The NFL has denied a claim by Mark Wahlberg that commissioner Roger Goodell called him to complain about his HBO show Ballers.
Wahlberg said in an interview on ESPN’s Mike and Mike on July 15 that he has received calls and complaints about the show from owners and Goodell, according to the Washington Post.
Ballers tells the story of former NFL player Spencer Johnson, played by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who is now a financial manager who is trying to get high profile athletes as clients and helping them with their lives. The first season of Ballers had cameos by DeSean Jackson, Steven Jackson, Antonio Brown, Larry Csonka, Dannell Ellerbe, Jeremy Shockey, Victor Cruz, Rashard Mendenhall, LaMarr Woodley, Jared Odrick, Jason Pierre-Paul, Terrell Suggs and Julian Edelman.
“The first season of the show, the only calls I was getting were from guys like Roger Goodell saying, ‘You can’t do this,’ and various owners in the league,” Wahlberg said. “We were saying it’s actually a good thing for the league and the players because hopefully you’ll get the word out there with the crazy stuff and the financial side of it and hopefully get these guys to realize that they’ve got to be more careful with what they do with their money.”
Wahlberg added that he wants the show to portray the real story of what goes on off the field. NFL senior vice president of communications Natalie Ravitz denied Wahlberg’s claim that Goodell called him about the show.
The second season of Ballers premiered Sunday night. Ndamukong Suh, Terrell Suggs, and Jarvis Landry are expected to make cameos on Ballers this season.