Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson should still be on a box office high from Jungle Cruise's recent release, but the star has now taken to his social media for a more personal reason. August 24th marks what would have been the 77th birthday of his father, Rocky Johnson, and the Disney star has commemorated the occasion with a heartfelt tribute that is sure to hit you right in the feels.
Dwayne Johnson is undoubtedly a very hardworking man. He has walked many career paths, from professional wrestler to actor and businessman, but it would seem not all his endeavors have worked out. In his tribute Instagram post to his late father, Johnson speaks about his failures and how they, paired with the guidance from his Heavyweight Champion father, paved the way for the epic life he lives now. Here it is in his own words:
I failed at becoming an NFL player. And as complicated as my relationship was with my old man, he was the one who eventually trained me to become a pro wrestler. And the rest is history. My dad would’ve turned 77 years old this coming week. Rest In Peace Soulman and cheers to those dreams that don’t come true.
This thoughtful and emotional tribute is accompanied with a video of old footage of both Dwayne Johnson himself as a football player and his father and namesake Rocky Johnson saying that he would be more than willing to train his son in wrestling if he ever wanted to change career paths. This, of course, did end up happening and it led to a very successful career for the younger Johnson. You can check out the video along with the entire post below:
This is not the first time Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has thoughtfully honored his father since his passing a year and a half ago. In the past, he's talked about the legacy that Rocky Johnson left him and how he is honoring and building on it. Johnson has spoken of the complicated relationship he had with his dad, but it would seem that his need to honor who his father was far outweighs any of the issues the two had while he was still on this planet.
Aside from recent box office hit Jungle Cruise and his tiny voice role in the newly released Free Guy, Dwayne Johnson has a ton of big films on the docket. The star is bringing Black Adam to the big screen in his own film, which has been a long time coming for him. He also has the reboot of John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China set, along with a myriad of other projects in various stages of production. It’s pretty clear that Johnson is not worse off for leaving his football dreams behind, and we will have plenty to look forward to from the star, who will likely continue to honor his late pop as he reaches new milestones.
