Lyle Alzado
| No. 77 | |||||||||
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| Position: | Defensive end | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Date of birth: | April 3, 1949 | ||||||||
| Place of birth: | Brooklyn, New York | ||||||||
| Date of death: | May 14, 1992 (aged 43) | ||||||||
| Place of death: | Portland, Oregon | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 255 lb (116 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Cedarhurst (NY) Lawrence | ||||||||
| College: | Yankton | ||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 1971 / Round: 4 / Pick: 79 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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| Sacks: | 112.5 |
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| Fumble recoveries: | 20 |
| Safeties: | 3 |
| Player stats at NFL.com | |
Lyle Martin Alzado (April 3, 1949 – May 14, 1992) was a professional American football defensive end of the National Football League famous for his intense and intimidating style of play.
He played 16 seasons, splitting his time among the Denver Broncos, the Cleveland Browns, and finally the Los Angeles Raiders with whom he won a championship in Super Bowl XVIII.
He was born in Brooklyn, New York, to an Italian-Spanish father and an ethnically Jewish mother. His last name was pronounced, Al-Zah-Doe, but became known as Al-Zay-Doe, during his pro football career. When he was 10, the family moved to Cedarhurst, Long Island. His father, whom Alzado later described as "a drinker and street fighter," left the family during Alzado's sophomore year at Lawrence High School. He played high school football and was a Vardon Trophy Candidate (defense) in high school for three years.
Following his failure to receive a college scholarship offer, Alzado played for Kilgore College, a junior college in Kilgore, Texas. After two years, he was asked to leave the team, he later contended, for befriending a black teammate. From Texas, Alzado moved on to Yankton College in South Dakota, a now-defunct school whose campus is currently the site of a federal prison. Though playing in relative obscurity in the NAIA, Alzado nonetheless gained notice by the NFL when a scout for the Denver Broncos, having been taken off the road by automobile trouble, decided to pass the time by screening a film of Montana Tech, one of Yankton's opponents. Impressed by the unknown player squaring off against Montana Tech's offense, the scout passed back a favorable report to his team. The Broncos ultimately drafted Alzado in the fourth round of the 1971 draft. Alzado went back to Yankton after his rookie season to get his college degree. He received a B.A. in physical education with an emphasis in secondary education. During his college years, Alzado participated in amateur boxing, and made it to the semi-finals of the 1969 Midwest Golden Gloves Boxing Tournament, held in Omaha.
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