“Life had other plans,” sums up Sylvester Stallone on Instagram and remembers his career as a polo player with photos.
“Fun fact of the day: Stallone means stallion in Italian,” writes “Rocky” star Sylvester Stallone (77) about several photos that the American actor and film producer shares with his approximately 17.4 million followers. In it, Stallone recalls his “passion for polo,” which the actor pursued at a young age because he believed it was his “destiny.”
Stallone also shares three photos that show him playing polo. These include a photo from 1989 at a game in Montecito, California, as well as two photos from the actor’s match, he explained.
“Life had other plans”
As Stallone continues, life had “other plans” for him and pushed his dreams away. “Still, I refused to let this be the end of my journey,” said the actor. “As one door closed, another opened – only this time it was one of creativity and resilience,” says the “Rocky” star.
His acting breakthrough came with his role as Rocky Balboa in the 1976 boxer drama “Rocky – The Chance of a Lifetime”, for which Stallone himself wrote the script. “So when life knocks you down, remember: Get back on your horse. Keep pushing through,” Stallone says in closing words for his followers.
That’s why Stallone gave up polo
In his documentary, which was released on Netflix in 2023, Stallone reveals one of his reasons why he ultimately decided not to pursue polo again. The behavior of his father Frank Stallone Sr., who died in 2011, and his mistreatment were crucial for the actor. As the “Rocky” star remembers, he “came out of the stands, grabbed me by the throat, threw me to the ground, took the horse and left the field.” At that moment the actor thought that he “never wanted to see a horse again” in his entire life.
At a polo game in 1989 that the actor organized himself to compete against his father, he behaved so brutally that he never played polo again from then on. “I sold everything, I sold every horse, the ranch, the truck, and that was the end of it.” However, as Stallone’s brother Frank Jr. reveals in the documentary, he is certain that his famous brother, who reached the national ranking in polo at the age of 13, could have pursued the sport at the highest level “if my father didn’t have him “would have been intimidated.”
Source: Stern
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
