Sports & Torts: Alex Karras

We look back at Alex’s career, from Iowa, to Detroit, to Hollywood & the professional wrestling ring. Plus a funny story of how he landed the role of Mongo in Blazing Saddles.

Sports & Torts: Vince Dooley

We talk to the Hall of Fame Coach about his storied career, Herschel Walker, the SEC and the tradition of college football in the South.

Sports & Torts: Tarnishing a Legend

David & Elliott offer their perspectives on the new Walter Payton biography, which paints a not-too-kind picture of the Hall of Fame running back

Alex Karras

A fullback in high school, Karras was moved to tackle when he entered the University of Iowa in 1954. He was a consensus All-American in 1957, his senior season, and he won the Outland Trophy as the nation\'s outstanding college lineman.
Karras was the first-round draft choice of the NFL\'s Detroit Lions in 1958. He immediately became a starting defensive tackle. Smaller than most other tackles at 6-foot-2 and 248 pounds, Karras used intelligence, agility, and aggressiveness to become an All-Pro three consecutive years, from 1960 through 1962.
On April 17, 1963, Karras and Green Bay Packer halfback Paul Hornung were suspended indefinitely for betting on games. Karras took a defiant attitude at first. Ordered to stay away from a bar called Lindell\'s AC, he instead bought a one-third interest in the business and worked there as a bartender. He also wrestled professionally.
Karras finally agreed to sell his share in January of 1964 and made a public apology, saying, \"Everybody always wanted me to be sorry, I guess, and I am. And I\'m tired of it. And I want to play football and, well, if I can\'t I\'ll have to do something else.\"
The suspension was lifted before the 1964 season. Karras returned to the Lions and played with them through 1970 before retiring. Since then, he spent three years working as an analyst on \"Monday Night Football\" and has done a considerable amount of acting in movies and television shows, including Blazing Saddles, Porky’s and Webster.

Alex\'s Career Stats

Vince Dooley

As one of the winningest coaches in NCAA history, Vince Dooley has racked up a list of honors more impressive than even the famed last minute 72-yard run by Lindsay Scott that gave the University of Georgia Bulldogs a victory over the University of Florida Gators and led them straight to a national championship in 1980. Two times, Coach Dooley was named NCAA National Coach of the Year (1980 and 1982) and seven times, he took home the honor of SEC Coach of the Year. The Alabama native, who made Georgia his home in 1964, coached the Georgia Bulldogs to 201 victories during his 25 years as head coach and took Bulldog teams to 20 bowl games. For 15 years after his retirement from active coaching, he remained at Georgia as the school\'s Athletic Director. Not surprisingly, based on these accomplishments, Coach Dooley was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1994. He is also a member of the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame and Alabama\'s Hall of Fame, the state where he played football at Auburn and later coached as an assistant under the formidable Shug Jordan. Vince Dooley is not only a legend – his name known to every avid sports fan across the nation – he is a Southern icon. He knew and coached against some of college football\'s more admired men: Bear Bryant, Bobby Dodd, Frank Broyles, Johnny Vaught and many others. A man like this has an abundance of stories to tell - stories that will entertain, inspire, amuse and inform.
He continues to live in his beloved town of Athens, Georgia, with his wife, Barbara. The Dooleys live in the same home they first purchased in Athens in 1964. An avid master gardener, Coach Dooley has created a dream garden and luscious lawn at their home.
The University of Georgia Department of Horticulture honored Coach Dooley by naming a rose after him. The former coach has developed a sturdy hydrangea that can withstand late spring freezes. Additionally, Coach Dooley is a history buff, a Civil War authority, and a member of the renowned Civil War Round Table.

Vince Dooley\'s Garden