Carl Weathers: ICON
Josh B.
People don’t give February enough credit. It may be the shortest month of the year, but it’s also the month of Valentine’s Day, where we show the people who we love how much they mean to us. More than that, February is Black History Month. So, in the spirit of both love and respect for this important time of year, I’d like to reflect on an important man that we lost not too long ago: Carl Weathers.
Carl Weathers
Born January 11th, 1948, Carl Weathers grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was an incredible athlete, having been involved in boxing, gymnastics, judo, soccer, wrestling, and perhaps most notably, football. In 1966, he played as a defensive end for Long Beach City College, before sustaining an injury and transferring to San Diego State University. There, he helped the Aztecs win the 1969 Pasadena Bowl, and finished his career with an incredible 11-0 record. However, while football had gotten Weathers into college, it was never what he wanted to do with his life. Carl Weathers’ first great love was acting, and thanks to his football scholarship, he was able to earn a Master’s Degree in Theater Arts.
After college, Carl Weathers signed with the NFL’s Oakland Raiders as a free agent in 1970. However, Weathers only played in seven games with the Raiders before they released him, with John Madden himself claiming Carl was “just too sensitive”, something that would affect the trajectory of his life. After four years of play with the Canadian Football League team, the BC Lions, in which he did not record any stats, Carl Weathers knew he’d had enough of football and retired to pursue acting full time.
Weathers had slowly been building his acting resume while playing football, with small roles in films like Bucktown and Friday Foster, as well as guest appearances on shows like Good Times, Cannon, Starsky & Hutch and Barnaby Jones. Of course, those of you that recognize the name “Carl Weathers” will know that his first true big break came in his role as Apollo Creed in 1976’s classic boxing film, Rocky. In the research for this article, I found out that not only did Carl Weathers have practical boxing experience, but one of the central reasons he was cast over other actors was because Weathers actually criticized Sylvester Stallone’s acting during the rehearsal process. Stallone, being the director, writer, and lead actor of the film, could have easily taken this the wrong way, but he recognized Weathers’ knowledge in the craft of acting, and gave him the part of Apollo, which he would reprise in Rocky II, Rocky III and Rocky IV.
I watched the Rocky films from an extremely young age, at around only five or six, and I still remember how much the death of Apollo Creed in Rocky IV affected me. I always thought Apollo was one of the coolest characters around, with the effortless way he shrugged off challengers, the bravado he could back up in the ring, and his love of over-the-top showmanship. So, to see him die really rattled me, especially when at that time, death itself was such a foreign concept to me. For more time than I’d like to admit, I believed that Carl Weathers himself was dead, because I’d seen Apollo die. It was later that I saw Carl Weathers return in Predator, as Al Dillon, and realized that Carl was alive and well! Only to later watch him die again, in a much more brutal fashion. But hey, that’s Hollywood for you.
Despite the fact that Predator released back in 1987, the film has endured in pop culture, thanks in no small part to Carl Weathers’ performance as Dillon. His handshake turned arm-wrestling match with Arnold Schwarzenegger at the film’s beginning has become nothing short of iconic, thanks to the moment being endlessly imitated through other movies, TV shows and of course, memes. Weathers’ character is also the entire reason that Schwarzenegger (Dutch) even runs into the Predator to begin with, as he is a CIA operative tasked with investigating the strange deaths occurring out in the South American jungle. Without Carl Weathers’ character and the charisma behind it, the whole Predator franchise wouldn’t exist!
While Carl Weathers made himself known with more action-oriented, dramatic roles, like the films Action Jackson and Fortune Dane, that’s not to say that was all he was known for. Far from it – Weathers also made a name for himself in comedy, starring alongside Adam Sandler in 1996’s Happy Gilmore as Chubbs, Sandler’s mentor in the film who had a prosthetic arm and made many hilarious pratfalls. Though to me, Carl Weathers’ funniest role will always be when he played himself in Arrested Development. In the series, Carl Weathers had been hired by the character Tobias to be his acting coach. However, rather than give any actual acting advice, Carl would dispense life advice, often at inopportune, random times. To this day, I still think about the phrase “you got a stew going” and laugh.
Carl Weathers was a man of many talents, some I had no idea of before the writing of this article. Namely, his career in football. As strange as this may sound, it’s inspiring to me that Weathers was able to find his way to doing what he loves. Additionally, learning of Carl Weathers’ outspoken nature as an actor, being able to voice his concerns to Stallone, when he knew that could cost him the role, really speaks to me. It’s a testament to believing in yourself, and in the things you’re passionate about. If you truly love what you’re doing, people will recognize that passion and expertise, and listen to you. It’s something I think all of us could stand to remember now and then. That’s what Carl Weathers has taught me.
Rest in Power.
