At San Diego State, Carl Weathers talks about his journey from Aztec to Hollywood star

Carl Weathers earned 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.

Interestingly enough, it wasn’t the audition that earned Weathers the role of boxer Apollo Creed in “Rocky” but the insult that followed that audition.

That was one of the stories Weathers shared after speaking at San Diego State, where on Thursday he was the featured guest for the President’s Lecture Series.

Weathers, 75, was a linebacker for the SDSU football team in the late 1960s before a brief professional football career and now nearly half a century in Hollywood as an actor and director.

Back to the “Rocky” story ...

Sylvester Stallone wrote the screenplay for “Rocky” in less than a week, inspired after watching the Muhammad Ali-Chuck Wepner fight in March of 1975.

Stallone pitched the script to studios, and studio heads wanted established stars like Burt Reynolds, Robert Redford, Ryan O’Neal and James Caan for the lead role of boxer Rocky Balboa, according to Business Insider.

Stallone, then an unknown, insisted that he would sell the script only if he starred as Balboa.

Weathers had no knowledge of this when he tried out for the role of Creed.

“Picture this,“ Weathers said, “it’s 5:30 or 6 o’clock on a Friday. I get my audition, finally. They didn’t really want me, or anyone like me. They wanted a boxer who could act.”

A steady stream of actors had already come and gone when Weathers’ call came. He was introduced to the producers and director before his read.

Then a door opened in the back of the room and out walked one more person — Stallone — to join them.

“They introduce him as the writer, and he’s the guy I’m reading with,” Weathers said. “I start doing my thing and chomping at the bit. Then it’s over, and I’m thinking, ‘Oh boy, that didn’t go well at all.’ ”

At which point Weathers turns and says, “If you got me a real actor, I could do a lot better.”

Silence.

“Well, I didn’t know it was Sylvester Stallone the actor who was going to play the character,” Weathers said. “All I got was this look up at me.”

Yo, Carl.

“I was told later,” Weathers added, “that Sly said, ‘Yeah, that’s the guy I want because he’s arrogant enough to play him. That’s what Apollo Creed would say.’ ”

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 a 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 knows him as Greef Karga, the leader of the Bounty Hunters’ Guild in the current Star Wars series “The Mandalorian.” (He was also Colonel Al Dillon in “Predator” and Lt. Jericho Jackson in “Action Jackson”).

More than 500 people, including Aztecs head coach Brady Hoke and several of his players, crammed into SDSU’s Montezuma Hall to listen to Weathers talk about his life and career(s).

The audience definitely tilted toward “The Mandalorian” generation.

That much was obvious whenever the discussion turned to the series. In fact, at times it seemed like an “applause” sign went on whenever sentences included the words Mandalorian or Star or Wars or the name of a character from the franchise.

The discussion began with Weathers describing growing up in Louisiana, where he was born in 1948, and how that shaped his early life.

“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 theatres. “New Orleans holds memories both good and bad.”

His athletic abilities earned him a scholarship to a private high school in New Orleans. That, in turn, opened other doors when it was time for college.

“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.’ ”

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.”

San Jose State’s quarterback is harassed by Carl Weathers (50) and Fred Dryer (77), who became Hollywood stars after their NFL days.

(Courtesy Ernie Anderson
)

Weathers played linebacker on the 1968 and 1969 Aztecs teams that went a combined 20-0-1.

“We didn’t lose,” said Weathers, his voice rising with the memory.

His coach was Don Coryell, who, the audience was reminded, could be elected to the NFL Hall of Fame a week from now.

“I think it would be fantastic,” said Weathers, who said of Coryell, “a head coach is really important. It’s like a producer. You get the right person at the helm putting all these pieces together and you’ve got a chance.

“Coach Coryell was this even-handed kind of guy who seemed to treat everyone with a kind of egalitarian attitude — even though we knew differently because, c’mon, quarterbacks always get treated better than everybody. ...

“He was approachable. And we won. Nobody complains when you’re winning.”

Weathers received a degree in theater arts, not exactly a major one would associate with 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.”

Carl Weathers balanced college football at San Diego State with acting roles like this as a theater arts major.

(Courtesy Ernie Anderson)

Weathers recalled a big Aztecs fullback named Lloyd Edwards, who “for whatever reason found it so amusing ... if he saw me anywhere around the theatre 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, then three more years in the Canadian Football League.

Weathers crossed paths with another Rocky in the CFL. He was teammates on the BC Lions with former SDSU head coach Rocky Long, who was a defensive back for the Lions during the 1972-73 seasons.

During a Q&A portion of the event, nearly three dozen people — most of them students — lined up to ask questions, things like, what other Star Wars character would he like to have played or what advice would you give to a young actor?

“I knew someone who said she wanted to be an actress,” Weathers said. “There’s small theaters. There’s regional theaters. There’s theaters in churches.

“If you want to be an actor, go be an actor. There is a difference for a lot of people, though, because what they really want to be is a movie star. That’s different.”

One person presented him with one of his action figures, to which Weathers said, “You know what’s lovely about this is that Disney’s collecting money hand over fist, and I’m not getting a penny of it.”

When the laughter subsided, another young man approached the microphone who said he is a boxer from Mexico, a super middleweight, and Apollo Creed was among his heroes.

As the man began a detailed personal history, the moderator interrupted him with, “Do you have a question?”

Finally, he asked, “How important is it to have the eye of the tiger in life?”

Sometimes it takes longer than expected to get to the laugh line.

“That preamble to the constitution was pretty long, man,” Weathers said, before adding, “To be successful in anything you have to be focused.”

When asked, “What motivates you to work hard everyday?” Weathers said, “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 you’re doing a disservice to yourself.

“I’m not a fan of that mentality. So work hard.”

Speaking with a young woman from KCR, the student radio station, the subject of gangster movies came up. That’s a role Weathers said he would relish.

“That could be fun,” Weathers said. “That’s one thing I hadn’t done yet, a mobster. That could be cool.”

Stallone is currently starring in a series called “Tulsa King,” in which he portrays a Mafia boss.

Maybe Weathers could see if there’s a role for him.

This time, he might watch what he says at the audition.