Otis Sistrunk
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Otis Sistrunk in January, 2005
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| Date of birth | September 18, 1946 |
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| Place of birth | Columbus, Georgia, U.S. |
| Career information | |
| Position(s) | Defensive End |
| College | None (University of Mars) |
| Career history | |
| As player | |
| 1972–1978 | Oakland Raiders |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| Pro Bowls | 1 |
| Awards | Super Bowl champion (XI) |
| Career stats | |
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Otis Sistrunk (born September 18, 1946 in Columbus, Georgia) is a former professional football player who played seven seasons as a defensive lineman, from 1972 to 1978. He played his entire National Football League (NFL) career with the Oakland Raiders. Sistrunk later became a professional wrestler in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). He is a distant cousin to former NFL player Manny Sistrunk.
Sistrunk was one of the few NFL players of his day to not play college football, going directly from William H. Spencer High School in Columbus, Georgia to the United States Marines. After leaving the military, the 21-year-old found work at a Milwaukee meat-packing plant and played two years of semi-pro football in the area for the West Allis Racers before joining the Norfolk Neptunes of the Continental Football League in 1969.
Sistrunk played three years for the Neptunes (the last two in the semi-pro Atlantic Coast Football League after the CPFL folded); in 1971, a Los Angeles Rams scout spotted Sistrunk and believed he could play in the NFL. During a team practice, he was observed by representatives of the Oakland Raiders, who brought Sistrunk to their team in 1972.
Otis Sistrunk was inducted into the American Football Association's Semi Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1982
During a Monday Night Football telecast, a television camera beamed a sideline shot of the 6'5", 265-pound Sistrunk's steaming bald head to the nation. That, along with his lack of a college education resulting in the team program listing Sistrunk's academic background as "U.S. Mars" (short for U.S. Marines), prompted ABC commentator and ex-NFL player Alex Karras to suggest that the extraterrestrial-looking Sistrunk's alma mater was from the "University of Mars."
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