Roy Tatum was a defensive tackle, but he told producer Jim McCollough he wanted to play Bigfoot more like a middle linebacker.
“He said, ‘well, how do you see this creature,” Tatum says. “I said ‘well, you know what a middle linebacker looks like? Well, I think you’re in a crouch, you’re moving that way, you’re not stumbling or falling around, but you’re kind of doing a Lon Chaney.'”
McCullough was sold. He wanted a big athletic type. At 6″3 and 230 lbs, Tatum fit the bill.
Tatum played football for Auburn from 1965-1967.