There, George Karras met and married a Canadian woman, Alex's mother, Emmeline (née Wilson), a registered nurse.

By that time, Alex Karras had learned to play football in a parking lot near his home, with and against his athletically inclined brothers, and he blossomed into a four-time Indiana all-state selection at Gary's Emerson High School.

Karras also excelled in numerous other sports in high school, including baseball, track, wrestling, and basketball.

Writing in the Detroit Free Press in 1971 (as reprinted in the Iowa City Press-Citizen), Karras said that "nobody knew where I was, not even my mom, although Louie told her not to worry.

Karras probably would have left Iowa had he not befriended a Greek theater owner, Ernie Pannos, as well as fellow players Cal Jones and Bob Commings.

Karras's sophomore year with Iowa in 1955 got off to a rocky start when he showed up for practice forty pounds (18 kg) overweight.

Karras had been (dubiously) advised that year that he would need to gain substantial weight to have a chance at success in pro football, prompting him to report to camp at 260-270 pounds, in contrast to the 225-230 the Iowa coaching staff expected.

[citation needed] Karras went to summer classes, lost the excess weight, and rejoined the football team, but a strained relationship resurfaced.

The Hawkeyes then clinched the Big Ten title and Iowa's first-ever Rose Bowl berth by defeating Ohio State 6–0.

Karras, Ohio State tackle John Hicks (in 1973), and Aidan Hutchinson, a Michigan edge rusher (2021), are three of only four linemen to finish so high in the Heisman Trophy voting.

[7]Before his NFL career got underway, Karras signed a contract as a professional wrestler on December 13, 1957, earning $25,000 during the six-month off-season.

As a rookie in 1958, joining the championship-contending Lions, Karras was adopted in training camp as an off-field flunky, chauffeur, and wingman by superstar quarterback Bobby Layne for his legendary late-night party activities.

By many accounts Karras would marvel at Layne's ability to recover from heavy drinking sessions at night and being able to function effectively at practices or games the next day.

Layne was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers early in the 1958 season and Karras eventually assumed a veteran leadership position himself.

On January 7, 1963, Karras's ownership share in Detroit's Lindell AC Bar became a source of controversy when league officials urged him to sell his financial interests in the place because of reports of gambling and organized crime influence.

After first threatening to retire rather than give up the bar ownership, Karras admitted placing bets on NFL games and was suspended by the league, along with Green Bay Packers running back Paul Hornung, for one season (1963).

"[8] During his first year back, player discontent with head coach George Wilson resulted in Karras asking to be traded.

Despite the new contract, controversy remained, as Karras and Gilmer sparred in midseason, with the coach reportedly ready to release the veteran defensive tackle.

After the 1971 preseason, while rehabilitating a knee injury suffered the previous year, Karras was released in mid-September, ending his playing career at age 36.

Karras himself was under suspension and thus absent during Plimpton's training camp tenure with the Lions, making him a constant topic of tall-tale discussion among his past (and future) teammates.

Karras soon began acting on a full-time basis, playing a Tennessee boy turned Olympic weightlifter named Hugh Ray Feather in 1973's The 500 Pound Jerk.

A minor but memorable role came one year later in the western parody Blazing Saddles (1974): the very strong and slow-witted thug Mongo, who rode into town on a huge brahman (marked with "yes" and "no" passing signals), and knocked out a horse with one punch.

Karras returned to acting with roles that included playing Sheriff Wallace in Porky's (in which his wife, Susan Clark, also starred), and as western settler Hans Brumbaugh in Centennial.

In 1975, Karras appeared on MNF colleague Howard Cosell's ill-fated variety show Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell wearing a wig (a la Mongo) and performing "Already Gone" on the beach with The Eagles who were dubbed the "Alex Karras Blues Band" due to t-shirts the band members wore bearing that moniker.

He was known for his humorous endorsement of La-Z-Boy recliners, in an ad campaign which also featured NFL greats such as Miami Dolphins Coach Don Shula, and New York Jets legend Joe Namath.

[19] In the 1980s, Karras had memorable success in the TV sitcom Webster, playing George Papadapolis, the title character's (Emmanuel Lewis) adoptive father, in a role that showcased his softer side.

Besides being one of the subjects of George Plimpton's nonfiction book Paper Lion (published in 1966), he was one of the two principal subjects of Plimpton's follow-up book, Mad Ducks and Bears (1973), in which fellow Detroit Lion John Gordy was the "bear" to Karras's "mad duck".

On December 12, 2014, the Big Ten Network included Karras on "The Mount Rushmore of Iowa Football", as chosen by online fan voting.