LOS ANGELES -- Further tests will be required to determine what caused the heart failure that killed John Matuszak, the former Oakland Raiders defensive lineman known for a ferocious lifestyle both on and off the field.
Matuszak, 38, who retired from professional football because of injuries in 1983 and pursued an acting career, was pronounced dead Saturday night in the emergency room of St. Joseph Medical Center in suburban Burbank.
Nursing supervisor Karen Marlin said Matuszak died of a heart attack, but an autopsy performed Sunday apparently failed to confirm that finding.
'The autopsy has been completed, but the exact cause of death has not been determined. The results were inconclusive,' Los Angeles County Coroner's spokeswoman Lilly Shelton said. 'The doctor has said she must perform several tests, including toxicological studies.'
Raiders' owner Al Davis called the giant lineman's sudden death 'shocking.'
'He was a great person,' Davis said. 'We had a great love for John. He made an incredible contribution to two Super Bowl games that we won. This is just a shocking thing that has happened.'
Former teammate Phil Villapiano, appearing on NBC Sports Sunday, acknowledged that Matuszak, who admitted in a book he wrote that he abused alcohol and cocaine, had a well-known penchant for carousing but did not know if it contributed to his death.
'There were times in the past I would have believed it, but in the last few years he had been trying to get away from things he had done,' Villapiano said. 'Maybe things caught up with him, I don't know.'
Paramedics called to Matuszak's North Hollywood home took him to the hospital about 8:30 p.m., after he failed to repond to emergency treatment. Police said a preliminary investigation revealed no sign of foul play but details of the investigation were not released. It was not known who called paramedics to Matuszak's residence.
The 6-foot, 8-inch, 300-pound Matuszak, called the 'Tooz' by his teammates, was on the injured-reserve list when the Raiders moved from Oakland to Los Angeles in 1982. Back injuries and subsequent surgery kept him on the bench, andhe retired at the end of the 1982-83 season.
'I want people to remember me as one of the toughest ever to go out there,' he told United Press International upon retiring. 'And I think I was.'
The giant, bearded Matuszak's style epitomized the violence of professional football and, even on a team known for rugged characters, he stood out.
Matuszak was a defensive end-tackle on two victorious Oakland Super Bowl teams, in 1977 and 1981.
Matuszak had several minor brushes with the law during his football career, and developed a reputation as a world-class carouser and brawler.
Out of football, he pursued an acting career, making several television commercials and appearing in the feature films 'Caveman,' 'The Ice Pirates,' and 'North Dallas Forty.' He also starred in the television series 'Hollywood Beat,' and appeared on 'MASH,' 'Trapper John M.D,' and 'Miami Vice.'
The Houston Oilers made Matuszak the NFL's top draft pick in 1973 out of the University of Tampa. He jumped to the World Football League in 1974, but a judge ordered him back to the Oilers, who responded by trading him to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Branded a troublemaker and seemingly headed out of football, Matuszak was signed by Davis and the Raiders in one of several gambles the team took on players others saw as past their primes.
'He was warm, gregarious, lovable, but perhaps he did live in the fast lane,' Davis said Sunday. 'I think the important thing -- whatever comes out of this -- it's just another lesson to all of us that we have a genocide of our youth in America today. Someone ... has to get tough about drugs and all the things that go with it.'
