One year ago Friday, Carl Weathers returned to San Diego State as the featured guest in the President’s Lecture Series.
Weathers, an Aztecs linebacker during the Don Coryell era and SDSU theater major, discussed his life and long acting career before a packed audience of more than 500 people — including then-Aztecs head coach Brady Hoke and several of his players — at SDSU’s Montezuma Hall.
Afterwards, Weathers spoke off stage with a group of student journalists. One asked what advice Weathers had for youth who wanted to follow in his footsteps, but might not have the resources to do so.
“There’s an assumption there that there are certain resources that I may have had,” Weathers said. “You can do what you want to do with almost anything, or with almost nothing.
“None of that matters. The thing that matters most is your desire and your commitment. Your willingness to do what is necessary to make it so.
“That’s really what’s necessary. Resources? That can lead you down a rabbit hole because you don’t have enough money. … You want to do it? Get off your butt and go do it. Don’t make excuses. Don’t have reasons why you can’t. Find reasons to do it.”
They were words of encouragement then, and part of his legacy now.
Weathers died “peacefully in his sleep” on Thursday, his family announced. He was 76.
“Carl was an exceptional human being who lived an extraordinary life,” his family said in a statement to Deadline and Variety. “Through his contributions to film, television, the arts and sports, he has left an indelible mark and is recognized worldwide and across generations. He was a beloved brother, father, grandfather, partner, and friend.”
Weathers was very active on social media, commenting on anything from sports to politics to movies to society. His X (formerly Twitter) profile reads: “Diggin’ life’s martini, with a twist of 21st century consciousness.”
He made more than half a dozen posts on X a day before his death. He ended each post with: #BePeace.
Weathers enjoyed an acting career that spanned six decades, beginning with bit parts in such 1970s television classics as “Good Times,” “Cannon,” “The Six Million Dollar Man,” “Kung Fu” and “Starsky & Hutch” before the role that changed his life came along. In 1976, he played Apollo Creed in “Rocky.”
Weathers went on to play Creed in four “Rocky” films, though it is just one of several memorable characters he has played through the years.
In fact, one can judge the age of the fan by the Weathers character they most relate to from his career.
One generation knows him as Creed.
Another generation knows him as Chubbs Peterson, the golf instructor from the 1996 Adam Sandler comedy “Happy Gilmore.”
And still another generation knew him the past five years as Greef Karga, the leader of the Bounty Hunters’ Guild, in the Star Wars series “The Mandalorian.”
This is not to overlook star turns as Col. Al Dillon in “Predator” and Lt. Jericho Jackson in “Action Jackson,” among dozens of other roles.
On Friday, Sandler wrote on Instagram: “A true great man. Great dad. Great actor. Great athlete. So much fun to be around always. Smart as hell. Loyal as hell. Funny as hell. … Carl will always be known as a true legend.”
Weathers, who was born Jan. 17, 1948, began his talk on SDSU’s campus last year with a story about growing up in New Orleans.
“Before the so-called civil rights movement, it was a little dark, to say the least, for people of my color,” said Weathers, who remembered movie audiences being segregated at the local theaters. “New Orleans holds memories both good and bad.”
Weathers’ athletic abilities earned him a scholarship to a private high school in New Orleans, though he graduated in 1966 from Long Beach Poly High School.
“I wanted something more,” Weathers said. “That first trip to California took me out of New Orleans and it was like, ‘Oh, the promised land. That’s where I belong.'”
He played defensive end at Long Beach City College before transferring to SDSU.
Of San Diego and SDSU, he said: “The town was such a great place to land for a kid who really … was trying to find their way. I experienced a greater degree of comfort on this campus than I can remember almost any place at that time in my life.”
Weathers played linebacker on the 1968 and 1969 Aztecs teams that went a combined 20-0-1.
“We didn’t lose,” said Weathers.
Weathers was a Theatre Arts major, not exactly what one would expect of a football player.
“That’s a Dr. Jekyll-and-Mr. Hyde existence,” Weathers said. “Here’s a guy in tights doing Shakespeare and all these other plays and on the stage.”
Weathers recalled a big Aztecs fullback named Lloyd Edwards, who “for whatever reason found it so amusing … if he saw me anywhere around the theater building, he would go, ‘Yo, Actor.’
“I’m a football player, Lloyd,” Weathers would tell him. “Don’t do that. It’s embarrassing. But that was the way it was. When I was with the actors, I wore whatever that hat was, and when I was playing football, I wore that hat.”
Weathers played two seasons in the NFL with the Oakland Raiders, helping them win the AFC West in 1970 after signing as a free agent. After three years in the Canadian Football League, Weathers retired from football and turned to acting.
During a Q&A portion of the SDSU event, nearly three dozen people — most of them students — lined up to ask questions.
One asked Weathers what motivated him every day.
“If you don’t work hard, what’s the alternative? Do you want to be rewarded for being lazy?” he asked. “Do you want to be rewarded for not showing up? Do you want to be rewarded for not being good at what you do? …
“Why not do the best job you can do because that’s the way you want to live your life? You want to half-ass things, fantastic? There’s a lot of people doing that.
“But that, to me, is just criminal, because you’re doing a disservice not just to people around you but your doing a disservice to yourself.
“I’m not a fan of that mentality. So work hard.”
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