10 THINGS YOU DON’T KNOW ABOUT CARL WEATHERS
FORMER football player Carl Weathers found greater success off the field after his hard-hitting performance as Apollo Creed in Rocky. Last year, the onetime Oakland Raiders linebacker joined the
Star Wars universe as bounty hunter boss
Greef Karga in The Mandalorian and returns this fall for season two of the sci-fi series. Here are ten things you don’t know about 72-year-old Carl.
1 He was born in New Orleans in 1948.
2 As an eighth grader, he earned an athletic scholarship to
St. Augustine
High School in
Louisiana.
3 At San Diego State University, he was a football teammate of future Hunter star Fred Dryer.
4 He played only eight games with the Raiders between 1970 and 1971 before he was released.
5 He moved on to the BC Lions in the Canadian Football League and studied drama at San Francisco State University in the off-season.
6 He retired from pro sports in 1974 and pursued an acting career — scoring bit parts in movies and TV shows, including Starsky and Hutch, Good Times and
Barnaby
Jones.
7 Sidney
Poitier’s work inspired him to become an actor. “The first time I saw him, I think, was Lilies of the Field, and what probably closed the deal for me
8 Not realizing Sylvester Stallone was the star of Rocky, Carl insulted him during his audition, telling director John G. Avildsen, “I could do a lot better if you gave me a real actor to work with.”
9 He’s been married and divorced three times.
10 In 1981, he released the R&B single You Ought to Be with Me, which peaked at 71 on the charts.