Lyle Alzado 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 15 seasons , splitting his time between the Denver Broncos , the Cleveland Browns , and finally the Los Angeles Raiders , with whom he won a championship in Super Bowl XVIII . Alzado died after a battle with brain cancer in 1992 at the age of 43 . Early life . He was born in Brooklyn , New York , to an Italian - Spanish father and a Jew ish mother . 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 . College . Following his failure to receive even a single college scholarship offer , Alzado played for Kilgore College , a junior college . 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 ' 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 . NFL career . Denver Broncos . When the Broncos ' starting right defensive end was injured in 1971 , Alzado took over the job and never gave it up . Alzado made various All - rookie teams for his contributions of 60 tackles and 8 sacks . The following year , Alzado began to get national attention as he racked up 10½ sacks to go with his 91 tackles . In 1973 , Alzado posted excellent numbers as the Broncos had a winning record for the first time in team history with a 7 – 5 – 2 mark . In 1974 , Alzado gained more notice as one publication named him All - AFC , with his 13 sacks and 80 tackles ( eight for a loss ) he was being recognized with the NFL ' s top defensive ends , such as Elvin Bethea , Jack Youngblood , L . C . Greenwood , Claude Humphrey , and Carl Eller . The Denver Broncos posted their second consecutive winning season , going 7 – 6 – 1 . The 1975 season brought change , as Alzado moved to defensive tackle . He responded with 91 tackles and 7 sacks . Alzado took a step backward as did the Broncos with a 6 – 8 record . On the first play of the 1976 season , Alzado blew out a knee and missed that campaign . The Broncos were 9 – 5 but SPORT magazine reported that 12 players , including Alzado , did not think the team could reach the playoffs with coach John Ralston . Ralston was replaced as coach by Red Miller for the 1977 season . The 1977 season was the most successful in franchise history to that point ; the Broncos had one of the NFL ' s best defenses , went 12 – 2 and then beat Pittsburgh Steelers and Oakland Raiders , the team with which he would later star , in the playoffs to reach Super Bowl XII . In that game , played in New Orleans , they were beaten soundly 27 – 10 by the Dallas Cowboys . Still , the year was a big success for Alzado , who was voted consensus All - Pro and consensus All - AFC as well as winning the UPI AFC Defensive Player of the Year . He also led the Broncos in sacks with 8 , while making 80 tackles . The Broncos again went to the AFC playoffs , losing the first round to the eventual champions Steelers . Alzado had 77 tackles and 9 sacks and recorded his first NFL safety . ( Alzado would record two more in his career , which ties him in second place all - time ) . He was 2nd team All - Pro and a consensus All - AFC pick . In 1979 he had a contract dispute , and the Broncos traded him to the Cleveland Browns . Cleveland Browns . Alzado played well with the Browns , making second team All - AFC in 1979 while playing defensive end . He had 80 tackles that year to go with his seven sacks . The following year the Browns won the AFC Central division , losing to the Raiders in the Divisional round . Alzado led the Browns in sacks with nine , and was All - Pro and All - AFC . In 1981 he suffered some injuries , and at times his focus on football was diminished because of problems in his private life . Still , he recorded 83 tackles and led the Browns in sacks with 8½ . However , the Browns traded him to the Los Angeles Raiders in 1982 . Los Angeles Raiders . Being discarded by the Browns rekindled a fire in Alzado , and he worked out with a vengeance . In 1982 he was voted the NFL Comeback Player of the Year . Although he played a full season in 1981 , his play was seemingly so superior in 1982 that he garnered the award . In the strike - shortened 1982 season of 9 games , Alzado recorded 7 sacks and 30 tackles while being voted All - AFC . This was the sixth season out of his first 12 campaigns that he received some sort of post - season honor . He continued to perform well for the Raiders in the 1983 season , helping lead them to a Super Bowl victory that year while recording 50 tackles and 7½ sacks . He also had an outstanding 1984 season with 63 tackles and 6 sacks , but the next year his tackle and sack totals dipped to 31 and 3 following a mid - season injury . Alzado retired at the end of the 1985 season . He attempted a comeback in 1990 , but injured a knee during training camp and was released . In 196 career games , he racked up 112 . 5 sacks , 24 forced fumbles , and nearly 1 , 000 tackles , while earning Pro Bowl honors in 1977 and 1978 . Following his retirement from playing , Alzado worked as a part - time color analyst for NBC ' s NFL coverage in 1988 – 89 . Style of play . Indeed , the man whom ESPN would later find a " violent , combative player known for his short temper " inspired the league rule against throwing a helmet after having done so himself to an opponent ' s helmet . Peter Alzado , Lyle ' s brother , later identified the years of their youth — marked by an absent , alcoholic father and an over - worked mother — as the crucible for Alzado ' s unremittingly fierce style of play . " That violence that you saw on the field was not real stuff , " his brother held . " Lyle used football as a way of expressing his anger at the world and at the way he grew up . " Defensive end Greg Townsend , a teammate on the Raiders , contended that the savagery for which Alzado became noted represented only part of a " split personality . " " Off the field , " remembered Townsend , " he was the gentle giant . So caring , so warm , so giving . " Steroid use and death . Alzado was one of the first major US sports figures to admit to using anabolic steroid s . In the last years of his life , as he battled against the brain tumor that eventually caused his death , Alzado asserted that his steroid abuse directly led to his fatal illness . According to some reports , Alzado was using natural growth hormone , harvested from human corpses , as opposed to synthetic growth hormones . However , shortly before his death , Alzado recounted his steroid abuse in an article in " Sports Illustrated " , The role anabolic that steroids may have played in Alzado ' s death has been the subject of controversy . The lymphoma of the brain that took his life has not been associated clinically with steroid use . The claim was denounced as a myth in the 2008 documentary " Bigger Stronger , Faster " and by Wisconsin pediatrician and steroid expert Norm Fost . Alzado died at age forty - three . He is buried at River View Cemetery in Portland , Oregon .