Weathers was in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was a professional football player with the Oakland Raiders until he retired in 1974 to became an actor. He had his first parts in two Arthur Marks directed 1970s blaxploitation films: Bucktown and Friday Foster, both in 1975.
In 1976, he starred alongside Sylvester Stallone in Rocky, followed by three of the four Rocky sequels in 1979, 1982, and 1985. He also starred in a number of action films, both theatrically and on television, including: Force 10 From Navarone (1978), Predator (1987), Action Jackson (1988), the In The Heat of the Night TV Movies (1994-1995), along with the Adam Sandler comedies Happy Gilmore (1996), Little Nicky (2000) and Eight Crazy Nights (2002).
Outside of acting he is a member of both the Big Brothers Association and the U.S. Olympic Committee.