Former swimmer pursues American Gladiator spot
Rick Scott, a former swimmer and part-time swim team coach, seeks a selection to participate in American Gladiators despite recent rejection
Langdon Morris
Issue date: 4/4/08 Section: Features
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After growing up with his brothers watching Gladiators such as "Nitro" and "Thunder" humiliate normal people, Scott decided he needed to do whatever possible to compete.
"I heard they were bringing it back, and my brother said, 'we have to get on this show.' We missed tryouts for the first season but saw that they would have tryouts for the second season," Scott said. "I thought 'I'm not going to miss this chance. I need to make an ultimate montage.'"
Viewing himself as the perfect contestant, Scott began making moves toward selection, beginning with a humorous video he sent in to American Gladiators. The video, which can be viewed on YouTube under "American Gladiator Audition: Rick Scott," parodies an American Idol-type judgment of Scott and shows him accomplishing such tasks as scaling walls, throwing a football to himself and even "picking up ladies."
Scott received help on the video from State swimmers Dan Glauber, Stephen Mellor, Jon Vorpagel and Jen Kopenitz to help create "the ultimate montage."
"I just wanted to do something different to get noticed," Scott said. "I didn't want to just go through my story or tell them about my life -- I wanted to do something to entertain them. I'm not a serious guy all of the time and I wanted to show them some personality."
According to Mellor, a redshirt junior whose British accent naturally qualified him for the role of Simon Cowell in the film, the video's level of humor does not reflect Scott's seriousness about being chosen.
"As funny as the video was, it wasn't as nearly as funny as it was making it," Mellor said. "There was probably about 20 minutes of things that didn't get in that was hilarious. I don't know if his level of seriousness was evident in the video. But if there's anything in the world he wants right now, it's probably being on American Gladiators."
Although Scott's video took a humorous approach to the audition, he showed his seriousness about a selection by traveling to New York to audition in person.
"I booked a flight [to the tryout] and made a video also," Scott said. "I went to New York and waited in line for most of the day before trying out."
After waiting about 10 hours in line, Scott participated in the tryout, which consisted of maxing out in pull-ups and pushups and competing in a shuttle run. In an interview afterward, officials told Scott he exceeded their expectations and he would hear back from them if he were selected.
"The guys up there said, 'we have your name, we like you, so if you don't hear back, try out again next season,'" Scott said.
Unfortunately, he never received a call from American Gladiators for a season two selection. Only 12 male and 12 female contestants are selected nationally, and in the New York auditions alone, Scott said there were more than 2,000 contestants.
According to Scott, the selection committee may not want overly athletic contestants.
"They have an idea of what they want and if you're not it then you're not it," Scott said. "They don't want you to make the Gladiators look bad."
Still, Scott refuses to go down without a fight. Knowing American Gladiators has his name on file, he said he will continue to train and likely make another video for season three auditions, perhaps even more ridiculous.
As far as training, Scott said he lifts four to five times per week and runs on a consistent basis, though the training likely is not as big a factor as one might think.
"It's not so much you can train for with throwing tennis balls at each other and swinging around a jungle gym," Scott said. "I just do what everyone else does."
And although Scott faced rejection for season two, he remains confident he will one day compete as an American Gladiator.
"If I get on, I'm pretty confident I can do pretty well," Scott said. "And there are some good-looking Gladiator girls on there, so maybe I could meet the future Mrs. Scott on that show too."
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