Hall of Fame Professional Football Player, Actor. For twelve seasons (1958 to 1962 and 1964 to 1970), he played at the defensive-tackle position in the National Football League with the Detroit Lions. He will be best remembered by TV audiences for playing George Papadapolis in the series "Webster" (1983 to 1989). Born Alexander George Karras, the younger brother of Lou and Ted Karras, whom also went onto have accomplished NFL careers, he attended Emerson High School in Gary, Indiana, and played collegiate football at the University of Iowa. While with the Hawkeyes, he distinguished himself as a two-time All-American while earning the Outland Trophy as the Nation's Best Interior Lineman in 1957. Additionally, he finished runner-up to John David Crow in the voting for the Heisman Trophy that year, and, to date, is the only tackle to finish that high in tallying for the honor. Selected by the Lions during the 1st round of the 1958 NFL Draft, he appeared in 161 regular season games and established himself as one of the most dominating defensive tackles of his era. Along with Roger Brown, Karras anchored Detroit's defensive line which inflicted havoc on opposing offensives. Individually, he achieved Pro-Bowl honors four-times (1960, 1961, 1962, and 1965) and earned All-Pro status three-times (1960, 1961, and 1965). His career was not without controversy, as he was suspended by Commissioner Pete Rozelle in 1963 for betting on NFL games, forcing him to miss that entire season. After retiring from football in 1970, he moved onto work in television and films, landing the role of Mongo in the picture "Blazing Saddles" (1974), in addition to serving a stint with the broadcast team of "Monday Night Football" (1974 to 1976). He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1991. Karras, who was married to actress Susan Clark (whom he co-starred with in "Webster"), suffered from a variety of health issues, including cancer and dementia in recent years. He succumbed to complications due to kidney failure. He was posthumously inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as part of the NFL 2020 Centennial Class.