Former Raider Matuszak Is Dead at 38

John Matuszak, the defensive lineman who embodied the outlaw image of the Raiders during the National Football League team’s heyday in Oakland, died Saturday night of a heart attack. He was 38.

Capt. Randy Beaty of the L.A. City Fire Department said that Matuszak, who played with the Raiders from 1976 to 1981, which included two Super Bowl championship seasons, died on the way to Burbank’s St. Joseph Medical Center.

Fire officials responded to a call at Matuszak’s Hollywood home, which overlooks Universal Studios, at about 8:30 p.m., according to Beaty, who said that Matuszak’s girlfriend made the call.

Karen Marlin, a nursing supervisor at St. Joseph, said that Matuszak “came into the hospital, and he has expired.” Officials first said that the cause of death would be announced by the Los Angeles County coroner, but Marlin later said that Matuszak had suffered a heart attack.

Additional information was being withheld, pending notification of family members.

Al Davis, the Raiders’ managing general partner, was stunned.

“Oh my God, John Matuszak,” Davis told Associated Press. “We loved him, and he was a great contributor to our greatness and he was a super person.”

Matuszak, who was on injured reserve during the 1982 season when the club moved to Los Angeles, gained notoriety for violating team curfew by partying in New Orleans the night before the Raiders beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 27-10, in the Super Bowl in January 1981.

Matuszak, a native of Milwaukee, started his college career at Missouri but transferred to the University of Tampa in Florida.

The Houston Oilers made Matuszak the No. 1 pick in the 1973 National Football League draft. He was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs in 1974, then joined the Raiders as a free agent before the second game of the 1976 season.

John Madden, who coached Matuszak during the 1976, ’77 and ’78 seasons, said:

“Obviously this is very shocking news to everyone in the Raider family. What can you say about a young man who dies at such an early age?

“I’m totally stunned, shocked and sad and it’s hard for me to comment any more at this time because I know so little about it.”

After Matuszak’s retirement from pro football, he worked as an actor, starring in a short-lived 1985 prime time television series, “Hollywood Beat.”

He also appeared in such movies as “North Dallas Forty,” “Caveman” and “Ice Pirates,” and made frequent appearances on numerous television series.

He also wrote his biography, “Cruisin’ With The Tooz.”

Matuszak’s wild partying eventually landed him in court.

On June 5, 1986, an Alameda County Superior Court jury ruled in favor of Matuszak in a $1.5-million lawsuit in which the retired defensive end was accused of beating up a male stripper in a barroom brawl.

The lawsuit alleged that Matuszak crashed a ladies’ night show at a Castro Valley, Calif., night club and threw male stripper Daniel Fisher over some tables and beat up the master of ceremonies.

The two alleged victims had sought $1.5 million in damages, but Matuszak’s lawyer argued he was being made a scapegoat because of his fame and financial success.

Saturday night, Darrell Deloach, a neighbor of Matuszak in Hollywood, said: “He looked like he was in good physical shape. He used to run up and down our street all the time. He was a very private person but a good neighbor.”

Times staff writers Larry Stewart and Sean Waters contributed to this story.