RELATED LINKS:
-- Knighton Has Starred In A Couple Of Tire Commercials
-- Exclusive: Knighton At Redskins OTAs
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If you've watched any sports programming over the last year, chances are you've seen at least one of the two Bridgestone Tire commercials featuring Redskins defensive lineman Terrance Knighton.
Because Knighton is a very large human being, and because he's one of the more dominant players at his position, he agreed to participate in some slightly self-deprecating commercials. "Pot Roast" can take a joke about his body type because, well, he has no problems calling himself "Pot Roast."
But Knighton isn't a household league name (at least not yet), unlike say, quarterback Peyton Manning, who has cornered the commercial market for his entire career, whether it's been promoting Papa John's or selling insurance with a catchy jingle.
That means Knighton isn't always recognized when one of his commercials comes on in a restaurant or bar.
"It depends," Kinighton said. "There have been times I'm sitting at a bar and the commercial came on, nobody has noticed except the bartender, they're looking at me.
"I was surprised," he said of being asked to participate. "I know they previously tried to do it with B.J. Raji, but he passed up on it, and being a big man in this league, you don't get a lot of opportunities like that, so I jumped to it."
One of the commercials features Knighton with a Bridgestone specialist in his SUV, testing the tires on top of a vehicle treadmill.
"First time on a treadmill?" the specialist jokes.
"What are you saying?" Knighton asks with a scowl on his face.
"I'm just saying…" the specialist says, now a line Knighton said he gets all the time.
When it came to shooting the commercials – the other involves an empty fridge – Knighton said he never even read the script the company sent him to prepare.
"It was a lot of takes, but it was cool because they let us be ourselves," Knighton said. "They sent me a script but I didn't read it…I've heard plenty of questions about my size, I'll have a natural reaction to that."
Most of them, at least in the commercials, are with a deadpan expression. In other words, Knighton has some chops as an actor, he'll just need to make sure he's not typecast based on his body type for future roles.
After all, his subversive pass rushing agility has had something to do with being on a treadmill before, right?
"Oh, definitely," he said. "Too many times!"
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