John Matuszak Net Worth

John Matuszak's Quotes

• I think about the game plan, and then I go through all the little things that are almost impossible to do. If you go through those things in your mind, you can do them.
• The only way to play football is with reckless abandon, or they'll knock your beard off. And with acting, you have to pull all the stops to make it work.
• I can retire from football with a smile on my face.
• The tension in pro ball comes from the realization that any game could be your last, that an injury could end your career. And in TV, you never know if or when your series will be canceled.
• I never even was in any of my high school plays. I mean, look at me. What role could they give me - the tooth fairy?

Interesting Facts about John Matuszak

1. Ex-football player turned actor.
2. Former defensive end for the Oakland Raiders.
3. Competed in the 1978 World's Strongest Man Competition weighing 308 lbs.
4. Hard-driving athlete who lived life in the fast lane.
5. Attended the University of Tampa where he was the star of their football team and a brother of the Theta Chi fraternity (Incidentally, the football program at the University of Tampa ended after the 1974 season). Also attended the University of Missouri and Iowa Central Community College before going to Tampa.
6. He died of heart failure, which was probably caused by an overdose of pain medication and pneumonia. He also had cocaine in his system at the time of his death.
7. As Sloth in The Goonies (1985), his make-up took five hours to complete. One of the eyes (which was out of place on the face) was mechanically operated off-screen by remote control. He had to time his blinking to match the blinks of the robotic eye. A crew-member would countdown from three, two, one and tell him to blink. The cast was told not to get him wet in scenes outside of the pirate ship, but the kids inadvertently did so, holding up filming for an entire day. In the scene where Chunk and Sloth head down through the grate to follow the gang and the Fratelli's, you can see that Sloth is wearing an Oakland Raiders T-Shirt. Matuszak was a former Oakland Raiders football player.
8. Was originally drafted by the Houston Oilers in 1973.
9. Was the boyfriend of Stephanie Cozart Burton in the 1980s.
10. Son of Audrey and Marvin Matuszak.
11. He attended the University of Missouri-Columbia (Mizzou) on a football scholarship and was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. However, he was kicked out when he completely beat up a guy on the twenty-first birthday of one of his fraternity brothers.
12. The Thoroughbred racehorse Matuszak, which finished 10th in the 2014 Belmont Stakes, was NOT named after John Matuszak. It was named for Felix Matuszak, father-in-law of George Prussin, the horse's owner.
13. Inducted into the University of Tampa Athletic Hall of Fame in 1983.
14. Matuszak was part of one of football's most surreal moments. He was playing for the Houston Texans of the World Football League, but was still under contract to the Houston Oilers of the National Football League. Matuszak was in the middle of a game when lawyers for the NFL and the Oilers showed up with a court order barring Matuszak from playing under his Texans contract.He was benched for the second half, but was waving the court order in the air for the fans to see so they'd know exactly why he wasn't in the game.
15. Autobiography: "Cruisin' With the Tooz".