Lyle Alzado

Redondo Beach police are investigating a traffic incident that involved former Raider All-Pro Lyle Alzado and two Lomita residents Tuesday afternoon. Alzado filed a report claiming that his car was rear-ended on Catalina Avenue by a car that drove off before he could exchange information with the driver. The occupants of the other car, Marvin Rathburn, 29, and Angie McCormick, 32, also filed a report.

The first thing about attracting kids to play baseball: They have to have stars that look like the kids do. For the African American kids, Barry Bonds does. Any time Bonds is in the news -- any time an African American is in the news -- kids will follow it. So I think that's a plus. The two people I've thought really had an impact on inner-city kids were Ken Griffey Jr. -- but he got hurt so much -- and Dontrelle Willis. The kids all think Dontrelle Willis is cool. I think kids identified more with them than they did with Barry.

Once more, Lyle Alzado is the protagonist in a compelling tale. And the man appreciates a good story as much as any professional athlete in recent times. His flair for the dramatic has not been diminished by the disease that threatens his life.

In May, Justin Alzado became credentialed by the National Athletic Trainers Assn., and has been hired as a personal trainer at a health club near his home in Roswell, Ga. He preaches a natural route to physical fitness and discourages use of legal, over-the-counter supplements such as creatine and ephedrine. He is so committed to his message that MTV used him for an upcoming episode of the reality show "Flipped."

Lyle Alzado, recently diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer, had a brain seizure Saturday afternoon, his physician said. "He's in stable condition now," said Dr. Robert Huizenga, who would not identify the hospital where the former NFL all-pro defensive lineman was being treated. The primary brain lymphoma was diagnosed three weeks ago. Huizenga said treatment includes radiation therapy and chemotherapy.

One of those crews with the light man, the sound man and the interviewer's own makeup staff has just arrived in camp, and they're not from any mere jocko show like "The NFL Today," either. They're from "Entertainment Tonight," and they've come to see Lyle Alzado. Out there in show biz, Lyle is happening in a major way. What do they have in mind? Would they like him to tear someone's lips off, as he once threatened to do to Dan Marino?

The colors of their childhood are still black and red, with this sense of leather--the holsters the police wore when they came to their house in the middle of the night; the flashing lights in the street, the sounds of hitting and screaming. For Lyle and Peter Alzado, it was like growing up in a horror movie.

Lyle Alzado, a big, wild, talented, mean guy on the football field, whose intimidating style wreaked havoc on opponents and made him an NFL legend, died Thursday at his home in Lake Oswego, Ore., near Portland. He was 43. His wife, Kathy, was at his side. He had been undergoing chemotherapy for brain cancer--he blamed his steroid use during and after his playing career for the illness--at the Oregon Health Sciences University Hospital.

Raider defensive end Lyle Alzado will announce his retirement today, KCBS Channel 2 reported Tuesday night on its 11 p.m. broadcast.

Cancer-stricken Lyle Alzado was too sick to make a court appearance in Culver City on an allegation that the former Raider star assaulted a deputy marshal, his attorney said. Alzado, 42, "is in no condition to come to court," said attorney Robert Shapiro, who obtained a postponement of the Municipal Court arraignment hearing to Jan. 21. Alzado is undergoing chemotherapy for inoperable brain cancer that he says is the result of using steroids during his 14-year NFL career.

Update: Since "Will L.A. Get the NFL Team It So Richly Deserves?" by T.J. Simers appeared Jan. 28, Seattle Seahawks owner Ken Behring announced plans to move his team here to play in the Rose Bowl. Behring first faces legal action with the city of Seattle, which wants him to honor the 10 years left on his Kingdome lease or sell the Seahawks to local investors. Meanwhile, the NFL has frowned on Behring's plan because of its own interest in dictating what happens in Los Angeles. If the NFL wants a Los Angeles franchise, the password should be expansion ("Will L.A. Get the NFL Team It So Richly Deserves?"

Once the news hit that Lyle Alzado was suffering from inoperable brain cancer, the rumors began. Splattered across tabloids and whispered in gyms was the theory that Alzado really had AIDS; that he hid behind a claim that he was suffering from brain cancer caused by anabolic steroids because it was viewed as a more macho way to die. That's how it went. In some circles, that's how it still goes.

Even as his body was lowered into the ground last month in a cemetery in Oregon, the question remained. What really killed Lyle Alzado? This was a guy who used to bench-press 650 pounds. A man whose presence was so big at Gold's Gym in Venice that his sea of admirers nearly parted when he walked in the door. Within a year, these same people saw Alzado reduced to half his size, lose his hair, his voice, his strength . . . his life. But during that time, he never lost his message.

Before he spoke at the U.S. Olympic Committee media seminar Thursday at Colorado Springs, Colo., Dr. Wade Exum, the USOC's drug control director, requested a moment of silence in honor of Lyle Alzado.

Lyle Alzado, one of football's most aggressive performers, was buried after a private graveside service in Portland, Ore. About 50 people, including Al Davis, owner and president of the Raiders, attended the service at a cemetery on a hillside above the Willamette River. Alzado, a two-time All-Pro defensive end who blamed prolonged use of steroids for his terminal brain cancer, died Thursday morning at his home in the Portland suburb of Lake Oswego. He was 43.

Lyle Alzado, a big, wild, talented, mean guy on the football field, whose intimidating style wreaked havoc on opponents and made him an NFL legend, died Thursday at his home in Lake Oswego, Ore., near Portland. He was 43. His wife, Kathy, was at his side. He had been undergoing chemotherapy for brain cancer--he blamed his steroid use during and after his playing career for the illness--at the Oregon Health Sciences University Hospital.

Lyle Alzado, one of football's most aggressive performers, was buried after a private graveside service in Portland, Ore. About 50 people, including Al Davis, owner and president of the Raiders, attended the service at a cemetery on a hillside above the Willamette River. Alzado, a two-time All-Pro defensive end who blamed prolonged use of steroids for his terminal brain cancer, died Thursday morning at his home in the Portland suburb of Lake Oswego. He was 43.

I feel very sorry for Lyle Alzado and I pray he beats his cancer and makes a full recovery. But being critically ill doesn't make him a hero. He thought that by taking steroids he would have an advantage over his opponents and so be able to beat them. That isn't winning, it's cheating. He was stupid. JOHN PAUL WHITE Moreno Valley

The colors of their childhood are still black and red, with this sense of leather--the holsters the police wore when they came to their house in the middle of the night; the flashing lights in the street, the sounds of hitting and screaming. For Lyle and Peter Alzado, it was like growing up in a horror movie.

For nine months, Lyle Alzado has been suffering from terminal brain cancer that has made him a hostage of his once-powerful body. Through the pain, Alzado looked forward to one special evening organized for him by his longtime manager and best friend--looked forward to it so fervently that some friends felt he was hanging on just to be there.