Alex Karras

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{{NFL player 

  |Image=1012 large.jpg
  |Caption=Alex Karras as featured on the cover of SI
  |DateOfBirth=July 15, 1935
  |Birthplace=Gary, Indiana
  |Position=DT
  |College=Iowa
  |DraftedYear=
  |DraftedRound=
  |Awards=1957 Outland Trophy
  |Honors=
  |Records=
  |Retired #s=
  |DatabaseFootball=KARRAALE01
  |PFR=KarrAl00
  |years=1958-1970
  |teams=Detroit Lions
  |ProBowls=4
  |HOF=}}

Alexander George Karras, born July 15, 1935 in Gary, Indiana, is a former football player and actor who is best known for playing with the National Football League's Detroit Lions from 1958-1962 and 1964-1971. In addition, non-sports fans will recall his role on the ABC sitcom Webster, alongside real-life wife Susan Clark, as the titular character's adoptive father.

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College Career

After having won three Indiana All-State accolades during his high school football career, Karras' collegiate career with the Iowa Hawkeyes got off to a rocky start when during his sophomore year he played twenty pounds overweight. First deciding to quit the sport, he changed his mind after speaking with his mother, who said, "If you quit now, you'll quit again when things get tough." Karras matured and helped the Hawkeyes win the 1956 Big Ten Championship, followed by a 35-19 victory over Oregon State in the Rose Bowl. The following year, he again was a dominant lineman, winning the 1957 Outland Trophy and placing second in voting for the Heisman Trophy. In addition, he was selected to his second straight All-American team and was drafted in the first round by the Lions.

However, before his NFL career got underway, he signed a contract as a professional wrestler on December 13, 1957, earning $25,000 during the six-month off-season. Eight days later, he officially signed with the Lions, spurning an offer from the Canadian Football League's Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

On January 7, 1963, Karras' ownership in Detroit's Lindell Bar became a source of controversy when league officials urged him to sell his financial interests in the place because of reports of gambling and organized crime influence. After first threatening to retire rather than give it up, Karras admitted placing bets on NFL games and was suspended by the league, along with Green Bay Packers' running back Paul Hornung, for one season (1963).

During his exile, Karras returned to pro wrestling, taking on such memorable characters as Dick the Bruiser, but was then reinstated, along with Hornung, on March 16, 1964 by NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle. During his first year back, player discontent with head coach George Wilson resulted in Karras asking to be traded. However, the Lions settled the issue when they fired Wilson after the 1964 NFL season.

After another season of controversy under new head coach Harry Gilmer, Karras was rumored to be ready to play out his option and sign with the expansion Miami Dolphins of the American Football League under his former coach Wilson. Instead, Karras signed a seven-year contract with the Lions on May 20, 1966, with Wilson stating that Karras had used the threat of signing with Miami to garner the large deal with Detroit.

Despite the new contract, controversy remained, as Karras and Gilmer sparred in midseason, with the coach reportedly ready to release the veteran defensive tackle. As before, it would be the coach who would depart, with Karras' former teammate Joe Schmidt taking over.

Image:1130 large.jpg On June 4, 1967, Karras once again hinted that he would retire in order to work at a new business venture; but once traning camp began, Karras was back with the Lions. During that preseason, he jokingly commented that he would walk back from Denver if the AFL Broncos defeated the Lions. When that actually happened, Karras backtracked and flew home on the team plane.

In 1968, Karras figured prominently in the film adaptation of George Plimpton's sports book Paper Lion, playing himself. Three years later, Karras was under consideration for the part of Carlo Rizzi, the duplicitous brother-in-law of the Corleone family, in The Godfather. The role was one of many acting opportunities that developed following his performance in Paper Lion.

Following his release by the Lions in 1971, he began acting on a full-time basis, playing a backwoods boy turned Olympic weightlifter named Hugh Ray Feather in 1973's The 500-Pound Jerk. A minor but memorable role came one year later in the western parody Blazing Saddles: the very strong and very slow-witted thug Mongo, who in one scene knocks out a horse with one punch.

That same year, he was quickly brought in by ABC to replace Fred Williamson as a commentator for the network's Monday Night Football. He served three years in that role until leaving after the 1976 NFL season, with his most memorable comment coming in his first game, when he joked that bald Oakland Raiders' lineman Otis Sistrunk was from "the University of Mars." Other later roles included his appearance as the Sheriff, Porky's brother, in Porky's and as western settler Hans Brumbaugh in Centennial. In addition, he also played a bodyguard named "Squash" in the movie Victor/Victoria.

In conjunction with the 100 years of Hawkeye football celebration in 1989, Iowa Hawkeye fans selected an all-time team. The squad featured eleven players on offense and defense, two kickers, and fifteen special mention players who received strong fan support. Alex Karras was voted to the team as a defensive lineman.

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Trivia

  • He is the younger brother of Ted Karras, who played guard with the Bears and Lions
  • He is of Greek origins[1]
  • In 1997 he was cast in the lead of Mad Bull.[2]
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External links

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