Former Los Angeles Rams football player, Rosey Grier, announced he would be a candidate for governor of California in 2018, according to the Los Angeles Times.
"Yeah, I'm going to run for governor. I think we can do a lot of good. I've spent my life serving my fellow man. I thought I would continue doing that," Grier said.
Grier was a member of the Rams' "Fearsome Foursome" defensive line in the 1960s. Now 84, he is a minister and social activist who works with the elderly and gang members, the Times reported.
The football great is a Republican who endorsed incoming president, Donald Trump. He said Trump's business experience and support for Israel earned Trump his support.
Grier supported Democrat Jimmy Carter and Republican Ronald Reagan in their presidential campaigns, according to the Times.
In 1968, Grier was serving as an aide to Robert F. Kennedy when Sirhan Sirhan shot the then-U.S. senator outside the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. Grier grabbed Sirhan's leg and gun hand after shots had been fired, the Times reported.
"I really believe had I been closer to him that night, I would have been able to save him. But it was not my choice. It was God's choice," Grier said.
Democratic California Gov. Jerry Brown is not planning on running for reelection, The Hill reported.
Other Democratic candidates already in the race are Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and state treasurer John Chiang, the Times reported.
Grier would not be the first celebrity to run for the California governorship — "Terminator" star Arnold Schwarzenegger held the office from 2003 to 2010, and President Ronald Reagan, first an actor, was governor from 1967 to 1975.
The football player had a second career as an actor in the 1960s and 1970s. He appeared on TV shows such as "Kojak" and "I Dream of Jeannie," as well as starring in the 1972 horror movie "The Thing With Two Heads." In 1999, he became a cartoon character on "The Simpsons."
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