Robert Nale Jr. was a two-time state placer for Sapulpa High School, placing fourth as a junior and earning a runner-up finish his senior year in 1978. 

He was a member of the 1982 national championship team for Central State (now University of Central Oklahoma), a team that was inducted into the UCO Athletic Hall of Fame in 2018.

Nale graduated from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol Academy in 1989, beginning a career as a law enforcement officer. On March 28, 1992, he was assisting another trooper at the scene of an accident in Oklahoma City when his left arm went numb and his head felt like it was going to explode. Unable to speak and with limited movement, he signaled for assistance and was transported to the hospital.

After viewing the bleeding in his brain, the neurosurgeon at Presbyterian Hospital in Oklahoma City told Nale’s parents he had moments to live, but his mother refused to accept it.

Whispering an often-used mantra from his wrestling days, “It’s time to let the tiger out!”, she motivated her unresponsive son back to life.