by Dave Birkett, Detroit Free Press

Published: 10/08/2012 11:43pm

Friends of Alex Karras say the former Lions great suffered kidney failure in the last two weeks and has been given only a few days to live.

Tom McInerney, owner of McInerney's Woodhaven Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram and a friend of Karras' since the 1950s, said Karras' wife, Susan Clark, told him of her husband's failing health in a 15-minute phone call this morning.

"I got a call from Susan last Wednesday or Thursday that he was in the hospital," McInerney said. "(His kidneys) gave out on him and legs swelled up and his ankles swelled up and arms, so she said it doesn't look good. They figured probably a couple weeks.tr

"He said, 'I want to go home,' so knowing Alex she made arrangements for him. She talked to me Saturday morning waiting for the ambulance to take him home with her daughter and she was going to let me know. Well, I couldn't get in touch with her yesterday or Saturday and she called me this morning, said, 'It doesn't look too good, Tommy. They're talking probably a couple days.'
"She said if you came out here it wouldn't be worth his while because right now he's talking about he wants to see his (deceased) mother and dad, and he's on morphine, he's on oxygen. She said it's maybe a couple, three days at the most."

The 77-year-old Karras has suffered from a variety of health problems in recent years, including dementia and cancer, and is part of the mass concussion lawsuit more than 3,000 former players have filed against the NFL.

Catherine Lincoln, general manager of Clark Karras Properties, said Karras was released from Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif., over the weekend and is currently at his California home on hospice care.

His sons George and Alex Jr., and daughter Katie, are by his side, and another son Peter is en route to California.

"He is, as Susan said to me, in transition," Lincoln said. "Certainly all prayers and good wishes are appreciated."


[Edited 10/9/12 4:57am]
[Edited 10/10/12 8:10am]

Timmy84 said:

One of my employees has a 36- year old son with stage 4 cancer in like 6 parts of his body. He won't accept the inevitable and keeps wanting his 70-year old mom to miss work and have him transferred from hospital to hospital. She is so tired I had to tell her to take the week off.

Fury said:

Timmy84 said:

I always get that eerie feeling whenever I read about people getting prepared to make their peace and leave this earth... real chilly.

One of my employees has a 36- year old son with stage 4 cancer in like 6 parts of his body. He won't accept the inevitable and keeps wanting his 70-year old mom to miss work and have him transferred from hospital to hospital. She is so tired I had to tell her to take the week off.

Wow that's real tough.

Saw this on Sports Center yesterday. Sad to hear. Alex was one of those

throwback warriors on the football field and had a pretty good acting

career after his playing days. Prayer and peace.

DETROIT (AP) — Alex Karras, the rugged lineman who anchored the Detroit Lions’ defense in the 1960s, then went on to an acting career in which he starred in the sitcom ‘‘Webster’’ and famously punched a horse in the 1974 comedy ‘‘Blazing Saddles,’’ died Wednesday. He was 77.

Karras, who had recently suffered kidney failure, died at home in Los Angeles surrounded by family members, said Craig Mitnick, Karras’ attorney.

Diagnosed with dementia, Karras in April joined the more than 3,500 former NFL players suing the league for not protecting them better from head injuries, immediately becoming one of the best-known names in the legal fight.

Detroit drafted Karras with the 10th overall pick in 1958 out of Iowa and he was a four-time All-Pro defensive tackle over 12 seasons with the franchise.

He was a terror on the field, using a variety of moves to push around opposing linemen and get into the backfield. His Lions handed the powerful 1962 Green Bay Packers their only defeat that season, a 26-14 upset on Thanksgiving during which they harassed quarterback Bart Starr constantly.

Packers guard Jerry Kramer wrote in his diary of the 1967 season about his trepidation over having to play Karras.

‘‘I'm thinking about him every minute,’’ Kramer wrote.

For all his prowess on the field, Karras may have gained more fame when he turned to acting in the movies and on television.

Playing a not-so-bright bruiser in Mel Brooks’ ‘‘Blazing Saddles,’’ he not only slugged a horse but also delivered the classic line: ‘‘Mongo only pawn in game of life.’’

Several years before that, Karras had already become a bit of a celebrity through George Plimpton’s behind-the-scenes book about what it was like to be an NFL player in the Motor City, ‘‘Paper Lion: Confessions of a Second-string Quarterback.’’

That led to Karras playing himself in the successful movie adaption, and it opened doors for Karras to be an analyst alongside Howard Cosell and Frank Gifford on ‘‘Monday Night Football.’’

In the 1980s, he played a sheriff in the comedy ‘‘Porky's’’ and became a hit on the small screen as Emmanuel Lewis’ adoptive father, George Papadapolis, in the sitcom ‘‘Webster.’’

‘‘Perhaps no player in Lions history attained as much success and notoriety for what he did after his playing days as did Alex,’’ Lions president Tom Lewand said.

Recently, his wife said Karras’ quality of life has deteriorated because of head injuries sustained during his playing career.

Susan Clark said earlier this year that her husband couldn’t drive after loving to get behind the wheel and couldn’t remember recipes for some of the favorite Italian and Greek dishes he used to cook.

‘‘This physical beating that he took as a football player has impacted his life, and therefore it has impacted his family life,’’ Clark told The Associated Press earlier this year. ‘‘He is interested in making the game of football safer and hoping that other families of retired players will have a healthier and happier retirement.’’

Clark, who also played the wife of Karras’ loveable character on ‘‘Webster,’’ has said he was formally diagnosed with dementia several years ago and has had symptoms for more than a dozen years. He joined hundreds of other former players suing the league.

‘‘It’s the same thing as back in the gladiator days when the gladiators fought to death,’’ Mitnick, who represents Karras and hundreds of others in the suit, has said. ‘‘Fans care about these guys when they’re playing and they are heroes. But as soon as you’re not a hero and not playing the fan doesn’t really care what happens to them.’’

The NFL has said it did not intentionally seek to mislead players and has taken action to better protect players and to advance the science of concussion management and treatment.

Karras played his entire NFL career with the Lions before retiring in 1970 at age 35. He was a first-team All-Pro in 1960, 1961 and 1965, and he made the Pro Bowl four times. He missed the 1963 season when he was suspended by NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle in a gambling probe. Karras was recognized by the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a defensive tackle on the All-Decade Team of the 1960s.

He was born and raised in Gary, Ind., and was inducted into the Indiana Football Hall of Fame in 1976.

‘‘We know Alex first and foremost as one of the cornerstones to our Fearsome Foursome defensive line of the 1960s and also as one of the greatest defensive linemen to ever play in the NFL,’’ Lewand said. ‘‘Many others across the country came to know Alex as an accomplished actor and as an announcer during the early years of ‘Monday Night Football.'’’

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Rest In Peace Mr. Karras

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Rip Mr. Papadopalis(from Webster)