Former Raiders linebacker Carl Weathers dies at age of 76

Carl Weathers (YouTube)

According to the Associated Press on Friday, former Oakland Raiders linebacker Carl Weathers of New Orleans, Louisiana passed away on Thursday at the age of 76. Weathers played two seasons (eight games overall) with the Raiders in 1970 and 1971. In addition to playing in the Raiders, Weathers played his college football at San Diego State in 1968 and 1969, and three seasons with the British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League from 1971 to 1973, and had one fumble recovery in his final season for the Lions in 1973. In all, Weathers played 13 CFL games.

You may wonder why Weathers had such a deep following when his statistics in his football career were not all that impressive. That is because you could argue he was the 1970s and 1980s version of The Rock. A former football player, who made his mark in the entertainment world. Among his roles included boxer Apollo Creed in the famous Rocky movies, Colonel Al Dillon in the science fiction action horror film Predator, Chubbs Peterson, and a one-handed golfer who lost his hand in an alligator attack, in the famous golf movie, Happy Gilmore. Among his other entertainment roles included being the voice of animated characters. They were Combat Carl in Toy Story, and Omnitraxus Prime in Star vs. The Forces of Evil.

Off the field, the Raiders meanwhile have had a very busy off-season. They have hired Tom Telesco of Buffalo, New York as their next general manager. The Raiders have decided to keep Antonio Pierce of Long Beach, California as their head coach.

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