“Rest in Peace Legend”: Raider Nation Pays Respect to Former Linebacker Turned Actor Carl Weathers

The NFL world mourns the passing of former NFL player turned-actor Carl Weathers. Weathers, 76 dies peacefully in his sleep according to his family. The cause of death hasn’t been revealed yet. The Raiders nations tweeted about the passing of their former player.

 

Weathers’ NFL career started in 1970 when he signed with the Oakland Raiders as an undrafted free agent out of San Diego State University. Weathers went on to have a less-than-spectacular football career, playing just eight games as a Linebacker across two seasons. He then embarked upon a stint in the CFL for BC Lions and played 13 games for them, before from football altogether in 1974.

While he was in college, he had a passion for acting as he pursued a degree in theatre arts. After a season in the CFL, he went to San Francisco State University, where earned himself a bachelor’s in drama. Soon after his retirement, he turned his passion into his profession and landed himself some small roles in movies like Bucktown” and “Friday Foster,” as well as TV series including “Good Times,” “Kung Fu,” “Cannon” and “Starsky and Hutch according to Variety.

His first big break came when auditioned for Sylvester Stallone’s ‘Rocky’ where he ended up getting the part of Apollo Creed. Tributes poured for the beloved Rocky and Happy Gilmore actor. Fans took to social media to express their condolences. Fans said,

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His Former Rocky Co-star Sylvester Stallone, also mourned the passing of Apollo Creed. He took to Instagram and gave credit to him for being such a huge part of success and life. He said Weathers exuded greatness and credited him for the success of Rocky. In a caption he wrote,

“We lost a legend yesterday. My life was forever changed for the better the day I met Carl Weathers. Rest in power and keeping punching.”

Carl Weathers, A Life of Grit, Dedication and Never Giving Up

Born to a day laborer in New Orleans, Louisiana, Carl Weathers always had a penchant for sports growing up. A three-sport athlete in St. Augustine High School, he graduated from high school on an athletic scholarship and went on to play college ball at San Diego State where he primarily played as a Defensive End.

After a short football career, playing in both NFL and CFL, Weathers quit football and transitioned into acting. After some small roles in various movies and TV shows, he landed his first major role as Apollo Creed in Rocky when real-life boxer Ken Norton withdrew from the film. Even though he was the least favorite to land the role, he was called in to read his lines but ended up criticizing the method acting of Stallone, who was reading beside him for the part of Rocky Balboa.

His candid honesty got him the job but according to Weathers, he got the part because Sylvester wanted to beat the crap out of him. While on the Rich Eisen Show, former Raider said,

“At the end of the reading, it’s like crickets. I thought I blew the interview, so I chirp out, ‘Well, if you got me a real actor, I could probably do it a lot better’. I think I got the job because Sly wanted to beat the hell out of me.” as per Far Out.

That was the turning point in his acting career as went on to reprise his role in sequels to the Rocky franchise. The role opened the doors for him as the movie became a cult classic. His life teaches when one door shuts, another door opens. You just have to be patient and work hard towards your goal with all the dedication and grit.