Detroit Lions defensive tackle Alex Karras, who hated quarterbacks, passed away on Wednesday at age 77.

I am sufficiently old to have watched Alex Karras not only play on television but play live.  Compared to today’s defensive linemen he wasn’t particularly large but, at the time, he was 6’3″ and 250 pounds — and offensive linemen completely, absolutely, feared him.  As did not only opposing quarterbacks but Lions QB Bobby Layne.

Following retirement (he played for the Lions from 1958 to 1970, with a two-year gap), he appeared on Monday Night Football with Howard Cosell and Frank Gifford.

To me, he was # 71.  Period.

To others, he was George in Webster.  That didn’t play to me.  What played to me was this: Mongo, from Mel Brooks’s Blazing Saddles:

After that, many years later, Karras suffered dementia, heart disease and cancer.  He most recently suffered kidney failure.

He passed away at home in Los Angeles, Wednesday, surrounded by family.  God bless him.

Another portion of my life, my history, my surroundings — dies.

I guess that doesn’t bode quite very well for me.

BZ

P.S.
Alex Karras in action: