Carl Weathers Got An Unexpected Tribute During A 2024 Super Bowl Commercial

Carl Weathers died suddenly of natural causes on February 1st - far too soon for generations of viewers who grew up watching him on both big and small screen - yet did manage to film an ad for FanDuel, an online sports gambling service, before his passing.
The original Super Bowl commercial features former NFL player Rob Gronkowski stranded in the desert before being saved by Carl Weathers riding in on his motorcycle. A straightforward advertisement at first, but now further complicated by Weather's untimely departure. As it could come across as morbid if handled incorrectly, an aftercare ad features an explicit tribute to Carl - "Thank You Carl", reads its memorial at the end. A quick but touching gesture indeed and one of only few times where such memorialization has ever appeared in a Super Bowl commercial!

Gronk, you gave everything of yourself.

These ads depict Rob Gronkowski as an underachieving individual who's emotionally traumatized after missing an important field goal at last year's "Kick of Destiny" gambling event. Rob is in despair over this mistake but Carl Weathers helps give him another shot; though his second try fails, this time John Cena's character makes lots of money off it while Weathers watches from home and simply praises Rob for giving it his all.

Weathers' performance here was both amusing and touching in its unexpectedness; it captured much of his charismatic, subversive humor we've come to know as part of his character. Even though including Weathers so soon after his passing was risky, his presence made for one last great farewell gift - who knew gambling ads could touch hearts so profoundly!?