I remember Alex Karras as a fierce defensive lineman on the Detroit Lions. But I remember him better as a naturally funny guy who never took himself too seriously. In an interview on an afternoon talk show in the seventies (probably Mike Douglas but I'm not sure) he talked about needlepointing his friends names on their jockstraps for them and when asked if he missed the NFL he responded by saying that he missed the comraderie and nowdays hung around in the showers at the YMCA.
He told a story about playing in Chicago every year and that there was a little oriental guy who was always sitting near the tunnel where the visiting teams ran onto the field. This oriental guy would always yell, "Alex Karras, you a horses ass!" When Karras ran out onto the field at Chicago for the last time, he knew he was retiring at the end of that season, the little guy was there as usual and yelled at Karras. Karras said he jumped over the rail and ran up into the stands and grabbed the oriental guy by the lapels, pulled him out of his seat and got right into his face and said, "Didn't I kill you in Korea?" Needless to say, the oriental gent was shaken, being in the hands of this fiercesome giant. Karras said they actually became great friends, the oriental guy owned a Chinese restaurant and Karras visited him many times after he retired.
Many people remember Karras from his stint on Monday Night Football where he added candid insight into the game and the players. He also added a comic relief with his deadpan comments and barbs.
I think many more remember Karras as Webster's adoptive dad on the TV series "Webster". Karras continued the image of the gentle giant.
As Mongo, the slow-witted tough guy in the movie "Blazing Saddles", he was remembered for riding into town on an ox and punching out a horse.
Karras lived in a world of truly tough competitors, and gained the respect (and in many cases, fear) of his teammates and foes alike. Football is popular because of the specialty positions, everyone knows the Namaths and Unitas', the Browns and Sayers, the Swanns and Alworths. The real battle on the football field is fought "in the trenches" between the offensive and defensive lines and the combatants are largely nameless giants. Linemen have to be real standouts to have their names remembered by the general public. Included in that group of standouts are players like Merlin Olsen, Gene Upshaw, "Big Daddy Lipscomb", Mean Joe Green, Dan Dierdorf, Deacon Jones, Howie Long, Bob Lilly, Reggie White...and Alex Karras.
He died Wednesday, at age 77, and will be missed by fans of the game and its players.