Carl Weathers Gets The Hollywood Honor He Deserves

Best known for his portrayal of Apollo Creed in Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky franchise, Dillon from 1987’s Predator, and Greef Karga from The Mandalorian, acting legend Carl Weathers had a massive impact on Hollywood. Yet, his star honors him for his achievements in sports because Weather’s stardom stems from his professional football career with the Oakland Raiders, and just like several Raiders’ greats, Weathers, too, is going to be posthumously immortalized with one of these coveted stars.

Other Hollywood stars—Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger among them—were quick to pay tributes to the beloved actor, with both Stallone and Schwarzenegger sharing movie set stories and their memories of time spent with Carl Weathers. But the stars and colleagues’ praises aren’t the only posthumous honor Weathers received. The Hollywood great was also an avid golfer who was recently honored by the Directors Guild Foundation (DGF), with the organization renaming their annual fundraising event in his honor.

Namely, the Tournament will now be officially known as the Directors Guild Foundations Carl Weathers Memorial Golf Tournament. Apart from being a golfer, a professional football player, and a movie star, Weathers also starred in several different television shows and animation releases, one of which includes his role in The Mandalorian, for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.

Weathers started his college career in 1966 at Long Beach City College but didn’t play any football due to an injury he sustained during practice. He then transferred to and played for San Diego State University as a letterman for San Diego Aztecs in 1968 and 1969, when he also received—for his various performances—a master in theatre arts.

Carl Weathers later signed with the Oakland Riders of the NFL in 1970 before signing with the BC Lions of the CFL in 1971, where he stayed until 1973. He attended university during the off-season, which helped him earn a bachelor’s degree in drama in 1974—the same year he retired from professional football to pursue an acting career, landing his more significant roles in blaxploitation movies, such as Bucktown and Friday Foster.

Needless to say, Carl Weathers had a long and fruitful career, with more than 80 credits to his name as an actor and 17 credits as a television and short movie director. The actor was survived by his two sons and his long-time partner, Christine Kludijan. Weathers died at his home in Los Angeles on February 2, 2024, from atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.