Actor talks ABA, Semi-Pro, USC, sports movies, more

Will Ferrell's Jackie Moon prefers the old-style shorts. New Line Cinema

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Will Ferrell rarely makes public appearances. Sure, you will see plenty of him in the coming weeks as he promotes his upcoming film Semi-Pro, a comedy set against the back drop of the ABA's 1976 merger with the NBA, but chances are you won't really see Ferrell, but his character in the film, Jackie Moon, the bombastic owner/play/coach of the fictional Flint Tropics.

Unlike Moon, Frank "The Tank" or Ron Burgundy, the real Ferrell is nothing like the over-the-top characters he plays in his films. Sitting in his hotel room overlooking Los Angeles last week, Ferrell was soft spoken and reflective as he talked about playing soccer with his sons Magnus and Mattias and running marathons with his wife, Viveca. Truth be told, he's actually a shy homebody until you put a camera on him. Thankfully, the cameras were turned off when we sat down with Ferrell recently to discuss his newest sports movie, his failed attempt to walk-on to the USC football team and how Pete Carroll helped him realize his dream nearly two decades later.

SI.com: You were about 9 years old when the ABA ceased operations in 1976, do you remember the league at all?

Ferrell: Oh, yeah [laughs]. No, not really. I do remember that Anaheim had a team, the Amigos. They played at the old Anaheim Convention Center. I don't have too many memories of the ABA, but do you remember the World Football League? You're probably too young, but they were similar. They had those crazy names like the California Sun. But, no those memories are very hazy.

SI.com: What was the inspiration for the team name, Flint Tropics? I'm sure the folks in Flint, Mich., would be the first to admit there isn't much tropical about the small town.

Ferrell: I think that was something Scott Armstrong, who wrote the script, and our director, Kent Alterman, loved. I think they loved the idea of a Midwest kind of town with an odd name. When you look back at the ABA, it had the Kentucky Colonels and other weird out-of-the-way places that had teams. Flint made sense because it was a small market and why would they have a team? The reason that it's the Tropics is because teams would move almost every year. In the first year of the league, the Minnesota Muskies had the second-best record in the league and they still had to move. They moved down to Florida and become the Floridians, so stuff was in transit all the time that it made for a funny combination.

SI.com: You conveniently find a way to show off your stellar physique in all your movies. You showed some restraint in Semi-Pro, although we do get a closer-than-comfortable look under your short shorts while you are on the free-throw line. What was the goal of the groin cam and do you think the NBA will implement a similar camera angle now?

Ferrell: They will if they're smart. I knew going in I wanted to have the nice tight shorts because it was first, historically accurate and second, just stupid looking. That close-up shot came about to focus on Jackie Moon's form in the classic, granny style free throw. It was all about capturing that moment.

SI.com: What did you think when the Lakers played in the short shorts for the first half of their game against the Celtics a few weeks back?

Ferrell: I heard about it. I didn't see it, I heard they were extremely self conscious and that the audience half cheered and half laughed and didn't know how to react to it. So I don't think they'll be going back to the short shorts anytime soon.

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