MACHIAVELLI
March 12th, 2007, 04:41 PM
Ernie Ladd, a talented football player who made his name nationally as a wrestler, died overnight, according to family members.
Ladd, 68, had battled cancer — first in his colon, then later in his stomach and bones — since 2004. Born Nov. 28, 1938, in Rayville, but raised in Orange, Texas, he worked through his final years as a pastor in the Louisiana town of Franklin.
Elected to four straight AFL All-Star Games from 1962-1965, he later played with the Houston Oilers and the Kansas City Chiefs. While with the Chiefs, he reunited with future Pro Football Hall of Famer Junious "Buck" Buchanan, another Grambling product, and was on the roster for both of Kansas City's Super Bowl appearances.
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Today, he's the only person in both the American Football League and World Wrestling Federation halls of fame. Ladd is also a 1994 inductee into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, and joined the San Diego Hall of Champions in 2004.
http://www.thenewsstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070311/UPDATES02/70311008/1006/SPORTS
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Ladd was perfect fit as a pro 'rassler'
Many were drawn to former Grambling and AFL standout's other Hall of Fame stint
Column by Paul J. Letlow
http://www.thenewsstar.com/apps/pbcs.../70311023/1006
Wrestling went haywire sometime in the late 1980s and I lost interest. But there was a time when my Saturday nights were reserved for Mid-South Wrestling.
I’m sure many of you shared those same experiences and can recite all the names with ease. Junkyard Dog, Ted DiBiase, Paul Orndorff — and, of course, Ernie Ladd, who has passed away after a lengthy bout with cancer.
I didn’t meet Ladd in person until I began writing about sports for a living.
Still, I felt like I already knew the “Big Cat” — the gruff TV personality I’d grown up watching on Mid-South.
Ladd started wrestling in the early 1960s while he was still playing football and starred in several territories over the years. He’s one of a handful of wrestlers to be inducted into both the WWE and WCW Halls of Fame.
Before retiring in 1986, Ladd spent five or six years in Cowboy Bill Watts’ Mid-South region. As a wrestler and later the manager of The Wild Samoans — Afa and Sika — Ladd was one of Mid-South’s most memorable characters.
*************************************************
WWE Hall of Famer Ernie Ladd passed away last night, according to TheNewsStar.com of Monroe, La. Ladd, 68, had been battling cancer since 2004.
Prior to a successful career in sports-entertainment, Ladd earned fame as a dominant football player at both the college and pro level. He was a star lineman for Louisiana’s Grambling State University in the late ‘50s, and was recruited in 1961 by the AFL’s San Diego Chargers. He was a member of the Chargers’ 1963 AFL Championship team, and appeared in four straight AFL All-Star Games from 1962-1965. In addition to the Chargers, he also played for the Houston Oilers and Kansas City Chiefs.
http://www.wwe.com/inside/news/ladd
Ladd, 68, had battled cancer — first in his colon, then later in his stomach and bones — since 2004. Born Nov. 28, 1938, in Rayville, but raised in Orange, Texas, he worked through his final years as a pastor in the Louisiana town of Franklin.
Elected to four straight AFL All-Star Games from 1962-1965, he later played with the Houston Oilers and the Kansas City Chiefs. While with the Chiefs, he reunited with future Pro Football Hall of Famer Junious "Buck" Buchanan, another Grambling product, and was on the roster for both of Kansas City's Super Bowl appearances.
.....
Today, he's the only person in both the American Football League and World Wrestling Federation halls of fame. Ladd is also a 1994 inductee into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, and joined the San Diego Hall of Champions in 2004.
http://www.thenewsstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070311/UPDATES02/70311008/1006/SPORTS
***********************************
Ladd was perfect fit as a pro 'rassler'
Many were drawn to former Grambling and AFL standout's other Hall of Fame stint
Column by Paul J. Letlow
http://www.thenewsstar.com/apps/pbcs.../70311023/1006
Wrestling went haywire sometime in the late 1980s and I lost interest. But there was a time when my Saturday nights were reserved for Mid-South Wrestling.
I’m sure many of you shared those same experiences and can recite all the names with ease. Junkyard Dog, Ted DiBiase, Paul Orndorff — and, of course, Ernie Ladd, who has passed away after a lengthy bout with cancer.
I didn’t meet Ladd in person until I began writing about sports for a living.
Still, I felt like I already knew the “Big Cat” — the gruff TV personality I’d grown up watching on Mid-South.
Ladd started wrestling in the early 1960s while he was still playing football and starred in several territories over the years. He’s one of a handful of wrestlers to be inducted into both the WWE and WCW Halls of Fame.
Before retiring in 1986, Ladd spent five or six years in Cowboy Bill Watts’ Mid-South region. As a wrestler and later the manager of The Wild Samoans — Afa and Sika — Ladd was one of Mid-South’s most memorable characters.
*************************************************
WWE Hall of Famer Ernie Ladd passed away last night, according to TheNewsStar.com of Monroe, La. Ladd, 68, had been battling cancer since 2004.
Prior to a successful career in sports-entertainment, Ladd earned fame as a dominant football player at both the college and pro level. He was a star lineman for Louisiana’s Grambling State University in the late ‘50s, and was recruited in 1961 by the AFL’s San Diego Chargers. He was a member of the Chargers’ 1963 AFL Championship team, and appeared in four straight AFL All-Star Games from 1962-1965. In addition to the Chargers, he also played for the Houston Oilers and Kansas City Chiefs.
http://www.wwe.com/inside/news/ladd