Arnold Schwarzenegger recalls how Joe Namath initially inspired him to grow bodybuilding - "I was so jealous of him"

Arnold Schwarzenegger may just be the most high-profile guest in the history of New Heights.

The bodybuilder-turned-actor-turned-politician visited the Kelce brothers Jason and Travis on Wednesday to talk about many things from football to Hollywood. However, one interesting topic was how he helped to turn bobybuilding from a niche sport to one of the most popular in all of America.

As it turned out, New York Jets legend Joe Namath was a major inspiration for that mission. Shwarzenegger said (timestamp - 11:18 mins):

"So when I came to this country, I was so jealous of him. Because in bodybuilding, I had to go into bricklaying jobs. I made no money... no sponsorships or anything. And Joe Namath was in television... I'm seeing him with advertising and endorsing pantyhose.

"I said, 'Are you (expletive) kidding me? This (expletive) guy is the number one football player that everyone watches. And I'm in a sport that no one watches. I got to go and do something to build the sport of bodybuilding... And we now have the number one bodybuilding competition, the Arnold Classic in Columbus, Ohio."

---

Arnold Schwarzenegger reacts to Jason Kelce's Tesla Cybertruck

In the same podcast appearance, "Arnie" was also briefed about Jason Kelce's new vehicle: the Tesla Cybertruck.

Last week, this short video of Jason Kelce purportedly driving one along a highway in Philadelphia surfaced on X/Twitter:

After much speculation, the former Philadelphia Eagles center confirmed that he had indeed bought it recently (sales had begun last November). However, Schwarzenegger was apparently unimpressed, saying

"When it comes to trucks, I like the old kind of stuff better. I think it looks cooler ... I still love my Hummers."

Ironically, he once converted one of his Hummers into an electric vehicle, describing it as follows:

"I had a Hummer which was electric, which was really fantastic, had 550 horsepower. And then we auctioned it off for the after-school programs."

Even more ironically enough, General Motors revived Hummer in 2020 after a decade's dormancy - as an all-electric subbrand of GMC. Production of its first vehicles began in 2021 for the 2022 model year, two years before the Cybertruck.