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John Matuszak
No. 78, 79, 72     
Defensive end
Personal information
Date of birth: (1950-10-25)October 25, 1950
Place of birth: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Date of death: June 17, 1989(1989-06-17) (aged 38)
Career information
College: Tampa
NFL Draft: 1973 / Round: 1 / Pick: 1
Debuted in 1973 for the Houston Oilers
Last played in 1981 for the Los Angeles Raiders
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Games played-started     123-78
Fumble recoveries     7
Touchdowns     1
Stats at NFL.com

John Daniel "Tooz" Matuszak (October 25, 1950 – June 17, 1989) was an American football defensive lineman in the National Football League who later became an actor. He was the first draft pick of 1973 and played most of his career with the Oakland Raiders until he retired after winning his second Super Bowl in 1981. Matuszak participated in the 1978 World's Strongest Man competition, where he placed ninth. As an actor, he played the deformed Sloth in the 1985 movie The Goonies and Tonda in Caveman. His autobiography, Cruisin' with the Tooz, written with Steve Delsohn was published in 1987.

Early life[]

Matuszak was born in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, in 1950 to Audrey and Marvin Matuszak (not the same Marvin Matuszak who was a defensive lineman in the NFL and AFL). He was always big for his age, which became an advantage as a defensive lineman in football. When he eventually turned pro, he stood 6 feet 8 inches (2.03 m) and weighed over 280 pounds (127 kilograms). He attended the University of Tampa where he was the star of their football team.

Football career[]

Matuszak, drafted by the Houston Oilers of the NFL, was the first draft pick of 1973. In addition to his contract with the Oilers, he joined the Houston Texans of the World Football League, but played a total of seven plays before a restraining order that was served to him during a game that barred him from playing for two teams at the same time. Matuszak said he had no plans to play in that game but requested to play after seeing 25 or so men looking for him on the sidelines. He didn't know what was happening at the time and wanted to avoid confrontation. The Oilers, displeased that he tried joining the WFL, traded him to the Kansas City Chiefs, where he played until 1975. Then he found himself with the Raiders in 1976 after being released in pre-season by the Washington Redskins. He helped the Raiders win two Super Bowls (XI and XV) before retiring following spending the entire 1982 season on injured reserve.

His football career was often overshadowed by his even more famous (or infamous) partying and seemingly endless use of drugs. In his autobiography, he stated that he took many painkillers as well as other narcotics while playing professional football. Because of this, 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.[1] Although his performances made him one of the best Raider defenders of all time, his volatile actions contributed to him not being popular with teammates (Matt Millen told reporters on several occasions how he disliked Matuszak and found him to be phony) and not being one of Al Davis's favorite post-retirement players, and after an ugly incident where Matuszak violently assaulted assistant coach Terry Robiskie due to Matuszak hearing a false rumor that the team was going to trade away star tight end Todd Christensen, he was banned from ever setting foot in the Raiders' HQ again.

Acting[]

Matuszak became a fairly successful actor in the 1980s, making appearances in movies and on television, often portraying football players or gentle giants. His first major role was in the 1979 movie North Dallas Forty as a football player. He appeared in the movies Caveman, The Ice Pirates, and One Crazy Summer but is frequently remembered as deformed captive Sloth in The Goonies, the make-up for which took five hours to apply.[2] Matuszak's character Sloth wears an Oakland Raiders shirt in some scenes. He had numerous guest appearances in popular TV shows such as Perfect Strangers, M*A*S*H, The Dukes of Hazzard, Hunter, Silver Spoons, The A-Team, 1st & Ten, Miami Vice and Cheers.

Death[]

John Matuszak died as a result of an accidental overdose of a prescription drug, according to the findings of the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office. A report listed the cause of death as acute propoxyphene intoxication. Propoxyphene is the generic name for the prescription pain medicine known as Darvocet. The report added that a small amount of cocaine metabolite was found in Matuszak's blood, but was not considered to have contributed to his death. The report said that hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, an enlarged heart, and bronchopneumonia had been contributing factors in the death. Dambacher said Matuszak had been experiencing back pain, a problem that had caused his retirement from football after the 1981 season.

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