Former Football Star and Pro Wrestler Ernie Ladd Dies at 68

[Zoneboy]

Ernie Ladd, the giant defensive lineman with the Kansas City Chiefs, Houston Oilers and San Diego Chargers, who was one of the biggest names in pro wrestling during the 70s, passed away last night from cancer. He was 68.

Ladd had been battling colon cancer, which spread to his stomach and bones for the past three plus years.

Ladd had an amazing career outside of the field in his battles for equal rights of black players, particularly in his years with the Oilers.

He was recruited into pro wrestling in the early 60s by Freddie Blassie, who was looking for a gimmick to help attendance in San Diego, which in those days was a very difficult town to draw in. Ladd was playing for the Chargers at the time.

Ladd, because of his size and intimidating presence made for a natural heel, and in 1969, made the decision to leave football to go full-time into wrestling, a decision he never regretted.

He was a headliner through the mid-80s, when his knees gave out. He was a headliner in every territory he worked, and was one of the few 70s wrestlers who was such a major star that he would headline several different territories at the same time, cherry picking the best cities and working at some point with almost every top babyface of the era.

In recent years, due to knee problems, he'd largely been confined to a wheelchair.

Ladd was a member of the American Football League Hall of Fame, the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and the San Diego Hall of Champions as a football player and both the Wrestling Observer and WWE Hall of Fame as a pro wrestler.

[Brian Damage]