Lyle Alzado

Football Player

• Born: April 3, 1949
• Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York
• Died: May 14, 1992
• Place of death: Portland, Oregon

Sport: Football

Early Life

Lyle Martin Alzado was born on April 3, 1949, in the crime-ridden Brownsville section of Brooklyn, New York. He was the son of a rough, alcoholic Spanish-Italian father and a loving Jewish mother. He was reared on the poor side of affluent Cedarhurst, Long Island. Lyle grew up tough; he did not believe that he was as good as other children. He was involved in many fights, and local police were well aware of him before he turned fifteen. Football saved him and redirected the course of his life. Lyle was a star football player at Lawrence High School on Long Island, where he became known for his speed and aggressive attitude. Lyle was named a high school all-American in football, but he was not quite big enough, nor was he a good enough student, to be recruited to play in college.

Lyle decided to attend Kilgore College, a junior college in Texas, to get away from home and to try to improve his football ability. The story at Kilgore was much the same as it had been in high school: Because of his size and grades, only Yankton College in South Dakota took a chance on him. At Yankton, Lyle’s life changed for the better, and for the worse.

The Road to Excellence

Lyle had considered going into the Marines when he was offered a scholarship to Yankton. There, he began to get the physical size and strength to go along with his football talent, and he became a dominant small-college player. He channeled his aggressiveness into football; at the same time, he learned that he had a soft spot in his heart for children.

One day at Yankton, Lyle was approached in the gym by a mentally disabled girl, who cried and asked him why other children did not play with her. From then on, Lyle realized that there was more to life than sacking a quarterback. He went on to earn his degree in special education; later, he won many community-service awards for his work with children.

At Yankton, Lyle grew as a person and as a football player, but it seemed that he was two different people going in two different directions. On the football field, he was mean and aggressive. Off the field, he could be very sensitive and helpful. He also began to realize that a professional football career was a possibility.

The Emerging Champion

In 1971, Lyle was drafted by the Denver Broncos. He was so determined to make the team that he pushed himself to outrun and outhit everybody else on the team. When a veteran player got hurt in a preseason game against the Chicago Bears, Lyle took his place on the roster and made the team. Lyle became a standout on the defensive line for the Broncos that first year. He combined desire, quickness, strength, and intricate moves to become one of the best defensive ends in the NFL. Lyle was named NFL defensive player of the year in 1977, and he played in the Pro Bowl in 1977 and 1978. For three years, he led the Broncos in quarterback sacks. The Broncos’ aggressive defense, led by Lyle, propelled the team to the Super Bowl in 1977. The loss to the Dallas Cowboys in that Super Bowl only made Lyle want to work harder to get another chance.

By 1979, however, Lyle had become too intense for his Bronco teammates. His aggressive nature began to carry over from the games to off the field. His antics wore thin with the team. When he threatened to pursue a boxing career if the Broncos would not renegotiate his contract, Lyle was traded to the Cleveland Browns.

Lyle was with the Browns from 1979 through 1981, but he was plagued by a series of injuries in Cleveland, and he never seemed to perform at the level he had achieved in Denver. Many observers thought his playing career was winding down. The Browns reached the same conclusion and traded Lyle to the Oakland Raiders for an eighth-round draft choice. Lyle was insulted because he was traded for a low-round draft choice; therefore, he dedicated himself to becoming a star with the Raiders. His first season with the team was so successful that he was voted the NFL’s comeback player of the year in 1982.

Continuing the Story

Lyle’s years with the Raiders were marked by an increase in his aggressive behavior. Lyle was often seen pointing fingers and flying all over the field for the Raiders. Off the field, too, Lyle was having trouble controlling his temper. His marriage to his first wife, Cindy, ended, although he remained close to his son, Justin. Lyle provoked fights to settle even minor disagreements in public, and during games, he sometimes pulled the helmet off an opposing blocker in a fit of rage. However, toward the end of the Raiders’ rout of the Washington Redskins in the 1984 Super Bowl, when the television cameras focused on hulking number 77, the audience saw tears streaming down his cheeks. Perhaps he knew that the price he had paid to reach his goal was a high one.

Lyle retired from football the next year and tried acting, but after four years, he decided to try to return to the violence of professional football. In 1989, he made a valiant bid for a spot on the Raiders’ roster at the age of forty-one. His skills had eroded with age, however, and he was released on the final roster cut of the preseason. Not long after that, Lyle married his second wife, Kathy. He also began to have health problems. Eventually he was forced to see a doctor, who told Lyle that he had a severe brain tumor.

After his diagnosis, Lyle revealed that he had taken the body-building drugs known as steroids to increase his muscle mass. Steroids are known to cause aggression in users, and Lyle’s disclosure helped to explain his wild behavior. Moreover, steroids have been linked with serious health side effects, and Lyle blamed his illness on his drug use. He spent his last months warning the public of the dangers of taking such muscle-building drugs. Lyle died May 14, 1992, at the age of forty-three.

Summary

Lyle Alzado was a fierce NFL defensive lineman for fourteen seasons. His untimely death was a shocking reminder of the dangers of performance-enhancing drugs. He wanted everyone to know that the price he paid to be a star athlete was too high.

Bibliography

Alzado, Lyle, and Paul Zimmerman. Mile High: The Story of Lyle Alzado and the Amazing Denver Broncos. New York: Atheneum, 1978.

Denham, Bryan E. “Building the Agenda and Adjusting the Frame: How the Dramatic Revelations of Lyle Alzado Impacted Mainstream Press Coverage of Anabolic Steroid Use.” Sociology of Sport Journal 16, no. 1 (1999): 1.

Edwards, Wayne. “Fourth Down and Long: Fighting for His Life, Ex-Football Terror Lyle Alzado Battles Brain Cancer.” People Weekly 36, no. 3 (July 29, 1991): 52-54.

Newhouse, Dave. The Ultimate Oakland Raiders Trivia Book. Rochester, N.Y.: American Sports Media, 2001.