Elvis Presley was just another all-American person. He enjoyed hanging out with friends, playing music, and tossing around a football.
As it turns out, the “Shake, Rattle, and Roll” singer knew the ins and the outs of the sport after a lifetime of love and dedication.
The Elvis Presley estate shared an image of The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll running intensely with a football clenched in his right hand.
The King’s Love for Football
The photo is captioned, “Elvis’ favorite sport to watch and play was football. He played in high school, in the service, during breaks while filming movies, at home, and on Sunday afternoons at the park.”
Elvis Presley had a lot of passions in life — from filmmaking to music to performing to dancing to comedy to peanut butter sandwiches, and especially football. The singer also loved karate and had an eighth-degree black belt.
However, football was something Presley loved to do during his time away from the hustle and bustle of the entertainment world.
“The thing I keep up with most is professional football. I know all the players. I know all their numbers, who they play for. I’ve had people quiz me on it, just in games when we’ve got nothing to do. And that’s a big thing with me right now. I watch all the games that I can. I get the films from the teams themselves if I can. But next to the entertainment thing, and music, that I guess, would be the biggest (interest),” Elvis Presley said in an interview from 1962, according to the Graceland site.
Elvis Presley even broke his finger playing a game of touch football on the grounds of Graceland on October 16, 1960. He loved the Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Despite growing up in the south, Presley gravitated to the Browns.
Gene Hickerson was a guard for the Browns and ended up being close with The King. Hickerson even shipped him a copy of the previous day’s game film every single Monday during football season.
He even sponsored a football team that his friends had started. They donned jerseys with E.P. Enterprises on the back.
Kurt Russell and Elvis Presley
Kurt Russell’s very first movie role was in the film “It Happened at the World’s Fair” alongside Elvis Presley. He appeared only briefly but made a huge impact.
Elvis Presley’s character asks Russell’s character to kick him in the shin so he could meet a nurse. He said on “The Graham Norton Show” that he kicked a little too hard.
According to an episode of “Peyton’s Places” with Peyton Manning, Kurt Russell got to see first-hand how much Presley loved football. He shared that one of his favorite memories was getting to throw a football around with Elvis Presley, one of the most popular stars at the time.
Elvis Presley would have been caught dead without a football with him on the set of a movie. He loved to play in between scenes whenever he could.