Gregg Valentino discusses an often overlooked period of his past.
Did you know Gregg Valentino used to be a cop? It’s a small part of his past that is rarely discussed. So much so that Gregg himself was surprised when we brought it up during our interview. More interestingly, his time as a police officer was also when he nearly went blind and destroyed his eyeball. If you ever wondered why Gregg always wears sunglasses – this story is for you. In our latest GI Exclusive interview, Gregg Valentino describes how he blinded his eye during his time as a part time police officer.
Gregg Valentino is man full of stories. It’s what he’s known for ever since his time at Muscular Development magazine and from our three season digital series Storytime With Gregg Valentino. You can say that Gregg has lived many lives. He’s been a drug dealer, a bodybuilder, a competition promoter. He was also a police officer for a short period of time.
Ultimately, his life as a cop was cut extremely short due to an injury that temporarily blinded his eye. It received so much damage that he needed reconstructive surgery which now makes it impossible for Gregg to focus his iris in bright light. Thus the constant sunglasses he wears. Due to the eye injury, he could no longer be an active cop – changing his path and life forever.
The funny thing about this whole story is that his injury didn’t even come from being on duty. It came from a faulty mattress spring that shot up and scratched open his entire eyeball. Sometimes the most shocking moments of your life can come where you least expect it.
With more time to focus on bodybuilding, he eventually became the man we know today both the good and the bad. He’s a memorable personality in the sport of bodybuilding who has certainly had his fair share of troubles in the past. But perhaps he would have been a completely different person had he stayed a cop all these years.
You can watch Gregg Valentino tell the full story of his eye injury and time as a police officer by watching our latest GI Exclusive interview segment above!
