Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Detroit Lions Standout (Alex Karras) & 'Webster' Star Reportedly Has Days to Live
ABC News ^ | By ERIN McLAUGHLIN | 10/9/12

Posted on 10/09/2012 2:03:05 PM PDT by drewh

Former Detroit Lions standout and National Football League great, Alex Karras, who later became a TV star, is reportedly near death, following recent kidney failure.

The 77-year-old former defensive tackle has been given only a few days to live, the Detroit Free Press reports.

Karras was drafted by the Lions 10th overall in 1958, and he played for the team for his entire NFL career. Following his retirement from football in 1970 at the age of 35, Karras took up acting, playing Mongo in the Mel Brooks movie "Blazing Saddles" and lovable dad George Papadapolis on the ABC series "Webster."

Karras' former team is already extending its sympathies to the All-Pro defensive lineman. Lions President Tom Lewand said in a statement released late Monday night that the "entire Detroit Lions family is deeply saddened to learn of the news regarding one of our all-time greats.

"Perhaps no player in Lions history attained as much success and notoriety for what he did after his playing days as Alex," the statement read. "We know Alex first and foremost as one of the cornerstones to our Fearsome Foursome defensive line of the 1960s. Many others across the country came to know Alex as an accomplished actor and as an announcer during the early years of Monday Night Football."

His wife, Susan Clark, who also played his wife on "Webster," told the Associated Press earlier this year that Karras had had symptoms of dementia for years

(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: Michigan
KEYWORDS: karras
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-23 next last

1 posted on 10/09/2012 2:03:09 PM PDT by drewh
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: drewh

Mongo just pawn in game of life.


2 posted on 10/09/2012 2:04:12 PM PDT by research99
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: drewh

“Mongo just pawn in game of life”

Good luck my friend


3 posted on 10/09/2012 2:05:15 PM PDT by Vaquero (Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: drewh

Don’t bet against him!


4 posted on 10/09/2012 2:06:05 PM PDT by wideawake
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: drewh

5 posted on 10/09/2012 2:08:40 PM PDT by Bobalu (It is not obama we are fighting, it is the media.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Vaquero; research99

you beat me to it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKRma7PDW10&feature=fvwrel


6 posted on 10/09/2012 2:11:40 PM PDT by drewh
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Bobalu

I have always liked the guy, but he is married to a Canadian lefty and apparently she’s taken him over to the dark side.

They were being celebrated recently on the far-left wacko TV channel LinkTV for their “very generous donation”.


7 posted on 10/09/2012 2:12:31 PM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: drewh

The Sheriff in Porky’s.


8 posted on 10/09/2012 2:13:06 PM PDT by Darren McCarty (Holding my nose one more time to get rid of Eric Holder)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Vaquero; research99

Blazing Saddles- Enter Mongo “if you shoot him, you’ll just make him mad” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwNJla8WvoY&feature=related


9 posted on 10/09/2012 2:14:57 PM PDT by drewh
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: drewh

Played college ball at Iowa.


10 posted on 10/09/2012 2:15:24 PM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks (In the game of life, there are no betting limits)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: drewh

I am sorry to hear the news, but is dementia at age 77 a sign of much other than, well, being 77? How much can we really blame football here?


11 posted on 10/09/2012 2:18:26 PM PDT by Our man in washington
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: drewh
He was great as “Mongo”. He really proved himself in the TV Series “Centennial”. He was a good actor, great football player and excellent sportscaster.

So sorry to hear that he is near the end of his life, he is still a young man.

12 posted on 10/09/2012 2:20:16 PM PDT by BatGuano (You don't think I'd go into combat with loose change in my pocket, do ya?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: drewh

Tanniker like Mongo. Tanniker sad.


13 posted on 10/09/2012 2:27:54 PM PDT by Tanniker Smith (Rome didn't fall in a day, either.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BatGuano

14 posted on 10/09/2012 2:35:50 PM PDT by drewh
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Our man in washington

It isn’t not a “given” that you will get dementia.

It is probably a combination of genetics, and twenty years of getting his head whacked around in a pre-historic helmet.


15 posted on 10/09/2012 2:45:10 PM PDT by Vermont Lt (If you are a white conservative, you MUST be a racist. ;-))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: BatGuano

16 posted on 10/09/2012 3:10:40 PM PDT by jaz.357 ( *Luke 6:43-45* Twas Ever Thus!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: drewh
My favorite Karas quote.....

Photobucket

"And here's Otis Sistrunk from the University of Mars..."

17 posted on 10/09/2012 3:11:23 PM PDT by Roccus
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: drewh
Author of the greatest line ever uttered on Monday Night Football. Over the full screen image of the bald steaming head of a famed Oakland defensive lineman: "Otis Sistrunk, University of Mars". It seemed like five minutes passed before the other commentators could open their mouths to do anything but laugh.

Godspeed, Alex.

18 posted on 10/09/2012 3:19:33 PM PDT by katana (Just my opinions)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: katana

GMTA


19 posted on 10/09/2012 3:20:59 PM PDT by Roccus
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: Roccus

Yes, they do. But yours was a few minutes quicker.


20 posted on 10/09/2012 3:25:15 PM PDT by katana (Just my opinions)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-23 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson