
In a recent train-and-talk video with influencer Alex Eubank, Ronnie Coleman talked about some crazy incidents from when he used to serve the Texas Police Department.