Ernie Ladd

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Ernest Ladd
Data
Ring name Ernie Ladd
Additions to names The Big Cat
height 206 cm
Fighting weight 143 kg
birth November 28, 1938
death March 10, 2007
Trained by Bobo Brazil
debut 1961
retirement 1986
Ernie Ladd
Position (s):
Defensive tackle 		Jersey numbers:
77, 99
born November 28, 1938 in Rayville , Louisiana
died on March 10, 2007 in Franklin , Louisiana
Career information
Active : 1961 - 1968
NFL Draft : 1961 / Round: 4 / Pick: 48 (by the Chicago Bears )
AFL Draft : 1961 / Round: 4 / Pick: 48
College : Grambling State
Teams
Career statistics
Games played     112
Interception     1
Stats at NFL.com
Stats at pro-football-reference.com
Career highlights and awards

Ernest Ladd , mostly Ernie Ladd called (* 28. November 1938 in Rayville , Louisiana ; † 10. March 2007 in Franklin , Louisiana) was an American American football poker players and wrestlers .

Career

American football

Ladd graduated from Grambling College (since 1974 Gramling State University), where he already played college football , and was selected in the Entry Draft in 1961 as the fifteenth player of the AFL team San Diego Chargers . Ladd, whose position was that of the defensive tackle , played five seasons for the Chargers, where he was a member of the defensive line known as "Fearsome Foursome" along with Ron Nery , Bill Hudson and Earl Faison . With Ladd, the Chargers were twice in the final of the AFL and won the title in 1963. The 1966 and 1967 seasons Ladd played for the AFL team Houston Oilers before moving to the Kansas City Chiefs , where he retired in 1968. Ladd, whose mobility earned him the nickname "The Big Cat" despite his physique (143 kg at 2.06 m), was a non-stop member of the AFL's All-Star Team between 1962 and 1965 .

Wrestling

Ladd began wrestling in 1961, initially outside of the American football season. He initially competed in local wrestling promotions in the Los Angeles area . Ladd, one of the first African-Americans to take on the role of villainous heel in wrestling , quickly became a crowd-puller. One of Ladd's methods of portraying the heel was to leave the ring and hall when defeat was imminent, and deliberately lose by counting. Since wrestling titles could usually only change by pinfall , Ladd “cheated” the audience into cheering for a new Face title holder. Ladd also used a thumb that was tightly taped from a football injury for cheap shots .

In 1968, after completing his illustrious football career, Ladd made his debut in the World Wide Wrestling Federation , a predecessor of today's World Wrestling Entertainment, where he remained until 1980. Ladd played numerous matches against the league champions such as Bruno Sammartino , Pedro Morales or Bob Backlund and feuded intensely with André René Roussimoff , who competed under the ring name "Andre the Giant" and was one of the few wrestlers, the "Big Cat" Ernie Ladd Exceeded in height and weight.

From 1980 Ladd went mainly for the Mid-South Wrestling Association, a territorial promotion of the National Wrestling Alliance , where he remained active until 1986 and won some wrestling titles. In total, Ladd won twenty-eight wrestling titles as an individual or tag team wrestler during his career. The two big wrestling promotions World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation, which competed for fan favor and audience ratings in the 1990s, accepted Ladd into their league Halls of Fame , the WCW in 1994, the WWF a year later.

After wrestling

Ladd, who was married for 45 years and had four children, ran a restaurant in New Orleans after retiring that was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005 . Ladd, who had suffered from colon cancer since 2004, died on March 10, 2007.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Ladd, Ernie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES The Big Cat
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American football player and wrestler
DATE OF BIRTH November 28, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH Rayvill , Louisiana
DATE OF DEATH March 10, 2007
Place of death Franklin (Louisiana) , Louisiana