Long before becoming known as an actor who punched out a horse while playing Mongo in the satirical western “Blazing Saddles,” Alex Karras was a Detroit Lion who got into a lot of trouble off the field.
Karras, one of the best defensive tackles in the NFL, was part of the Lions’ “Fearsome Foursome” of the 1960s, with Darris McCord, Sam Williams and Roger Brown.
Karras captured national headlines in April 1963 when the NFL suspended him for gambling. A parttime bartender who had done some wrestling, he was scheduled to take on well-known pro wrestler Dick the Bruiser in a much-hyped exhibition when a publicity stunt for the match degenerated into a barroom brawl.
Karras’ troubles began in April 1963 when newspapers across the country ran banner headlines with the news that NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle had indefinitely suspended Karras and Green Bay’s Paul Hornung for betting on football games, though not against their own teams.
Five other Lions were fined $2,000 each for placing $50 bets on the 1962 title game. The club was fined $4,000 for neglecting to take appropriate action on a Detroit police report that revealed “player associations with known hoodlums.”
Karras acted surprised.
“This is a real shock,” he told the Free Press. “I didn’t think it would be that bad. I’m still a bartender and I have a wrestling match coming up with Dick the Bruiser. From the sounds of Rozelle’s decision, I may be wrestling for the rest of my life.”
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Karras and Bruiser hatch a plot
Karras bartended at the Lindell AC at Cass and Bagley, a celebrated hangout for athletes, celebrities, gamblers and organized crime figures. The bar was owned by two Detroiters, Jimmy and Johnny Butsicaris. Karras reportedly had invested $40,000 to become a third co-owner, and the trio were waiting approval for the ownership change and a move to new digs at Cass and Michigan. Lions’ management and Rozelle frowned upon Karras’ association with the saloon.
Despite the notoriety surrounding the suspension of one of Detroit’s favorite athletes, ticket sales were weaker than expected for his April 27 match with William Afflis, aka Dick the Bruiser, a former Green Bay Packer lineman who was then a popular “villain” on the pro wrestling circuit, known for his buzz cut, growly voice and put-on scowl.
“Dick called me one night and said, ‘Alex, we’re not doing very good at the box office so maybe we could stir it up a bit at the Lindell,’ ” Karras told the Free Press in a 2003 interview.
The publicity stunt went awry quickly.
According to police and eyewitnesses, around 1 a.m. the Bruiser walked into the Lindell and confronted Jimmy Butsicaris. While pointing to Karras, the wrestler said, “I want that fat, four-eyed bartender to serve me.”
When Butsicaris told him to calm down, Bruiser grabbed the owner. According to legend, just as the fake confrontation ensued, a Butsicaris uncle walked into the bar not knowing the script. He grabbed a cue stick and smacked Bruiser in the face.
All hell broke loose. It quickly exploded into one of the most publicized saloon donnybrooks in Detroit history.
Although Karras did not participate in the melee, five patrons did, and, in the end, it took eight police officers to subdue and handcuff Bruiser. He received five stitches under his left eye at Detroit Receiving Hospital and then was charged with assault and battery. One officer suffered a fractured wrist and another a torn elbow ligament.
Teeth marks on his bicep
A month later, Recorder’s Court Judge Joseph Gillis characterized the fight as “an advertising stunt” and surprisingly dismissed charges against Bruiser, but ordered him to pay $400 to the Detroit Police Pension Fund. In turn, Gillis received a scathing editorial from the Free Press for failing to treat Dick the Bruiser like a real defendant.
“Recorder’s Court reaped no glory with the People versus Richard Afflis,” the paper scolded.
Despite the buildup after the Lindell brawl, the wrestling match between Karras and the Bruiser — part of a 10-bout card — was a dud.
A smaller than expected crowd of 10,000 fans saw Bruiser pin Karras in only 11 minutes and 21 seconds. The Associated Press wrote: “The Bruiser surprised Karras when he jumped off the top rope and knocked him down for a three count.”
Earlier, “the 250-pound Karras tossed the Bruiser out of the ring three times and smashed a wound over the Bruiser’s right eye,” the AP said.
Added the Free Press: “If the battle was as phony as wrestling matches supposedly are, Karras and Bruiser were convincing in their act. Karras gave Bruiser a thorough going over but lost in the end when he turned his back on Bruiser to wave his handlers off.
“Karras later bore tell-tale marks of the Bruiser with heavy teeth marks on his left bicep and scratches over his chest.”
Karras soon announced his retirement from wrestling as he became a co-owner of the Lindell.
Playing Webster’s dad
It was later reported that Karras was planning to sell his interest in the bar in a good faith gesture to Rozelle to help pave the way for a possible reinstatement.
Eleven months after Karras and Hornung were banned, Rozelle lifted the suspensions, allowing Karras to resume his stellar career with the Lions, which lasted until 1970. (Years later Karras revealed that he actually didn’t sell his interest in the Lindell until five years after his suspension.)
In 1968, Karras got the acting bug when he received positive reviews playing himself in “Paper Lion,” a Hollywood film based upon journalist George Plimpton’s 1966 nonfiction book that depicted the writer’s staged tryout for Lions’ quarterback. With his quick wit and acting chops, Karras soon became a guest on the popular “Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.”
Before long, Karras would permanently change careers.
In September 1971, days before the start of the season, Lions’ head coach Joe Schmidt released the 36-year-old Karras, just hours after Karras had completed a taping of the “Tonight Show” in New York. Embittered by his release, Karras continued his acting career and began appearing in television shows and movies. From 1974 to 1976 he served as a commentator on “ABC Monday Night Football.”
In perhaps his best-known drama other than “Blazing Saddles,” Karras starred as retired football player George Papadopolis in the 1980’s television sitcom, “Webster.” It was the story of a white couple who adopt the Black son of one of Papadopolis’ teammates, who was killed in a car accident. Susan Clark, Karras’ wife in real life, played his fictional spouse.
Karras died at age 77 in his Los Angeles home in 2012 after suffering from kidney failure, dementia, heart disease and cancer. The four-time All Pro was posthumously inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2020.
Afflis, who still wrestled as Dick the Bruiser into his 60s, died in Florida in 1991 from internal bleeding after rupturing a blood vessel in his esophagus while weightlifting. He was 62.
Bill Dow is a metro Detroit freelancer who specializes in sports