Alex Karras Update: NFL Defensive Tackle and Actor Dies at 77

Early on Wednesday, we posted a story about Alex Karras diagnosed with kidney failure. We related that he was released from the hospital so he can spend his remaining days with his family. Sadly, on that same day, he died at his home in Los Angeles at age 77.

Apart from kidney failure, the NFL Hall of Famer also had dementia. According to his family and friends, he also suffered from heart disease and stomach cancer.

Considered as one of the best defensive tackles in 1960s, Karras played his entire NFL career with the Detroit Lions. However, in 1970, at the age of 35, he retired as a football player due to an injury to his right knee.

Nonetheless, his NFL retirement did not keep him away from the limelight. Switching to acting and commentating, he even gained more fame. Particularly, he became more popular when he played George Papadapolis, the adoptive father in the sitcom Webster and Mongo, the thug who knocked out a horse by a punch in the movie Blazing Saddles.

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“Alex Karras was one of the NFL’s most feared defensive tackles throughout the 1960s, a player who hounded quarterbacks and bulled past opposing linemen.

And yet, to many people he will always be the lovable dad from the 1980s sitcom Webster or the big cowboy who famously punched out a horse in Blazing Saddles.”

Read more about Alex Karras Passes Away of Kidney Failure at: philly.com

Alex Karras is remembered by his family and friends as someone who loved to perform. Nonetheless, apart from performing in front of the camera, he also performed in the field. And as someone who did so well in playing football and acting, he should be remembered as both a great actor and defensive tackle.

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