The Rock's T-Rex skull on 'ManningCast' raises questions over whether it's real historic fossil
'Stan' was sold at auction for nearly $32 million in 2020
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Dwyane "The Rock" Johnson appeared on the "ManningCast" during the NFC wild-card playoff game between the Los Angeles Rams and Arizona Cardinals on Monday night.
"The most electrifying man in sports entertainment" was dazzling NFL fans with what was behind him rather than with what he was doing or saying during the broadcast. Fans were perplexed to see a Tyrannosaurus Rex skull sitting over his left shoulder.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}This T-Rex skeleton is known as "Stan" for the amateur paleontologist Stan Sacrison who found the initial bones in 1987. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Eli Manning asked Johnson about the skull.
"I got a T-Rex skull. That’s Stan. As a matter of fact, so Stan was the most complete T. Rex skull ever found by a paleontologist, a young paleontologist and his name was Stan. So, this T. Rex head was named after him," Johnson said.
"Pretty cool and bada--, isn’t it?"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}PEYTON MANNING CAUGHT IN HOT-MIC MOMENT DURING RAMS-CARDINALS PLAYOFF GAME
The dinosaur in question was discovered over 30 years ago in South Dakota by a paleontologist named Stan Sacrison. It was fully excavated in 1992 and was housed at the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research, according to National Geographic.
A Tyrannosaurus Rex dinosaur fossil skeleton is displayed in a gallery at Christie’s auction house on Sept. 17, 2020, in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
That was until Oct. 6, 2020, when the Christie’s auction house sold the T-Rex for $31.8 million, the highest price ever paid for a fossil. The bidder was never named.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"That’s an astronomical price that borders on absurdity, based on my knowledge of the market," paleontologist David Evans told the magazine at the time. "If this kind of money [were] invested properly, it could easily fund 15 permanent dinosaur research positions, or about 80 full field expeditions per year, in perpetuity."
Dwayne Johnson attends the World Premiere Of Disney's "Jungle Cruise" at Disneyland on July 24, 2021, in Anaheim, California. (Frazer Harrison/WireImage)
The appearance of the skull set off a firestorm on social media.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The object in question appeared to only be the skull and not the rest of the fossil, which could indicate it was just a replica sitting behind the pro wrestling legend.