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Carl Weathers

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Carl Weathers

Carl Weathers (January 14, 1948 – February 1, 2024) was an American actor, director and gridiron football player. His prominent roles included boxer Apollo Creed in the first four Rocky films (1976–1985), Colonel Al Dillon in Predator (1987), Chubbs Peterson in Happy Gilmore (1996), and Combat Carl in the Toy Story franchise. He also portrayed Det. Beaudreaux in the television series Street Justice (1991–1993) and a fictionalized version of himself in the comedy series Arrested Development (2004, 2013), and voiced Omnitraxus Prime in Star vs. the Forces of Evil (2017–2019). He had a recurring role as Greef Karga in the Star Wars series The Mandalorian (2019–2023), for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.

Weathers played college football for the San Diego State Aztecs before playing professionally as a linebacker. He joined the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League (NFL) after going undrafted in the 1970 NFL draft. After two seasons with the Raiders, he played three seasons with the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League (CFL).

Weathers was born on January 14, 1948, in New Orleans, Louisiana. His father was a day laborer. As an eighth-grade student, Carl earned an athletic scholarship to St. Augustine High School, a private school. He was an all-around athlete, involved in boxing, football, gymnastics, judo, soccer, and wrestling and he graduated from Long Beach Poly High School in 1966.

Weathers played football as a defensive end in college. He started his college career in 1966 at Long Beach City College, where he did not play in 1966 due to an ankle injury suffered when he tripped over a curb surrounding the running track while warming up for practice with another linebacker. He then transferred and played for San Diego State University, becoming a letterman for the San Diego State Aztecs in 1968 and 1969, helping the Aztecs win the 1969 Pasadena Bowl, finishing with an 11–0 record, and a No. 18 ranking in the Final UPI Poll, playing for head coach Don Coryell. At San Diego State, Weathers—who considered acting his first love and had been performing in plays even back in grade school—received a master in theatre arts.

Weathers signed with the Oakland Raiders of the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 1970. Now playing as a linebacker, Weathers played in seven games for the Raiders in 1970, helping them win the AFC West Division title, on their way to the first-ever AFC Championship Game. Before the 1971 season, Weathers converted to the position of strong safety. He played in one game of the 1971 NFL season before the Raiders released him in September 1971, after head coach John Madden told Weathers, "You're just too sensitive."

Later that month, Weathers signed with the BC Lions of the CFL. He played for the Lions until 1973, playing 13 games in total. During the off-seasons, Weathers attended San Francisco State University and earned a bachelor's degree in drama in 1974.

Weathers retired from football in 1974, and began pursuing an acting career. In his NFL career he appeared in 8 games in two seasons, but did not record any stats. The only stat he recorded in his CFL career was a single fumble recovery. In later years, Weathers narrated NFL Films' season recap of the 1999, 2000 and 2001 seasons. During the 2017 NFL draft, he appeared on NFL Network's pre-draft coverage.

Weathers began working as an extra while still playing football. He had his first significant roles in two blaxploitation films directed by his longtime friend Arthur Marks: Bucktown (1975) and Friday Foster (1975). Weathers also appeared in "The Nude", an early 1975 episode of the sitcom Good Times, portraying an angry husband who suspects his wife of cheating on him with J.J. Weathers also guest-starred in "The Brothers Caine", a 1975 episode of the action TV series Kung Fu and in "The Hero", an episode of Cannon. In 1976, he appeared as a loan shark in an episode of the crime-drama Starsky & Hutch, and in the Barnaby Jones episode "The Bounty Hunter" as escaped convict Jack Hopper.

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