If he didn't rest before the Beijing Olympic games in order to get himself ready to be a worldwide hero and record-holder, he sure isn't resting these days as he prepares himself to be a Hollywood icon and marketing extraordinaire. Last night, Michael Phelps was on 60 Minutes talking about everything Olympics with CNN's Anderson Cooper, who even challenged Phelps, who claimed at 205 lbs. to be the heaviest he has ever been, to a swimming race.
The conditions? Cooper would get to dive into the pool and freestyle (that is swim, not rap) and Phelps had to do the whole thing underwater without making a stroke. The winner? Well, it wasn't Anderson Cooper.
Phelps was on 60 Minutes for just over 12 minutes last night, showing his medals to the crew only when they asked to see them, speaking of his mother ("I owe her the world") and of his constant grind post-Beijing (Asked if he worries he's doing too much, Phelps told Cooper, "No, cause I'm having fun. You know, it's like [yawns], excuse me, you know, after I ...).
Maybe the most interesting information revealed was the news that 60 Minutes caught Phelps' agent, Peter Carlisle, showing the human dolphin an offer of $5 million ... that Carlisle rejected.
"Sometimes I get a little frustrated but in the long run I know why he rejected it and why he does stuff like that," Phelps said.Video of the interview is after the jump, fit with one or two goofy Phelps grins. Enjoy.
"These types of things were happening so frequently. The number of offers like that that just obviously didn't fit in. It was astounding," Carlisle said.
Carlisle's office receives about 300 calls a day regarding Phelps, but he's only looking for companies that fit Phelps' lifestyle.
