There is no question John Matuszak was the most famous & most loved celebrity of all the time. We won't really ever know because he never got a chance to grow older and wiser. Why is Frank McCourt really pushing it? His best known role was as the deformed Sloth in the 1985 movie The Goonies. Who is John Matuszak dating? The trade was a steal for Houston, where Culp became a Hall of Fame performer when coach Bum Phillips moved Culp to nose tackle in the 3-4 defense in 1975. The Houston Oilers made him the No. Or something. Surprisingly he turned out to be a pretty good actor. He was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs. Turns out, the pummelee was an Air Force cadet who ended up with 18 fractures in his face he needed a whopping 10 hours of surgery to be made whole again. But the story behind the actor who played Sloth is almost as unbelievable as the plot of The Goonies. In Matuszak's last college football game, Tampa defeated Kent State 21-18 in the Tangerine Bowl. Seven years later, Matuszak would join Belushi on the list of actors who died in their prime. An autopsy was inconclusive and further tests were scheduled. John Matuszak's childhood was full of grief and misfortune. Just as he was a hellion off the field, Matuszak was a devil on the gridiron. and "The Fall Guy." . She later promised him that she'd set another wedding date when he finally got a 90-day chip, but the Goonies star always failed. Helen P. Spencer Scouting Official Helen Page Spencer, 74, a former longtime official and volunteer with the Girl Scouts of America, died of pneumonia June 16 at Howard County General Hospital in Columbia. Matuszak died of a drug overdose. By Michael Palan / April 8, 2021 4:39 pm EST. His primary income source was through his acting and football career. He had numerous guest appearances in TV shows such as Perfect Strangers, M*A*S*H, The Dukes of Hazzard, Hunter, Silver Spoons, The A-Team, 1st & Ten and Miami Vice. Matuszak died on June 17, 1989, as a result of acute propoxyphene intoxication, an accidental overdose of the prescription drug Darvocet, according to the findings of the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office. John Matuszak - Pro-Football-Reference.com Mr. Matuszak also wrote his autobiography, "Cruisin' With The Tooz." He was born John Daniel Matuszak in Oak Creek, Wis. . His lifestyle often overshadowed his productivity as a championship-caliber . John Matuszak (October 25, 1950 - June 17, 1989) was a football player and actor who portrayed Sloth in The Goonies. John Matuszak weighed 272 lbs (123 kg) when playing. She is known for White Men Can't Jump (1992), In Living Color (1990) and The Talk (2010). His next role was in 1981's Caveman, opposite Ringo Starr, which no critic"confused [with]Gone With The Wind." According to the team physician, a lot of his teammates joined him with the drugs the bagels and Cheez Whiz were just a Tooz thing. Instead of cracking down on the instigators, the Raiders decided to memorialize the incident by hanging the broken crutch on the wall with the label "'Biskie's Tooz Pick." In Matuszak's first season,the Raiders won their first Super Bowl title, and Matuszak played a big part in that victory. Cookies help us deliver our Services. On a particularly rowdy night, he was arrested for driving drunk and firing a gun at street signs. His life may have been a rocky road, but the Tooz cruised through it, and there was rarely a dull moment along the way. "Car troubles" could have been the name of his biography: He amassed a long rap sheet of arrests, including ones for aggressive driving, careless driving, possession of drugs, and drunken driving. John Matuszak Affair, Height, Net Worth, Age, Career, and More But John Matuszak was only 38 when he died, so maybe he needed a few more years. PITTSBURGH 1982 - OL Rick Donnalley told Cincinnati Post he used steroids. The displeased Oilers traded him to the Kansas City Chiefs for Curley Culp, another player who had threatened to jump to the WFL, and a first-round draft choice in 1975 on October 22, 1974. John Matuszak's personal life was also affected by all the hard-partying. It doesn't matter if you're too short, too tall, too fat, or too skinny they're going to find something about you to pick on. In 1974, while he was still playing for the Kansas City Chiefs, he upset his wife, so she tried to run him over with their Cadillac convertible. Ironically, it was Paul Wiggin, the Chief's coach, who saved his life and then traded him to the Washington Redskins just seven days after he was released from the hospital. Matuszak also left the contents of his house in Franklin, Wis., to his sister, the boys mother, Christine Evancy. Tooz decided he didn't want to end up like that, and called it quits on May 10, 1983. His full name is John Daniel Matuszak and his nickname is Matuszak. ), High school baseball: Southern Section playoff pairings, Dig this: Long Beach States Mason Briggs could be next big thing at libero, Kentucky Derby storylines: Training death puts early pall over Churchill Downs, Dodgers vs. Philadelphia Phillies: How to watch, start times and betting odds, Elliott: Pissed off Kings must improve in key areas to break Oilers playoff stranglehold. John Matuszak and Stephanie Cozart Burton wer See He was back to square one of rehabilitation. His zodiac sign is Scorp And it never had anything to do with the fact that he was high.". "It's full of 30-day and 60-day chips. Matuszak's other notable movies areOne Crazy Summer(1986),Ghost Writer(1989),The Princess and the Dwarf(1989), and many others. A year later, he signed with the Houston Texans of the World Football League, where he played briefly before he was served an injunction obtained by the Oilers. So, how much is John Matuszak worth at the age of 39 years old? He was also a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. [9] Matuszak's character Sloth wears an Oakland Raiders shirt in some scenes. We recommend you to check the complete list of Famous People born on 25 October. Coroner: Drugs Killed Former NFL Star Died | AP News On June 17, 1989, John Matuszak died at age 38. That was not the case with Matuszak, Boucher said, but he declined to speculate on what else may have caused the death, pending test results. John Matuszak, better known by the Family name John Daniel Matuszak, was a popular Actor, Model, Producer. Matuszak's life was a multifaceted one. And just in case there wasn't already enough tragedy in this story, here's an extra helping of it for you football injuries require pain medication, and Matuszak was one human being who should have stayed as far away from pain medication as possible. But even with the success Matuszak found in this new chapter of his life, some aspects of his troubled past remained. Matuszak and his just-mentioned wife had a not unexpected rocky relationship. Nothing seemed able to stop the other kids from teasing him incessantly. 42, Order of the Eastern Star. Matuszak actually came close to recovering and making a comeback, but he reinjured himself in 1983 trying to dodge a puppy on a beach. John Matuszak was 6-8 (203 cm) tall. In the LA Times' 1989 tribute to the deceased football star, she remembered the number of times he committed himself to rehab and then walked out before completing the program. (1982),The Dukes of Hazzard(1984),The Fall Guy(1985),Benson(1985),1st & Ten: The Championship(1987),The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission(1988),Superboy(1989), among many others. According to the New York Times, the coroner's report also listed bronchial pneumonia and an enlarged heart as factors that contributed to his death the latter is sometimes associated with steroid abuse, though his friends and family insisted that was one vice he'd never had. Matuszak acted professionally in the 1980s, making appearances in feature films and on television, often portraying football players or gentle giants. And when he misbehaved so blatantly that they couldn't really ignore what he'd done, they usually just laughed about it. John Matuszak and Stephanie Cozart Burton were in a relationship for 9 years before John Matuszak died aged 38. "I was going to have it presented to him at the meeting. Cause of Death. Sloth was played by actor John Matuszak, who was a football player before moving into acting. An article written for Sports Illustrated' s website in January 2005 named him one of the top five all-time "bad boys" of the NFL. After a freshman year playing football at Fort Dodge Junior College in Iowa, Matuszak was recruited to the University of Missouri by Dan Devine. But just because he was performing well on the field, it didnt mean that hed given up shenanigans all together. In a lot of ways, Sloth was not just the on-screen alter ego of the former football star, he was the actual manifestation of the person Matuszak was on the inside: a lovable giant who was also a generous friend. He played for the University of Missouri during college, and was drafted into professional football for two teams at once, the Houston Oilers in the NFL and the Houston Texans . Matuszak was then picked up by the Kansas City Chiefs, only to be dropped after head coach Paul Wiggin found him unconscious and not breathing one day. He pleaded guilty, but then told a reporter: "Some guy purposely caused an accident." OnJune 17, 1989, he accidentallyoverdosed on Darvocet, a combination of Tylenol and a painkiller called propoxyphene. His one-time roommate/babysitter, quarterback Ken Stabler,quoted John's recipe for funin his own juicy biography,Snake:"Crown [Royal] and [Quaaludes], the late supper of champions.". In Silver Spring's Oak View community where she had lived for 27 years, Mrs. Spencer was a founder of the citizens association and the community pool. ", "John was really nice to me and it was fun to work with him," said Jeff Cohen, who played Chunk in the iconic film. ; two sisters, Gertrude Robey of Alexandria, and Thelma Rogers of Winchester, Va.; and six grandchildren. A defensive lineman from the University of Tampa, Matuszak was the Houston Oilers' number one pick in the 1973 draft. Matuszak was the only one of the first six selections of the 1973 draft to never earn first team All-Pro honors. But there was more to Matuszak than just a boisterous wild man. AFC championship game. Later, Matuszak celebrated with Chivas Regal and prescriptions, and then passed out. Unfortunately, The Tooz's big heart just couldn't handle all the excesses it had been forced to endure over the far too-short life of the man it belonged to. As an actor, Matuszak played in both films and television, appearing first as O.W. After several tests, it was revealed that he had a herniated disc in his lower spine, and so Matuszak was placed on the injured reserve list. He swiftly became a man in demand, appearing in a hodgepodge of '80s awesomeness likeM*A*S*H, Ice Pirates, The Dukes of Hazzard, Silver Spoons,The A-Team, Miami Vice, and Perfect Strangers. We assure our audience that we will remove any contents that are not accurate or according to formal reports and queries if they are justified. Later that year, as a free agent, Matuszak signed with the Oakland Raiders. John Matuszak - Biography - IMDb Without any training in acting, youd probably expect him to be a bit of a novelty in one or two bad productions before people realized he had no talent. But the man who played Sloth led a troubled life. Mrs. Spencer was a native of Putney, Vt., and a graduate of the American International College in Springfield, Mass. After the coroner's report was released, his parents admitted that their son used prescription and illegal drugs to try to cope with chronic back pain. Matuszak also played for various NFL teams; his longest stint of six years having been spent with the Oakland/Los . His heart momentarily stopped, and he came shockingly close to death. Then he grew into a physical colossus, became a big-time California football . After being cut by the Redskins, Matuszak's football career was in limbo. According to author Kevin Cook, Matuszak fled to a nearby cemetery and hid behind a gravestone. After sitting out the 1982 season in Los Angeles, where the Raiders moved that year, with an injury, he retired to pursue full time an acting career in which he had dabbled while a player. His one sister also had the disease. And his next career was already in motion. He was a graduate of the Powell Business School in his native Scranton, Pa., and Catholic University law school. FORMER GIRLFRIEND SAYS LIFESTYLE OF MATUSZAK, Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), The new OrlandoSentinel.com: FAQs and more, DeSantis oversight board votes to sue Disney, FORMER GIRLFRIEND SAYS LIFESTYLE OF MATUSZAK WAS EXCESSIVE, Florida lawmakers agree to $116 billion budget in final week, Photos: Best and worst looks from the 2023 Met Gala, Florida man guilty in 2017 serial killings of 4 people, Seaweed mass hits record-breaking size in Caribbean as it heads to Florida and Gulf, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. John Matuszak, the former Los Angeles Raider who died of an accidental overdose of painkiller last summer, left most of his estate to his mother and three sisters in Wisconsin but his Super Bowl rings will go to his nephews. But when it came to John Matuszak, trouble seemed to follow him wherever he went. He then transferred to the University of Missouri for Coach Dan Devine, with whom he had a tough relationship. (The judge ultimately ruled in Matuszak's favor.) Know his, Estimated Net Worth, Age, Biography Wikipedia Wiki . He was also a member of Mount Vernon United Methodist Church in Alexandria. A social outcast due to his unusual height (by adulthood, he stood 6'8 tall . Drafted by the Houston Oilers in the 1st round (1st overall) of the 1973 NFL Draft. John Matuszak Biography, Age, Height, Wife, Net Worth, Family As an actor, he played in both films and television, appearing first as O.W. videos, Alabama guard John Hannah, selected fourth by the New England Patriots, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1991, his first year of eligibility, following a 13-year career, while quarterback Bert Jones (Baltimore Colts), offensive tackle Jerry Sisemore, tight end Charle Young (Philadelphia Eagles), and defensive tackle Dave Butz (St. Louis Cardinals) were all prominent throughout the rest of the 1970s and into the 1980s. John Matuszak Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images He then joined the Raiders as a free agent just before the second game of the 1976 season. [11], "The Life and Times of the Tooz: Menacing Body Held Spirit of Insecure, Guilt-Ridden Child", "Former NFL great John Matuszak dead at 38", "The Top Five: Move over, Moss and T.O. She had lived in Columbia since 1983. 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