Bill Goldberg's son Gage was this close to playing for the Crimson Tide ... but the high school football player tells TMZ Sports he changed his mind once Nick Saban retired!
Cue Gage's WWE legend dad, who called Deion Sanders -- his former teammate with the Falcons in the early 90s -- and next thing ya know, Goldberg's on his way to Colorado!
Gage, a 205-pound middle linebacker out of Boerne Champion High School in Texas, spoke with us days after he announced he'd be playing for the NFL Hall of Famer as a preferred walk-on with the Univerisity of Colorado.