Denzel Washington fulfills ‘dream,’ visits Dallas Cowboys training camp

Remember the … Cowboys? (Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection)

 

Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington made the trip to Oxnard, California to watch Dallas Cowboys practice Saturday.

The “Training Day” star said in an interview that it was a dream for him to be at training camp and explained how deep his Cowboys fandom ran.

“First of all, I’ve been a Cowboy fan my whole life,” Washington told a collection of media at training camp. “I’m talking about Duane Thomas. I’m talking about Walt Garrison, Calvin Hill, Tony Dorsett. So I’ve been a fan for a long time. Just to be out here is just fun for me.”

He spoke with some players in the locker room beforehand and watched practice on the sideline. Washington admitted that he didn’t attend a Cowboys game last year but joked that he wouldn’t mind sideline passes from Cowboys owner Jerry Jones this season.

Washington was at practice with his son, John David, who stars as Ricky Jarrett in the HBO show “Ballers.” John David was a running back at Morehouse College and signed with the St. Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2006 and spent some time on the team’s practice squad. He also played in NFL Europe and the United Football League.

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Viola Davis, Denzel Washington reportedly collaborating on 'Fences' movie

PBS

August Wilson's "Fences" is set in the Hill District circa 1957.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Denzel Washington will direct Viola Davis in a movie version of August Wilson’s “Fences,” the Tony Award-winning actress told The New York Times.

Ms. Davis, the star of TV’s “How to Get Away With Murder,” won a Tony for her performance as Rose in the 2010 Broadway revival of “Fences,” set in the Hill District circa 1957 and a Pulitzer Prize winner for the late playwright.

“They are making ‘Fences,’ August Wilson’s play, into a feature that Denzel Washington is directing and I’m going to be in,” Ms. Davis told the Times.

Mr. Washington, the Oscar- and Tony-winning actor, co-starred with Ms. Davis as Troy Maxson, a role originated by James Earl Jones, in the Broadway production. Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company revived the play in its Downtown theater last year, with Kevin Brown as the disillusioned sanitation worker who never made it from the Negro Leagues to the majors.

According to Playbilll.com, a film version of “Fences” was discussed as early as 1990, but Mr.
Wilson “was famously adamant that the project could go forward only if it had a black director, as the original 1987 Broadway production had had in Lloyd Richards.”

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Whoa! The Guy From 'Ballers' Is Denzel Washington's Son!

 

Credit: HBO Probably John David Washington's reaction when he finds out why people are freaking out.

 

It turns out Ricky Jerret might not hate his dad so much after all.

After the Internet recently realized the actor who portrays Jerret on The Rock's HBO show "Ballers," John David Washington, is actually Denzel Washington's son, the collective freakouts commenced.

Twitter couldn't handle it and Instagram was even more frazzled. As someone aptly put it, "Look at what God did."

And you should look at what God did. Seeing the pair side by side, it's amazing no one caught on sooner:

Getty/HBO

 

Yeah, they're father and son, or Denzel is going all Benjamin Button on us and aging backwards. Either way.

As People notes, it did take a bit for us civilians to realize the connection, despite plenty of outlets such as Deadline reporting it before, but when the Internet finally got it, Things. Got. Cray.

Equally crazy, John David was actually in the NFL for a bit with the St. Louis Rams, but now with his role in "Ballers," it's clear the apple didn't fall far from the Denzel.

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