ESPN Classic is doing a piece on Lyle Alzado on Dec. 22 @8 pm. Should be interesting. They always do a good job.
I?m curious to see if they mention the rumors of his ?alternative lifestyle? and dying of AIDS. It still pisses me off that the public thinks he died of steroid use.
i thought he died from a rare brain tumor?
He died of brain cancer.
He was one of the most feared guys on the field when he played for the Raiders.
Sad thing is, after the disease and chemotherapy took their toll on him, I can remember when he said he was a passenger in a car at a gas station, and some punk was mouthing off and Lyle tried to put him in his place.
Skinny littly nerd told the now physically shriveled Lyle to shut the hell up, or he’d pull him out of the car and kick his ass.
Lyle said that when he was his previous self, he would have grabbed the pencil-neck by the throat and shaken him around for awhile.
But now he just had to sit there and take it.
He died a short time later.
And he was the one that blamed it on steroids.
Mike,
You and I can remember watching him play with the Bronco’s and later the Browns. Some of young’uns here don’t know him but he was awesome. Speed, power, and mean as hell. Wasn’t that him and Steve Garvey in the SI commercial where Lyle is holding a bat and asks Steve , “This is what you use to hit with? I got to get me one of these!” Garvey just shudders, classic.
He is the last guy I would think who was gay.
Alzado was as tough as they come. They also had a safety on the Raiders, can’t remember his name, same era. That guy was just as hard core. Was known for knocking guys unconcious on a routine basis.
Jack Tatum was the safety from the 70s.