Alexander George Karras (July 15, 1935 – October 10, 2012) was an American professional football player, professional wrestler, sportscaster, and actor. He was a four-time Pro Bowl selection while playing defensive tackle for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL) from 1958 to 1970. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the Centennial class.
As an actor, Karras played Mongo in the 1974 comedy film Blazing Saddles. He starred as George Papadopolis, the adoptive father of Webster Long (Emmanuel Lewis), in the ABC sitcom Webster (1983–1989) alongside his wife Susan Clark. Karras also had a prominent role in Victor/Victoria, starring Julie Andrews and James Garner.
Karras was born and raised in Gary, Indiana, the son of Dr. George Karras, a Greek immigrant from Chios. A graduate of the University of Chicago, George studied medicine in Canada, where met and married Emmeline (née Wilson), a native-born registered nurse. George opened a medical practice in Gary, but died when Alex was thirteen years old. By that time, Alex Karras had learned to play football in a parking lot near his home, with and against his athletically inclined brothers. Excelling at high school football, baseball, track, wrestling, and basketball, he blossomed into a four-time Indiana all-state selection at Gary's Emerson High School. Karras also excelled in numerous other sports in high He graduated in 1954.
Karras' older brothers Lou and Ted played college football. Lou (a future member of the Redskins) at Purdue, and Ted (who later played with the Bears and Lions) also at Purdue before transferring to Indiana. Because of Ted's move Alex maintained that "Indiana had the inside track" on recruiting him. Shortly after he graduated from high school, three coaches from the Iowa Hawkeyes met Karras at his brother Lou's house with an airplane and flew him to Spencer, Iowa, where he remained incommunicado through the summer. Writing in the Detroit Free Press in 1971, Karras said that "nobody knew where I was, not even my mom, although Louie told her not to worry. Obviously, Iowa came up with something, I have no intention of stirring up any mess. I'll only say that, as Louie explained it, some accommodations were made by the people at Iowa that would make things easier for the family, and so away I went. It was the beginning of some awful years."
Initially, Karras struggled at Iowa with classwork, homesickness, and with his coach, Forest Evashevski. He was a pledge at Sigma Nu fraternity as a freshman. Karras probably would have left Iowa had he not befriended a Greek theater owner, Ernie Pannos, as well as fellow players Cal Jones and Bob Commings. Karras's sophomore year with Iowa in 1955 got off to a rocky start when he showed up for practice forty pounds (18 kg) overweight.
Karras had been (dubiously) advised that year that he would need to gain substantial weight to have a chance at success in pro football, prompting him to report to camp at 260–270 pounds, in contrast to the 225–230 the Iowa coaching staff had expected.
Karras was also hampered that season by a fractured anklebone. After being disappointed at not getting to play in the season finale, Karras threw a shoe at Evashevski and quit the team. Karras did not earn a football letter for the 1955 season.
Karras went to summer classes, lost the excess weight, and rejoined the football team, but a strained relationship resurfaced. Evashevski promised to start Karras in the 1956 season opener against Indiana, when he would square off against his brother, Ted.
But Evashevski played Karras off the bench instead, and Karras quit the team again. This time, Karras agreed to return only after making Evashevski promise he would not talk to him other than in a coaching capacity. (Evashevski always denied any special agreement with Karras.) Iowa took the lead in the 1956 Big Ten title race with a 7–0 victory over Minnesota. The Hawkeyes then clinched the Big Ten title and Iowa's first-ever Rose Bowl berth by defeating Ohio State 6–0. Karras sealed the game with a sack on the game's final play.
Iowa's final regular-season game in 1956 was a 48–8 win at home over a struggling Notre Dame team. Karras called it his biggest college win, saying, "The Karrases have always had a rivalry with Notre Dame. The school was just sixty miles (97 km) down the road from our home and we wanted to beat 'em at anything." However, after the game, Karras got into a physical altercation with Evashevski. Karras did not enjoy his trip to the Rose Bowl, either. "Pasadena was the most boring town I've ever been in," said Karras. Karras helped the Hawkeyes best Oregon State, 35–19. He was a first-team All-American in 1956.
Karras spent the summer of 1957 with an American track team of Greek descent. He participated in the shot put, throwing a respectable 52 feet (16 m). In his senior season in 1957, Karras was the most dominant lineman in the nation, won the Outland Trophy, and was the runner-up in the voting for the Heisman Trophy. Karras, Ohio State tackle John Hicks (in 1973), and Aidan Hutchinson, a Michigan edge rusher (2021), are three of only four linemen to finish so high in the Heisman Trophy voting. (Leon Hart, a Notre Dame end, was the only lineman ever to win the Heisman Trophy, in 1949.) In addition, Karras was a consensus first-team All-American in 1957. Hawkeye teammate Randy Duncan said:
Karras hated Evashevski, and he still does. I think Karras hated Evy for a lot of reasons. Evy was on everybody's back, and he was on Karras' back big time. Karras was a great football player, but he didn't really like offense and, in those days, you had to go both ways. So he didn't block anybody. What he wanted to do was chase down quarterbacks and play defense.
Before his NFL career got underway, Karras signed a contract as a professional wrestler on December 13, 1957, earning $25,000 during the six-month off-season. Karras was the tenth selection of the 1958 NFL draft, taken by the Detroit Lions. He signed with the Lions, spurning an offer from the Canadian Football League's Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He quickly became one of the dominant defensive tackles in the NFL, playing for 12 seasons (1958–1962, 1964–1970) all with the Lions.
As a rookie in 1958, joining the championship-contending Lions, Karras was adopted in training camp as an off-field flunky, chauffeur, and wingman by superstar quarterback Bobby Layne for his legendary late-night party activities.
By many accounts Karras would marvel at Layne's ability to recover from heavy drinking sessions at night and being able to function effectively at practices or games the next day. Karras himself admitted he was frequently heavily hung over as a result of late night bar-hopping.
Layne was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers early in the 1958 season and Karras eventually assumed a veteran leadership position himself.
On January 7, 1963, Karras's ownership share in Detroit's Lindell AC 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 up the bar ownership, 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. He was reinstated, along with Hornung, on March 16, 1964, by NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle. Upon returning to action in 1964, Karras once refused when an official asked him to call the pregame coin toss. "I'm sorry, sir," Karras replied. "I'm not permitted to gamble." 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 season.