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In honor of Black History Month in February, USA TODAY Sports will be publishing the series “29 Black Stories in 29 Days.” Examining the issues, challenges, and opportunities that Black athletes and sports professionals continue to face after the nation’s racial tally following the 2020 killing of George Floyd. This is the fourth in the series..
In the 1970s, years before Carl Weathers’ Apollo Creed character lost out to Rocky Balboa, he was a member of the Oakland Raiders. It’s not a movie. In real life.
Weathers, a defensive end at San Diego State, went undrafted by the NFL but signed with the Raiders as a free agent. He played in seven games in the 1970 season, and Weathers told Sports Illustrated that one day he was called into legendary coach John Madden’s office and brought his playbook. I was told to come.
“I don’t know what he meant, but I know how I took it,” Weathers explained. “He said to me, ‘You’re too sensitive.’ What do you mean I’m too sensitive? That’s not true.”
Madden’s comments will have a big impact on Weathers, who will play in the Canadian Football League as a member of the BC Lions.
“I couldn’t let it go,” he said. “It was like a shoulder injury on the one hand and a scar on the other. As a football player, certainly as a professional football player, the last thing you want to hear is yourself. On the other hand, if you don’t have that sensitivity, how can you be an actor? There’s no way you can be a worthy actor.
“That’s what we’re trading. We’re trading a performance that delves into the humanity of all of us. So, on the one hand, it’s like an accusation, like I committed a crime. And on the other hand, I think it reminded me of something. “It was something I envisioned to be successful and to do with my life as a performer, as an artist.” So to John Madden, for seeing something in me and naming it for what it actually is: a certain level of sensitivity. God bless you.”
Weathers died in his sleep last week at the age of 76. His role in the film Rocky has been well documented, and his football career was also impressive, although less well known. But there are other things just as important as what Weathers did.
The movie “Predator” will be in the top 20 or even top 10 of many science fiction fans’ lists. This is especially true if you’re a hardcore sci-fi geek like me and watched this movie in all its spooky glory when you were in your early 20s.
Even in 1987, when the film was released, there were few black movie stars in science fiction, and Weathers’ character Dillon was the Dutch equivalent of Arnold Schwarzenegger. The infamous handshake between the two characters has since become a goofy meme, but at the time it was a symbol of their equality.
He then played the leader of a bounty hunter union of sorts in the Star Wars spinoff The Mandalorian. He was really good in the series, but it was his role in “Predator” that launched Weathers into the high orbit of science fiction. That’s how good the movie was. Weathers was that great.
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