Photo: Ron Galella / CC BY-SA 4.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
John Matuszak's life reads like a movie of its own. A number-one overall draft pick and two-time Super Bowl champion at 203 cm, he then crossed over to the screen and won over a generation as the lovable giant in The Goonies. Few people commit their whole body to both the gridiron and the spotlight the way he did. That he died at just 38 gives the whole story a tragic weight; the same outsized intensity that made him magnetic seems to have burned bright and fast. I find myself genuinely moved by lives this vivid and this brief.
Overview
John Daniel Matuszak (October 25, 1950 – June 17, 1989), nicknamed "Tooz", was an American professional football defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) who later became an actor. Matuszak was selected by the Houston Oilers with the first overall pick in the 1973 NFL draft and played most of his career with the Oakland / Los Angeles Raiders until retiring after winning his second Super Bowl in 1981.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- John Matuszak
- Name (Japanese)
- ジョン・マトゥザック
- Reading
- じょん・まとぅざっく
- Born
- October 25, 1950 – June 17, 1989
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Scorpio / Tiger
- Origin
- Oak Creek, Wisconsin, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- 203 cm
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- actor / American football player / television actor / film actor
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Oak Creek High School
- University
- University of Tampa
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Actor — see all → · American football player — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.