Matt Willig

Last updated
Matt Willig
Born
Matthew Joseph Willig

(1969-01-21) January 21, 1969 (age 55)
La Mirada, California, U.S.
Occupations
Years active
  • 1993–2005 (American Football)
  • 2006–present (acting)
Children2
American football career
No. 77, 71, 76
Position: Offensive tackle
Personal information
Height:6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Weight:315 lb (143 kg)
Career information
High school: St. Paul (CA)
College: USC
Undrafted: 1992
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Games played:153
Games started:43
Player stats at NFL.com

Matthew Joseph Willig (born January 21, 1969) is an American actor and former American football offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL).

Contents

Early life and education

Willig was born in La Mirada, California. He played football and basketball at St. Paul High School (Santa Fe Springs, California). He played college football at the University of Southern California as a member of the 1989 Rose Bowl winning team. He was a public administration major.

Professional football career

Willig played 14 years for the New York Jets, Atlanta Falcons, Green Bay Packers, St. Louis Rams, San Francisco 49ers, and Carolina Panthers., [1] and on the Carolina Panthers' team in Super Bowl XXXVIII.

Acting career

Willig portrayed Special Agent Simon Cade in season eight of NCIS until the first episode of season nine (airdate 20 September 2011). In 2009, he had a supporting role as a brutish caveman tormenting Jack Black and Michael Cera in the motion picture Year One . He appeared as a gang member named Little Chino on the Showtime series, Dexter (2007). He has appeared as a bodyguard named Yuri on the NBC series Chuck, and also has appeared in an episode of My Name is Earl entitled "Bullies". He also appeared in a season 7 episode of Malcolm In the Middle , as Crash, a recovering alcoholic, and had a small role in the 1993 Hong Kong action movie, Full Contact . He appeared in a minor role in iCarly as a truckdriver named "Sledghammer". He made another guest appearance on The Suite Life on Deck as a genie in season 2 episode 22. On Sonny with a Chance in the "Sonny Get Your Goat" episode, he appeared as "Limo", the mode of transportation to Tawni's motel room in a foreign country, and appeared in the Disney XD show Pair of Kings . Willig also had a supporting role in the second episode of Terriers. He played Mike Drake in the critically acclaimed independent thriller The Employer . He also appears in the 2013 film A Resurrection . In 2011, he was on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless , as Billy Abbott's bodyguard, "Tank". More recently he played One Eye, a Mexican drug dealer, in We're the Millers and Gregorek in NBC's series Grimm .

In 2014, he appeared in Season 1 of Brooklyn Nine-Nine as Brandon Jacoby (Season 1, episode 14 : "The Ebony Falcon"). [2]

In 2015, Willig had a recurring role as Lash in the third season of the science fiction television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. He also played former NFL player Justin Strzelczyk in the film Concussion .

In 2019, Willig played a Black Satan gang member named Creep in Rob Zombie's film 3 from Hell.

Willig voiced Juggernaut in the Marvel game Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions . [3]

In February 2021, he appeared as André the Giant in the NBC comedy series Young Rock .

Willig has acted in numerous national commercial campaigns, including a Capital One spot with David Spade, a Bud Light spot, and as an action hero in a Halls commercial.

Personal life

Willig was raised Catholic. He supported the NOH8 Campaign in opposition to California Proposition 8, which made same-sex marriage illegal in the state of California. He criticized "the complete hypocrisy that goes on with the Church, and their stance on gays", and that he had "evolved into feeling that equality and treating everyone the same is the utmost important thing". Despite his disagreement with the Church's stance on same-sex marriage, he was still a practicing Catholic as of 2012. [4]

Willig has two daughters. [4]

Filmography

Film roles
YearTitleRoleNotes
1993Full Contact'Hulk'
2006 The Benchwarmers Jock Guy
2008A Girl and a Gun'Superman'Short film
2009 Year One Marlak
2010 Abelar: Tales of an Ancient Empire Giant Iberian
Sex Tax: Based on a True StoryLeather GuyUncredited
2012BudsBrunoShort film
Guns, Girls and Gambling The Indian
The Reef 2: High Tide Bronson (voice)Direct-to-video
Christmas in Compton Charlie
2013 A Resurrection Vince
Bounty Killer Bob 'Big Bob'
The Employer Mike Drake
We're the Millers 'One-Eye'
2014 Stretch Boris
2015 Wild Card Kinlaw
Concussion Justin Strzelczyk
2016 Term Life Thug #1
The HordeStoneDirect-to-Video
Happy Birthday 'El Caballo'
The Bounce Back Vladamir
2017 Keep Watching The Terror
2018Eruption: LASerge
2019 3 from Hell Creep
2020 Birds of Prey Happy
Television roles
YearTitleRoleNotes
2006 Malcolm in the Middle 'Crash'Episode: "A.A."
The West Wing Famous AthleteEpisode: "Two Weeks Out"
Everybody Hates Chris JasonEpisode: "Everybody Hates Superstition"
2007 Dexter Alfonso Conception / Chino 'Little Chino' Gonzales2 episodes
Chuck UriEpisodes: "Chuck Versus the Tango"
2008 Shark Hank 'Buzz' BusbyEpisode: "Partners in Crime"
iCarly 'Sledgehammer'Episode: "iHurt Lewbert"
2009 Hydra GunnerTV movie
My Name Is Earl WallyEpisode: "Bullies"
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation GorthEpisode: "A Space Oddity"
2010 Cold Case Chuck 'French' Jaworski '74Episode: "The Runaway Bunny"
Sonny with a Chance Lee MoeEpisode: "Sonny Get Your Goat"
The Suite Life on Deck GenieUncredited; Episode: "Rock the Kasbah"
Terriers MontellEpisode: "Dog and Pony"
Playing with GunsLarryTV Pilot
2010–2011 Pair of Kings Tarantula Leader3 episodes; Uncredited in two
2011ChuckYuri The GobblerEpisode: "Chuck Versus the Gobbler"
The Nine Lives of Chloe King RaoniEpisode: "Dogs of War"
NCIS NCIS Special Agent Simon Cade4 episodes
The Young and the Restless 'Tank'3 episodes
2012 Kickin' It 'Mondo'Episode: "Rowdy Rudy"
The High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange Cash & Smash Thug #2Episode: "C.E.O. - Chief Executive Orange"
2013 Grimm GregorekEpisode: "Cold Blooded"
2014 Brooklyn Nine-Nine Brandon JacobyEpisode: "The Ebony Falcon"
The Legend of Korra Muscly Man (voice)Episode: "The Stakeout"
2015 Battle Creek DealerEpisode: "The Battle Creek Way"
2015-2016 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Lash Recurring; 6 episodes
2016 Flaked Granger2 episodes
Blunt Talk 'Tiny'3 episodes
2017Type ASergeant DoddsTV Pilot
2018 The Guest Book Captain Preposterous1 episode
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs Hard Man #31 episode
The Loud House Prisoner (voice)Episode: "Tripped!"
2019 Charmed DanteEpisode: "Keep calm and Harry on"
2021 Young Rock André the Giant 14 episodes
Video game roles
YearTitleRole
2010 Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions Juggernaut

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References

  1. ↑ "Super Bowl XXXVIII". Archived from the original on 2004-02-17. Retrieved 2014-01-25.
  2. ↑ "Matthew Willig". IMDb .
  3. ↑ "The Deadly Villains of Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions - IGN". Uk.comics.ign.com. Archived from the original on 2012-02-27. Retrieved 2014-01-11.
  4. 1 2 Zeigler, Cyd (October 3, 2012). "Former NFL player Matt Willig on marriage, Catholicism & a gay teammate". Outsports . Retrieved December 13, 2019.
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