Alex Karras was a defensive lineman for the Detroit Lions. He is a member of both the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

But for a certain portion of the population, Karras was much more well known from 1983 to 1989 as "George Papadopolis" on the ABC sitcom Webster.

He overcame the loss of his father at 13, and eventually went to the University of Iowa, playing in the era of single-platoon or "iron man football." Players played on both sides of the ball and if they were removed for a substitute, they were lost for the duration of the quarter.

(As a complete aside, I am absolutely in favor of single-platoon football coming back. They had a modified version of it in the old Arena Football League. There should be a place for single-platoon system at some level of the gridiron code.)

According to college teammate Randy Duncan, "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."

His style of play got him in hot water with his coach, Forest Evashevski. They fought. Karras quit the team a few times. He was resilient, however.

Ultimately, in his senior season, Karras was first-team All-American for the second straight year, won the Outland Trophy as college football's best interior lineman, and finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting. Only one lineman, Notre Dame's Leon Hart, has ever won the Heisman.

He went on to a standout pro career with the Lions. In the middle of his career, perhaps infamously, he and Paul Hornung were suspended for their involvement in gambling in 1963. Having briefly been a pro wrestler, Karras went back to the ring for a while until the suspension ended.

In 1964, at a pre-game coin toss between the captains, the referee asked Karras to call the flip. "I'm sorry, sir. I'm not permitted to gamble."

In 1970, his first playoff game and final NFL game proved to be the same event. His defense did not allow a touchdown and lost to the Dallas Cowboys 5–0.

Karras went on to star in movies, serve as a commentator on Monday Night Football, and starred in his own television series, the aforementioned Webster.

He was inducted into the Iowa Sports Hall of Fame in 1997, the College Football Hall of Fame in 1991, and the posthumous honor of induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2020.

Alex Karras died on this day, in the morning hours of October 10, 2012.

As always,

Brian

P.S. – Toughness is in the spirit. Mental toughness, we call it.

Mental toughness is the ability to focus on and execute solutions, especially in the face of adversity. It's the professional mindset versus that of an amateur.

Author Steve Seibold writes, "Amateur performers operate from delusion, pros operate from objective reality. The great ones' habits, actions, and behavioirs are totally congruent with the size and scope of their ultimate vision. That's why we call them champions."

Alex Karras was, in fact, a pro, and tough, and a champion.

While his teams in the NFL did not fare all that great, in Karras's junior season at Iowa, his Hawkeyes beat the rough-and-tumble Tommy Prothro-coached Oregon State Beavers, not once but twice. First in Iowa City, by a point, early in the season.

The Beavers and Hawkeyes, having won their respective conferences, met in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day 1957 and Karras and the Hawks blasted the Beavers 35–19.

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