Lyle Alzado
Lyle Alzado at NFL.com Lyle Alzado (April 3, 1949 – May 14, 1992) was a NFL American football player most famous for his intense and intimidating style of play.
Early life, high school and college football
He was born in Brooklyn, New York, to an Italian-Spanish father and a Jewish mother. When he was 10 the family moved to Cedarhurst, Long Island. His father left when he was in Lawrence High School (New York). He played high school football, but was not a standout.
He played college football for Kilgore College, a junior college, for two years, and then Yankton College in South Dakota, where he was noticed by a Denver Broncos coach watching film. The Broncos drafted him in the fourth round, in 1971.
NFL career
During his career he played defensive line for the Los Angeles Raiders, Cleveland Browns, and Denver Broncos during the 1970s and early 1980s. He was noted as a colorful and popular figure with each team.
He was a star with the Broncos for several seasons, leading the team in sacks five times and making the Pro Bowl in 1977 and 1978. In 1979 he had a contract dispute, and the Broncos traded him to the Cleveland Browns.
He played well with the Browns, leading the team in sacks in 1980 and 1981, but the Browns traded him to the Los Angeles Raiders in 1982 to reduce their salary burden.
He continued to perform well for the Raiders in the 1983 season, helping lead them to a Super Bowl that year. He also had an outstanding 1984 season, but was injured part way through 1985 and retired at the end of the year. He attempted a comeback in 1990, but injured a knee during training camp and was released. After this he retired for good.
Steroids
He is probably most remembered today for being one of the first major U.S. sports figures to admit to abuse of steroids. In the last years of his life, as he battled against the brain cancer that eventually caused his death at the age of 42, Alzado asserted that his steroid abuse directly led to his final illness. This assertion has been disputed by many medical experts as there is no medical evidence steroids had anything to do with his condition and his own doctors denied the claim that they did.
Outside of football
Alzado pursued an acting career in both movies and television, appearing mostly in youth-oriented comedy and adventure roles. His most notable film roles include the bully construction worker in Ernest Goes to Camp and the unstoppable killer in Destroyer.
He appeared in Stop the Madness, a 1985 anti-drug music video sponsored by the Reagan administration.
He made a guest appearance on The Super Mario Bros. Super Show in 1989.
He was an amateur boxer, and once fought an exhibition match against Muhammad Ali.
Learning the Ropes
Alzado starred in the sitcom Learning the Ropes where he played a high school principal moonlighting as a professional wrestler known as "The Masked Maniac." The show's premise was that Alzado's wrestler lifestyle was a secret alter ego. NWA Wrestling stars such as Ric Flair, Ronnie Garvin and The Road Warriors made guest appearances on the show.
See also
External links
- 1949 births
- 1992 deaths
- American film actors
- American television actors
- American football defensive ends
- American football defensive tackles
- American sportspeople in doping cases
- Brain tumour deaths
- Denver Broncos players
- Cleveland Browns players
- Doping cases in American football
- Jewish American sportspeople
- Jewish football players
- Los Angeles Raiders players
- Mario cast members
- People from Brooklyn
- People from Long Island
- People from Town of Hempstead, New York
- People from Nassau County, New York