A standout athlete in high school, Ladd attended Grambling State University on a basketball scholarship before being drafted in 1961 by the San Diego Chargers of the American Football League (AFL).

Ladd found success in the AFL as one of the largest players in professional football history at 6′9″ and 290 pounds.

Ladd took up professional wrestling during the AFL offseason, and after a knee injury ended his football career turned to it full-time in 1969.

Ladd was born in Rayville, Louisiana, and raised in Orange, Texas by his mother Louada and stepfather James Ford.

[5] Ladd played in four AFL championship games, helping the Chargers win the American Football League title in 1963 with teammate Earl Faison, both members of the original Fearsome Foursome.

Ladd stated he and teammate Earl Faison would play out their contract options, opting to take a 10 percent cut in salary in exchange for becoming free agents at the end of the season.

[15] However, both were declared free agents by AFL commissioner Joe Foss, who ruled Oilers owner Bud Adams had tampered in trade dealings with the Chargers.

[17] Eventually, Ladd signed with the Oilers and spent the 1966 season playing for them before moving in 1967 to the Kansas City Chiefs.

[5] There, with similarly king sized Grambling teammate and future Pro Football Hall of Famer Buck Buchanan (6 ft 7 in, 286 lbs), he filled out what was probably the biggest defensive tackle tandem in history.

As a publicity stunt, some wrestlers in the San Diego area challenged Ladd to a private wrestling workout.

When knee problems cut his football career short, Ladd turned to the more financially lucrative business of wrestling full-time in 1969.

[20] He riled crowds with his arrogant and colorful demeanor during interviews, especially with his derogatory nicknames for opponents such as Wahoo McDaniel (whom he referred to as "the Drunken Indian"), and Mr. Wrestling (whom he called "the Masked Varmint" and insisted he was an escaped criminal).

Ladd also controversially employed a taped thumb, claiming the support was needed due to an old football injury.

After handily pinning Earl "Mr. Universe" Maynard the month prior, Ladd challenged Bruno Sammartino at Madison Square Garden for the WWWF title on March 1, 1976.

Ladd also assisted Watts as a booker behind the scenes and had a large part in the development of Sylvester Ritter as the area's top draw.

Ladd also teamed with Gorilla Monsoon and Johnny Valiant in the broadcast booth during The Big Event at C.N.E.

Ladd, Monsoon, and Valiant were the original three-man team for the first few weeks of WWF Wrestling Challenge, before Ladd was replaced by Bobby Heenan and Valiant's role was reduced significantly to only calling matches when Heenan had to be at ringside for one of the wrestlers he managed.