Former Miami Hurricanes defensive tackle turned professional wrestler and actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson may have his sights set on the White House.
Johnson, 45, told GQ that a presidential run is "a real possibility."
Last June, The Washington Post published an op-ed suggesting Johnson could be a viable candidate. On Instagram, he called the Post piece "interesting" and "fun to read," adding that "the most important thing right now is strong honest leadership from our current and future leaders of this country."
Since then, Johnson told writer Caity Weaver that he's given the question more thought.
"A year ago, it started coming up more and more," Johnson said. "There was a real sense of earnestness, which made me go home and think, 'Let me really rethink my answer and make sure I am giving an answer that is truthful and also respectful.' I didn't want to be flippant."
Johnson declined to endorse a candidate in last year's presidential race, even though he said both campaigns approached him.
When asked how he thought President Donald Trump is doing in his first few months in office, Johnson chose instead to focus on how he'd handle those duties.
"Personally, I feel that if I were president, poise would be important. Leadership would be important. [If I didn't agree with someone] on something, I wouldn't shut them out. I would actually include them. The first thing we'd do is we'd come and sit down and we'd talk about it. It's hard to categorize right now how I think he's doing, other than to tell you how I would operate, what I would like to see," Johnson said.
So what would Johnson like to see?
"I'd like to see a better leadership. I'd like to see a greater leadership," he said. "When there's a disagreement, and you have a large group of people that you're in a disagreement with -- for example, the media -- I feel like it informs me that I could be better. We all have issues, and I feel like one of the qualities of a great leader is not shutting people out. Even if we disagree, we've got to figure it out. If there's a large number of people disagreeing, there might be something I'm not seeing, so let me see it. Let me understand it."
Best of the minors
Earlier this week, Chris Landers of mlb.com wrote what he called the "definitive ranking of the 10 best team names in the minor leagues."
His list:
- Richmond (Va.) Flying Squirrels (Class AA San Francisco Giants affiliate)
- Lehigh Valley (Pa.) IronPigs (Class AAA Philadelphia Phillies
- Binghamton (N.Y.) Rumble Ponies (Class AA New York Mets)
- Albuquerque Isotopes (Class AAA Colorado Rockies)
- Batavia (N.Y.) Muckdogs (Class A Miami Marlins)
- Lansing (Mich.) Lugnuts (Class A Toronto Blue Jays)
- Biloxi (Miss.) Shuckers (Class AA Milwaukee Brewers)
- Fort Wayne (Ind.) TinCaps (Class A San Diego Padres)
- Hartford (Conn.) Yard Goats (Class AA Rockies)
- Montgomery (Ala.) Biscuits (Class AA Tampa Bay Rays)
Landers also gave honorable mention to the Akron Rubber Ducks (Class AA Cleveland Indians), the El Paso Chihuahuas (Class AAA Padres) and the Hickory (N.C.) Crawdads (Class A Texas Rangers).
Neither Arkansas-based team made the list, although with names in this list, Northwest Arkansas could make a strong case to reconsider the name "Thunder Chickens."
Sports quiz
Which future NFL Hall of Famer did Dwayne Johnson lose his starting position to at the University of Miami?
Answer
Warren Sapp
Sports on 05/12/2017