With Charlie Sanders Finally Enshrined, What About Karras?

It was written by Drew Sharp in the Free Press over the weekend, and I was almost set to agree, but I won't, because I'm still holding out hope that it isn't true.

"Savor this moment," Sharp wrote of former Lion Charlie Sanders's Hall of Fame induction on Saturday, "because it may be another 15 years before another Lion is enshrined" (or words to that effect).

At first glance, Sharp appears to be correct. Certainly no Lions player the franchise has employed during the past 15-20 years that isn't named Barry Sanders deserves Hall acceptance -- Jason Hanson included, I'm afraid.

But what about Alex Karras?

Karras, the great defensive tackle from 1958-62 and 1964-70 (he was suspended for the 1963 season because of gambling issues) is, for whatever reason, not in the Hall. He was a four-time Pro Bowler. He was part of the NFL's All-Decade team of the 1960s. Yet he is not enshrined in Canton -- which is now the Hall's biggest crime after Charlie Sanders finally got his love.

Whenever I complain to folks about this -- granted, my whining thus far has been to people who have absolutely no control over the situation -- I'm told, "Well, it must be that 'gambling thing.'"

Let's look at that "gambling thing."

Karras and Green Bay running back Paul Hornung were each suspended by commissioner Pete Rozelle because of wagering done on an NFL Championship game. Neither played in the game, and both considered their side bets relatively harmless. But Karras's name and reputation were still in Rozelle's brain for Karras's part ownership of the old Lindell AC bar in Detroit, which was thought to be frequented by organized crime types (it almost certainly was). Rozelle harangued Karras to sell off his ownership, which he eventually did. So when Karrras's name popped up as being one of several players thought to have placed a bet on the championship game, poolside in Miami (where the Lions were, getting ready to play in the league's old Runner Up Bowl), Rozelle railroaded the DT into the one-year ban.


Four Pro Bowls and a spot on the All-Decade Team for the 1960s STILL hasn't earned Karras Hall of Fame status

Yet Hornung was eventually elected into the Hall, while Karras is still on the outside looking in. So toss out the "gambling thing" as the reason #71's bust isn't in Canton. Probably, as with Lem Barney and Charlie Sanders's too-long wait, playing for the dysfunctional Lions didn't help. But the Lions weren't all that bad in the 1960s. In fact, in some years they were very good. They were 11-3 in 1962, to show you, and 9-4-1 in 1969 and 10-4 in 1970.

Karras, in his book Even Big Guys Cry, said of the famous 1962 Thanksgiving Day spanking of the then-undefeated Packers, "Lord, were we ready for Green Bay that day. They were wearing championship rings that we thought were ours." The reference was about the Pack and the fact that the Lions finished second three years in a row (1960-62) behind them. Besides, the Lions had given a game away in Green Bay earlier that season, and were hellbent on revenge. Detroit beat Green Bay, 26-14 that Turkey Day, but at the end of the season, "sure enough, they were champions again," Karras wrote.

I'm not sure how the rules work, but I suppose Karras's only hope now, if the chance hasn't already passed, is for the Veterans Committee to right this wrong. They did it with RB Doak Walker, back in the mid-1980s -- some 30 years after Doak's retirement from the Lions. Maybe they can ride to the rescue again, with regards to Alex Karras.

Not that it bothers Karras. It's typical, really, that these sorts of injustices drive those of us who watched him batty, yet don't seem to ruffle the feathers of the one being wronged.

I talked to Karras, a year ago February, for one of those "Where Are They Now" magazine pieces. He's in California still -- much more Hollywood and Left Coast than he ever was on the football field. He's an owner of a theatre near Los Angeles, with his longtime wife and fellow actor, Susan Clark.

"My job was to know when to be a ballet dancer and when to get the hell out of the way," the man whose nickname was "Tippy Toes" (because of his unusual pass rushing footwork at the snap of the ball) told me. "But most of all, my job was to tackle the ball carrier."

Of his days in the NFL and with the Lions, Karras said simply, "It was a grand time."

He was at peace with his football career, and didn't seem fazed by his Hall exclusion.

But it still doesn't make it right.