Will Ferrell is a noted fan of the Seattle Seahawks. That stems in large part from his friendship with former head coach Pete Carroll, who had previously coached the USC Trojans, Ferrell’s alma mater. But in his much younger days, when the actor needed an ironclad excuse to leave a dead-end job, he turned to the Dallas Cowboys.
Kind of.
The 59-year-old Ferrell, best known for his stint as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and then a long list of films including Elf, Anchorman, and Old School, recently shared a hilarious story with fellow SNL alum Amy Poehler on her “Good Hang” podcast that unexpectedly included an America’s Team name-drop.
But it started with the Southern California native getting a job years before at Disneyland.
“I thought that I was going to be assigned to be one of the really fun jobs like the Jungle Cruise operator,” Ferrell recalled. “And I find out, ‘Oh no, those guys work there for eight years before they get [that job].'”
Ferrell was stationed instead at a boring ticket kiosk at the park entrance. He went on to explain that a friend had simultaneously offered him a job at a surf shop and that the pay there would be the same as what Disneyland was offering.
The only problem? How to bail on Mickey Mouse after one day at the park.
“I was too embarrassed to call up Disneyland,” Ferrell recalled, “so my friend John called on my behalf and said, ‘I will be quitting after one day.’ And they asked, ‘Okay, the reason for leaving?’ And he said, ‘I have a tryout with the Dallas Cowboys.’ And they went, ‘Thank you very much.’
“So somewhere there’s a file at Disney corporate that says: Will Ferrell: Worked for one day. Reason for leaving: Tryout with the Dallas Cowboys Football Team.”
Ferrell went on to imagine with Poehler the reaction of the Disney employee on the other end of that phone call.
“‘You want to hear an interesting story? We just had someone call and cancel. They’re not going to work, but they’re going to try out for the Dallas Cowboys. How good is that? Anyway, I wish them the best.’”
Riding on Jungle Cruise with a young Will Ferrell as your skipper would have been a real treat.
But seeing Ferrell actually go through a workout with the Cowboys might have turned out to be even funnier.
The Cowboys themselves apparently think so, too. The club reposted the clip of Ferrell telling the story with the tantalizing invitation, “Never too late.”
Todd is on X at @ToddBrock24f7. Also, follow Cowboys Wire on Facebook to join in on the conversation with fellow fans!
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: How the Cowboys helped comedian Will Ferrell quit a dead-end job at Disneyland
Reporting by Todd Brock, Cowboys Wire / Cowboys Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Todd Brock, Cowboys Wire | USA TODAY Network
