My time with Bill Goldberg was short but interesting. The man known for his ginormous lats and that spear move back from his WCW wrestling days has many passions and a lot going on; The Longest Yard, a TV show with the History Channel, a film in the can that was produced by Brett Ratner, and oh yeah, he was just married and I got a chance to sit down with him. He is a big man, but he isn’t as scary as the wrestler you may know, but don’t pit me against him at the line of scrimmage, I like my face just the way it is.
Q: I read that you became friends with Burt Reynolds during filming.
Burt took a number of us to a Seminoles game in Tallahassee during the filming, homecoming against Virginia. First of all Bowden was my coach in my senior all-star game and he and I have known each for a while. He’s a wonderful man. They don’t make them like that anymore, they really don’t. The world is not nearly as good a place without guys like that. We flew in there and they took us underneath the stadium and up to his office and we watched the game from his office. Bowden could run for governor no problem. Burt took us there, he’s a big Georgia guy too. But what got us talking is he did a film with my wife.
Q: Weren’t you just married?
A month ago. She’s in the business. She’s a stuntwoman. We haven’t had a lot of time with the movie and now the TV show.
Q: What is “AutoManiac?”
“AutoManiac.” This Sunday is the first episode on the History Channel. But they will be every Wednesday night 10pm Eastern. I’m also promoting “Hit the Road” week for the History channel. It’s awesome. It’s a dream come true. I don’t have to get my body smashed. I don’t have to deal with the BS of the wrestling world. Cars and motorcycles are a passion for me. Much like animals. When I’m with my dogs or cats I can hang out and just relax.
Q: What kind of dogs do you have?
I’m a spokesman for the human society of the United States so I’m a big advocate of adopting animals. I’ve adopted four dogs and they are your average mix of 15-20 dogs, they are Heinz-57 animals. 2 of my dogs I saved the day before they were going to be euthanized.
Q: You did a film before this correct?
Santa’s Slay. I haven’t gone out and pursued trying to get people to see it because it hasn’t sold yet. Who knows when it will come out. Brett Ratner was the executive producer, he just did Rush Hour. Now the guy who directed Santa’s Slay is with a different talent agency so who knows when it will come out.
Q: Was Tracy Morgan attractive as a cross-dressing cheerleader?
Tracy wasn’t but a couple of the other guys were (laughs). Luckily my wife was on the set too.
Q: How intense was the football in The Longest Yard?
The first couple of days it was unbelievable. We were trying to kill each other. You had actors that had played football, World League guys and NFL Europe guys that play now who are hot to trot. They wanted to hit somebody. The first thing I did was get into an Oklahoma drill, one on one live with somebody. That was the first day! It was awesome. The first time I hit somebody it was great.
Q: Was it different for you coming from a football background?
No question. I wasn’t going to let them hurt me, but there was a question about me hurting myself because I went 100 miles per hour with everything. In one scene we are supposed to be celebrating and I floor this guy, my fist went right through his facemask. Another scene with a kickoff, they made it look like I hit a guy with brass knuckles, but I jumped up in the air and gave him an elbow, opened my elbow up pretty good. I’m an extremist. I’m going to make sure everything I do, if I’m the killer in this movie, I’m going to make sure I’m doing every bit of the football. Nobody can do it like I think I can do it. Obviously there are better athletes, but I’d rather do it. Jumping over the line, I did that 10 times. It was a lot of fun. I must have given this one guy an elbow 15 times, and it wasn’t a stunt guy. It was a football player. We went above and beyond for this movie.
Q: You were drafted by the Rams in the 11th round, and now there is no 11th round…
So I’d still be at home waiting for the phone call (laughs).
Q: What do you have coming up in the future?
I want to go on a honeymoon! I’ve got “AutoManiac,” this movie, and another TV show in the works. People ask me about my aspirations in Hollywood, I tell them I don’t place a lot of stock in my ability to be that good looking leading man kind of guy, that’s just not me. I wouldn’t mind being a Stallone, an Eastwood or an Arnold, being an action hero. I’d love to do that. Hopefully The Longest Yard will be the biggest movie of the summer and I’ll go from there.
