Alex Karras' NFL Gambling Suspension--Part Three of Three

Late one December night in 1963 just before closing, Johnny Butsicaris was tending bar while Alex Karras was sitting in a booth counting money and doing some bookkeeping. Celebrated Detroit defense lawyer Joseph Louisell came in and ordered a triple shot of bourbon, took off his overcoat and scarf, and sat across from Karras.

Defense lawyer Joseph Louisell

Louisell was a popular customer at the Lindell AC. He was a heavy set, jovial man who was well-read and an avid sports fan. Louisell was known for winning some of Detroit's most notorious cases. He earned respect for bringing acquittals or reduced sentences for many local crime figures. He lived in the same Grosse Pointe Park neighborhood with many of Detroit's top-ranking mob figures. Their kids even went to school together.

"I want to talk with you about your suspension, Alex. The NFL meets in Miami next month. Have you made any plans regarding your reinstatement?"

"No, Rozelle wants me to drop my interest in the bar and I can't afford to do that."

"I've thoroughly checked out your bar activities.... You're as clean as snow."

"Tell that to Rozelle!"

"Give me the okay and I'll represent you."

"I can't afford you, Joe."

Over 65% of Joseph Louisell's law practice was devoted to civil and corporate law. That's how he and partner Ivan Baris made their money, but that bored Louisell. Joe would take some cases pro bono (free) if they interested him. Winning several high-profile defense cases helped build his reputation. Louisell was a diehard Lions fan, as were other interested parties who wanted to see Karras back in a Lions uniform, but they preferred to remain anonymous not wanting to prejudice the case against him.

"I'll take your case pro bono. I want to see you back on the gridiron, Alex. Here's my argument."

Louisell cited a provision in Michigan liquor licensing that states if your name appears on a Michigan liquor license, you can't sell your business for one year--by law. That includes taverns and liquor stores.

"What does that mean for me?"

"Were you to sell your interest in the bar business, you can 't get another liquor license for three years. We can sue them for lost wages if they force you to sell your stake in the Lindell, and they don't reinstate you."

Louisell told Alex to quit working at the bar, return to his family in Clinton, Iowa, maintain a low profile, and most of all, do not speak with the press. "Wait for my phone call," Louisell emphasized. In late January, Louisell made sure Karras' formal reinstatement appeal was on Commissioner Pete Rozelle's desk.

NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle

In early March, Louisell and Karras went to meet with Commissioner Rozelle at his New York offices. After waiting for almost an hour in a reception room, the two men were led into the commissioner's office where Rozelle on the phone ignored them for some minutes. With Karras about to storm out of the office in frustration, Louisell calmed him down and told Rozelle to get off the phone, "This man's life is important."

Cutting short his phone call, Rozelle said, "Okay, Mr. Louisell, I'm listening."

Louisell explained that gambling is as intrinsic to professional football as the two-pointed pigskin, and Rozelle knew it. NFL football gambling existed on every level of American society and occurred weekly in office and factory pools, in Las Vegas sports betting parlors, and with private wagers made by John Q. Public--most of it innocent enough.

"You've unjustly punished Alex Karras for a year. My advice to you is make a decision within a week. If it's negative, I will tear the NFL apart." Louisell and Karras rose promptly from their seats and left the commissioner to think it over.

Rozelle knew any bad publicity with a headline-hungry press was not good for the league. He also knew that Louisell was not some ambulance-chasing shyster. His client list included many of Detroit's most notorious power-players including Jimmy Hoffa and the Giacoloni brothers. The last thing the NFL wanted was a media circus broadcast nationwide.

On March 16, 1964, both Green Bay Packer Paul Horning and Detroit Lion Alex Karras were reinstated. The NFL issued a statement saying both men bet on football games but never against their own teams, and there was no evidence either man performed less than his best in any football game.

"After personal discussions with each man, the commissioner is satisified that they have a clear understanding of the seriousness of their offenses," said an NFL spokesman. Nothing was mentioned about Karras' co-ownership of the Lindell AC sports bar.

***

In a 1969 interview with Sport magazine writer Lou Proto, Karras was led into the subject of his 1963 suspension. "It is my understanding," said Proto, "that you had to sell your interest in the Lindell AC when ordered by Pete Rozelle."

"I kept it for five more years."

"How did you manage that?"

"It was a verbal thing. If Rozelle would have claimed something illegal was going on at the Lindell, he would have been slapped with a lawsuit."

"Then, you were lying when you told Rozelle in 1964 that you sold your interests in the bar?"

"Lying to whom? The guy who was trying to screw me?"

Karras was outspoken but not altogether candid in the interview. He didn't care; he knew the end of his football career was near, and he had already shifted his career trajectory into show business by signing a contract with Hannah-Barbera Productions--already appearing in the TV series Daniel Boone with Fess Parker and a western named The Hard Case with Clint Walker.

William Clay Ford

Recently, Mel Butsicaris revealed to me what really happened. His father Johnny went to see Lions owner William (Bill) Clay Ford. He told Bill Ford if he ever wanted to see Karras in a Lions' uniform again, he needed to lend him and his brother Jimmy the money to buy out Karras' share of the Lindell. They put up their sports bar as security, cut a deal, and Ford had his lawyers write up the promissory note. It took the Butsicaris brothers five years to pay off the loan.

"My dad paid the last installment to Bill Ford personally and took the promisory note, twisted it up, and set one end on fire to light his cigar."

Although I can appreciate the symbolic gesture, the researcher in me regrets that this piece of documentation when up in smoke.

More background on Joseph Louisell

Karras NFL Suspension--Part One 

Karras NFL Suspension--Part Two

Alex Karras' NFL Gambling Suspension--Part One of Three

Detroit Lion tackle Alex Karras

The trouble started in 1961 when reports of Detroit Lion Alex Karras' gambling on professional sports and associating with underworld figures reached the desks of Lions owner William (Bill) Clay Ford and NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle. Detroit police commissioner George Edwards and the local FBI had Karras under surveillance for a year because of his association with Jimmy and Johnny Butsicaris and his co-ownership of the popular Lindell AC (Atheletic Club) sports bar.

Alex Karras met the Butsicaris brothers soon after he arrived in Detroit to play for the Lions. The bar was known for its legendary hamburgers and walls festooned with sports memorabilia. It became a hangout for sports writers, sports fans of every stripe, and shady characters who enjoyed rubbing elbows with local team players like everyone else did.

Some of these characters happened to be professional gamblers. Karras liked the place because the owners were Greek and their place reminded him of his hometown Gary, Indiana. The Lindell AC was his refuge where he could relax and relate to people.

Johnny and Jimmy Butsicaris

 
Karras became a regular customer and was befriended by the brothers. When their bar opened in 1949, Meleti Butsicaris and his sons each owned one-third of the business. After their father died, the brothers asked Karras if he would like to buy their father's share, so they could move the bar to a better location down Michigan Avenue and renovate an available property. For a $45,000 buy-in, Karras became a partner.

To compound gambling suspicions against Karras, his favorite restaurant in Detroit was The Grecian Gardens in Greektown. Gus Colacasides was the owner and basically the patriarch of all local Greeks in Detroit. Karras liked the authentic Greek food and the atmosphere and went there weekly. I can personally vouch for the quality of their food.

The restaurant's late night clientele included gamblers, bookies, and ranking underworld figures. Some pretty tough customers would see Karras and come up and shake his hand and strike up a sports conversation. At the heart of it, they were sports fans and Karras was a Lion celebrity. Soon, he felt like one of the boys.

All the while, Karras was under police surveillance everywhere he went. In 1962, the general manager of the Lions Andy Anderson summoned Karras into his office and cautioned him about being in the bar business with the Butsicaris brothers. "They're gangsters and hoodlums--stay away from them."

"The Hell I will!"

"If you stay in the bar business with them, the Lions will take steps."

"Tell Bill Ford that I need the work because I can't raise my family on the lousy $12,000 a season he pays me."

For the first few years of his NFL career, Karras wrestled "professionally" in the off-season as part of a masked tag team attraction to make financial ends meet. Now that he had a growing family, he was tired of travelling every weekend throughout the Midwest.

Karras had known Jimmy and Johnny Butsicaris for two years and knew they were not connected to organized crime. They were hard-working saloon owners, and these alleged "gangsters" were their customers. It was free enterprise and that wasn't a crime.

But then there was the issue of Karras and a fellow teammate John Gordy riding home after an exhibition game against the Cleveland Browns on a "party bus" owned by Vito Giacalone, but it was registered to Odus Tincher--a retired DSR bus driver, known gambler, and former convict. The Giacalone brothers were also known gamblers and underworld crime figures connected with the Detroit Partnership (Mafia). The Detroit Police and the FBI wondered why the party bus was often parked in back of the Lindell AC when not in service.

End of Part One

Karras Gambling Suspension Part Two 

2020 Alex Karras Film Fest

Although on the face of it, an Alex Karras film festival seems ludricrous, Alex Karras had a good career as a character actor and television personality. What better time to watch some of Alex Karras' film roles than during this pandemic?

The Alex Karras filmography lists 25 guest shots on popular television programs and made-for-television movies including Love, American Style; The Odd Couple; McMillan & Wife; M*A*S*H; and appearances on talk shows like The Mike Douglas Show and The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Alex also co-starred with his wife Susan Clark and Emmanuel Lewis on Webster which ran on ABC for six years. Karras' feature film credits include 14 movies, six of which my wife and I watched over the last ten days. That's a substantial body of work.

***

In his first feature film Paper Lion, Karras played himself in a 1968 look behind the scenes of the Detroit Lions preseason training camp. He appeared alongside other Lion players, but Alex's personality jumped off the screen. He was the only player with acting ablity. Alex appeared in plays at Gary Emerson High School.

Karras caught the attention of Desilu executive producer Lucille Ball. Lucy phoned Karras and encouraged him to pursue acting after he retired from the gridiron. From then on, he was bitten by the acting bug. Lucille Ball was helpful in getting Karras established in Hollywood. They became lifelong friends.

***

In 1975, Karras hit box office gold with his portrayal of Mongo in Mel Brooks' riotous film Blazing Saddles. Amidst the craziness of the film, Mongo speaks eight words that encapsulate the dilemma of modern man, "Mongo a pawn in the game of life."

Karras plays a Looney Tune cartoonish, dull-witted brute who knocks out a horse with one punch and opens a Western-Union candygram that blows up in his face. Classic Warner Bros. slapstick comedy. Blazing Saddles is #6 on the American Film Institute's list of 100 Best Comedies.

***

The following year, Karras gave a nuanced performance as wrestler George Zaharias--the real-life husband of America's most celebrated female athlete Babe Didrikson. The TV movie Babe starred Susan Clark in the title role which earned her an Emmy award for Best Actress. Their onscreen chemistry was powerful and translated to real life. Karras and Clark met on this film, fell in love, and married five years later. His performance proved he could handle dramatic as well as comic roles.

***

Neither Sue nor I had ever seen Porky's before. It turned out to be literally a low brow, coming-of-age comedy. The biggest names in the movie were Susan Clark and Alex Karras. Now man and wife in real life, they took minor roles and never appeared on screen together in this film. Susan Clark plays stripper Cherry Forever and Karras plays County Sheriff Wallace. Giving a deadpan performance, Karras is convincing as a corrupt cop harassing the Angel Beach High School basketball team on a dark country road.

Porky's Lobby Card

Film critics Gene Siskel & Roger Eberts gave Porky's two thumbs down for its "degrading objectification of women and juvenile treatment of adolescent sexuality." They pronounced the movie "One of the worst films of 1981." The initial $5 million investment grossed over $136 million in the film's worldwide release, becoming the highest grossing comedy in Canadian history.

For me, Porky's has little redeeming value, but film historians credit it for spawning a new breed of film--the teen movie. Porky's influenced a generation of writers, most notibly John Hughes, who came to exemplify the genre throughout the 1980s with films like Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and The Breakfast Club--all of which had more heart and charm than their predecessor. 

***

In 1982's Blake Edwards' gender-bending extravaganza Victor Victoria, Alex Karras got a first-class supporting role as Squash Bernstein, the bodyguard of American gangster King Marchand, played by James Garner. Karras' comedic timing, deadpan facial expressions, and flawless line delivery make this performance the high point in his comedic career.

Alex Karras and Robert Preston

The movie's finale performance of "The Lady of Spain" with Robert Preston (The Music Man) as an aging, gay cabaret performer is not to be missed. Director Blake Edwards remembers that Preston did the routine in one take. Two takes might have killed him. That in itself is reason to see this film. Gay or straight, this movie is a laugh riot.

***

The most compelling role where Karras' range as an actor was on full display is 1984's Against All Odds--a remake of the 1947 film noir classic Out of the Past with Robert Mitchum. What makes his role of pro-football trainer Hank Sully more compelling is a football gambling syndicate that drives the plot of the film.

In another life, Alex Karras was suspended by the NFL for the 1963 season for gambling on football games which he openly admitted. This film benefits from Karras' real life experiences and problems with the NFL. Karras plays a football trainer in a role fundamental to the storyline.

Character Hank Sully is basically a good guy who compromises his integrity with a gambling syndicate. Though internally conflicted, Sully is hired to cover up a gambling scandal and recover a missing ledger book filled with incriminating information tied to names of important people.

Jeff Bridges and Alex Karras

Against All Odds benefits from solid performances by Jeff Bridges, as a washed up pro-football player declared "damaged goods" and thrown to the curb by his team; Australian Rachel Ward plays the femme fatale Bridges is paid to locate in Cozumel, Mexico; and James Woods is the underworld figure who wants his girlfriend, his ledger book, and his $50,000 back. Sue and I agree that Against All Odds is Alex Karras' best film performance.