The Rock shared how a simple handshake changed the course of his life in his latest social media post. Dwayne Johnson has been unearthing these gems on his NBC show Young Rock. This week’s episode featured the story of Jodi Cwik, the football coach that encouraged a much less refined version of The Great One to follow his dreams. For those who don’t know, The Rock was an exceptional high school football player and played Division 1 college ball at The University of Miami. However, he was on a bit of a rough path earlier in life. Johnson would get into fights with classmates and staff. But, during one of those dustups with Cwik, the coach connected with the young athlete through their shared upbringing in the area. The Rock never forgot it and honors his memory with this moment in the television show.
“The handshake that changed my life,” wrote Johnson, 48. “I was 15yrs old and just moved to Bethlehem, PA and just started attending Freedom High School.”
“Within a month I’d already been arrested as well as suspended for fighting. I had an incident with a teacher/football coach named Jodi Cwik in the teachers lounge where we almost came to blows. I acted like a real [jerk] to him,” the actor recalled. “The next day I found him so I could apologize eye to eye and face to face. When he wouldn’t let my hand go, I thought he was gonna deck the [heck] outta of me… but instead he said something to me that would … change the course of life.”
The coach’s inspirational words were, “You live out on the East Side, right? I grew up around there, too. For guys like us… Give yourself a chance … If you got the talent, sky’s the limit.”
Check out the synopsis for Young Rock down below:
“‘Young Rock’ focuses on different chapters of Dwayne Johnson’s life. From growing up in a strong and resilient family to being surrounded by the wild characters of his professional wrestling family, to playing football at the University of Miami, the show will explore the crazy rollercoaster that has shaped Dwayne into the man he is today and the larger-than-life characters he’s met along the way.”
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