Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has got serious social media game.
Instead of shying away from anything, instead of giving people the people’s elbow, he gives people what they want and embraces everything that comes his way. And how could he not – just look at those arms, they were made for embracing.
Before he became The Rock, and before he became the highest paid actor in the history of Forbes Celebrity 100, Dwayne spent some time as an earnest American football player with dreams of getting in the NFL.
After playing for the University of Miami, the actor went on to play for the Calgary Stampeders as a defensive lineman. Though he didn’t make it to the top level, his former teammates remember the man-mountain fondly.
Former Stampeder Stu Laird told The Globe and Mail:
He was like a Greek god, the wives all loved him.
Stampeders equipment manager George Hopkins said:
You do remember certain people… You could see that he had a charisma, he had that dazzling smile even back at that point.
He didn’t last long though, swapping football for wrestling and putting himself on the path to superstardom.
Though he’s had many roles in his career, the one consistent thing The Rock has always had is his incredible size. But it’s no easy feat maintaining that rock hard bod.
Dwayne takes on around 5,000 calories a day, chowing down about 2.3 pounds of cod as well as eggs, steak, chicken, vegetables and potatoes.
He must be doing something right though:
Thanks to his skills, physique, charm and rigged determination, the former wrestler was named the highest paid actor in the history of Forbes Celebrity 100 list, and ranked fifth overall on 2018’s Celebrity 100, rising 17 spots from his 22nd ranking in last year’s list.
Forbes claims that Johnson earned his record total ‘thanks to giant upfront paychecks and a cut of profits on blockbusters including Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.’
‘Wow unexpected news,’ Johnson wrote on his Twitter account at the news. ‘I don’t have a Harvard MBA, but my business philosophy has been sharpened over time and thru failure. I have one boss I serve and connect with – the world and the people in it. I’m the dude who started w/ $7bucks. I’m awestruck ($124M) grateful & hungry.’
However, he wasn’t always the perfect specimen we’ve come to know and love these days, and his old football team thought it was a good time to remind him about it.
Taking to Twitter, the Calgary Stampeders posted one of Dwayne’s old headshots from his sportsman days.
They wrote:
Now that’s a nice headshot, eh @TheRock? #FlashbackFriday
However, as I’ve said, The Rock has great social media game and took the whole thing in his stride.
He replied:
6’5 280lbs of hungry nightmare (or thirsty dream pending one’s perspective). Also not sure why I thought shaving my goatee but keep my beard was a good choice. Someone throw chunky smiles over here another waffle. #RookieHeadShot #CFL #Calgary
It’s quite the transformation, but look at those eyebrows. Can you smell what he’s cooking?
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Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.