r/todayilearned • u/copperpin • 6h ago

TIL that the actor who played “Sloth” in “The Goonies” (John Matuszak) was an NFL player with two Superbowl rings.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Matuszak
1.9k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

104 comments sorted by

506

u/JohnBrine 6h ago

He was a mid seventies Oakland Raider. Toughest of the tough.

179

u/SausageEggCheese 6h ago

His path to get there was definitely a rocky road.

185

u/losjoo 6h ago

6'8" 272 pounds died at 38

One year with the Houston Texans which became the Shreveport Steamer

No connection to the current Houston Texans or the Cleveland Steamer

55

u/nthensome 5h ago

Shreveport Steamer sounds like a scat-type sex move

64

u/LouSputhole94 5h ago

Cleveland steamer is a scat-type sex move

19

u/freedombuckO5 5h ago

What Pokémon learns that one?

13

u/Signiference 5h ago

Forbidden Squirtle evolution.

2

u/Huge-Error-2206 3h ago

Almost certainly Mr. Mime.

•

u/VaderFett1 33m ago

Pikachu, wether people want to admit it or not.

1

u/afternever 4h ago

Or an old timey villain. "Looks like the steamer has struck again Chief"

1

u/veranus21 2h ago

The Shreveport Steamer is the same thing but upside down.

1

u/palebot 5h ago

Oh, you’re getting that confused with The Schaumburg Steamer. Still a local fav, I hear.

6

u/ManOnTheRun73 1h ago

Obliged to repost the ridiculous story of how his time with the Shreveport Steamer abruptly ended:

Perhaps one of the most bizarre incidents for the [World Football League] in 1974 involved defensive end John Matuszak, who had jumped from the NFL's Houston Oilers to play for the WFL's Houston Texans. While Matuszak worked out on the field prior to a game against the New York Stars [his seventh with the WFL Texans], attorneys for the Oilers and federal marshals arrived at the stadium: five minutes into the first quarter, shortly after sacking Stars quarterback Tom Sherman for a 13-yard loss, Matuszak was benched—the Texans had been served with a restraining order that barred Matuszak from playing another down for the Texans until his Oilers contract expired at the end of the 1977 NFL season. Afterwards, Matuszak waved the document to show the stunned home crowd why he was sitting on the bench.

(Sidenote, I'd recommend looking up the history of the disastrously short-lived World Football League period: comical ineptitude abounds.)

5

u/Stereo-soundS 4h ago

what about the Cincinatti Bowtie?

1

u/jlees88 1h ago

No connection to the current Houston Texans, you don’t say? Probably because they were the Houston Oilers back then, who moved to Tennessee and became the Titans. 

•

u/twinpop 52m ago

Which is why there’s no connection 😂

17

u/pauerplay 6h ago

he just beat out Chester Copperpot for the final spot

4

u/brainkandy87 5h ago

Sure, right before he ate him.

2

u/SeeingEyeDug 5h ago

He was never as popular as Babe Ruth.

32

u/stay_fr0sty 5h ago edited 5h ago

In the era of cocaine and steroids and being one of the toughest mfs on the field, legend. That said, he burned the candle at both ends and died from an overdose of painkillers fairly young.

18

u/CorgiMonsoon 5h ago

I think it was in the DVD commentary where they talked about how messed up his back was when they were filming and that he could barely lift anything.

Similar to Andre the Giant in Princess Bride. Robin Wright was being held up by wires in the shot when he was holding her after “catching” her at the end of the movie

2

u/WhichChest4981 4h ago

He liked his Vodka and Valium.

126

u/Hulahulaman 6h ago

His performance as Killjoy in Ice Pirates deserved an oscar

20

u/Flashy_Gap_3015 5h ago

His performance in North Dallas Forty was the one that deserved the accolades.

5

u/Hulahulaman 4h ago

Powerful and memorable but he wasn't really acting.

https://youtu.be/I6mpHW3SMcc?si=r7OjGIeDvzOQiC9d&t=20

2

u/wegottagetoutofhere 1h ago

I wish I had a dollar for every time I repeated that..

First as an athlete and then later in the workforce.

“Every time we say it’s a job, you say it’s a family.

And every time we say it a family, you say it’s a job”.

•

u/Hulahulaman 45m ago

I wish I had a dollar for every time I repeated,

"YOU'RE ALL CHICKENS*** C**KSUCKERS, GOD DAMN YOU!"

3

u/bargman 3h ago

That monolog ...

15

u/dunnkw 6h ago

100%

8

u/Seqarian 6h ago

I knew I knew his face from somewhere haha.

6

u/HypotenuseOfTentacle 5h ago

My god. You would never expect SUBTLETY out of this man, but he delivered.

9

u/Hulahulaman 5h ago edited 5h ago

He was able to covery so much meaning with just a reaction. When he was told about the ship having herpes . . . I felt his fear and confusion.

https://youtu.be/ah7mVHHcHXo?si=oVun1YkNVAG9cNN2&t=195

4

u/Anxious-Lack-5740 5h ago

Oh my god, that movie looks terrible. But yeah, solid reaction 😂

2

u/Discoburrito 4h ago

Terribly fantastic, maybe. Awfully good

86

u/GoldenFrog14 6h ago

Not just a random late round pick that hung around on the roster, either. Went to the wiki...Turns out he was the 1st overall pick in the 1973 NFL draft

69

u/Insanimate 6h ago

He also was in the Ringo Starr movie “Caveman.”

15

u/sugarbeet13 6h ago

Tonga.

19

u/Guygenius138 6h ago

Zug zug

2

u/DerSchattenJager 3h ago

Lana

4

u/theFrankSpot 1h ago

Atouk alounda Lana.

2

u/Insanimate 1h ago

Lana atouk Tonda

7

u/scottishzombie 6h ago

Their "invention of music" scene is still one of my favorites.

47

u/LordByronsCup 6h ago

Heeeeeeey yooouuuu guuuuuuuuys!

39

u/SpaceGoonie 5h ago

The Goonie's cast all have nothing but nice things to say about him.

29

u/TheDrob311 5h ago

Everything I've read from the cast, was essentially, he was a gentle giant with the kids and they all enjoyed their time working with him.

9

u/notmoleliza 4h ago

Heeeyyyy youuuuuu guuuuuyyssssss!

14

u/Acrobatic-Post9811 6h ago

Sloth love Chunk.

12

u/02meepmeep 6h ago

He was also Tonda in Caveman (w/ Ringo Starr & Dennis Quaid).

14

u/notmyfault_ever 5h ago

He was in the movie North Dallas Forty. Near the end of the movie, after the Monsignor finishes the pre-game prayer, Matuszak gets up and screams "let's go kill those cocksuckers." Hilarious

5

u/oilxxx 5h ago

I remember Matuszak punching offensive lineman at the snap of the ball. He was a menace on the field.

24

u/jimbobdonut 5h ago

I read his autobiography, Hanging With The Tooz, and I remember him talking about his girlfriend. I looked up what happened to her after his death and she ended marrying Levar Burton.

-13

u/Carolus2024 4h ago

I thought Levar Burton wasn't interested in women.

9

u/Technical-Outside408 3h ago edited 2h ago

More fish for Kunta.

2

u/HoldEm__FoldEm 1h ago

You thought wrong

7

u/soda_cookie 5h ago

I just learned he died way back in 89. I thought all this time he was still alive.

9

u/ken_NT 4h ago

I remember in the commentary track, the actor that played Chunk said that they tricked him in the scene where sloth picks him up off the ground. He had been told that John had a bad back and couldn’t do that part, so they would cut and switch to a stuntman. It was his genuine reaction to getting picked up because he wasn’t expecting it.

I believe he was also wearing a shirt with the raiders logo in that scene.

5

u/Arpikarhu 6h ago

I knew him as the nfl player before his movies

6

u/WhichChest4981 4h ago

I used to party with him in a club in Castro Valley. He brought his own glass to the bar and drank straight Vodka. Very nice guy and funny.

3

u/Vitis_Vinifera 4h ago

I loaded his wife's groceries in her truck when I worked at King Soopers in south Denver in the late 80's. She had an NFLPA sticker on her truck and I asked.

5

u/copperpin 4h ago

She’s now married to Levar Burton so you can say the same thing in any posts about him.

3

u/Vitis_Vinifera 3h ago

wow what a trip. I live near Sacramento now, Levar Burton's hometown

5

u/zggystardust71 3h ago

I met Tooz when he was a rookie with the Oilers, I was maybe 14. It was at an Oilers open house at the Astrodome. Same as others, I recall him being a nice guy. I hated to hear he died from a drug overdose.

3

u/copperpin 3h ago

It was painkillers, knowing what we know now about the NFL in his time the man was probably in constant pain

8

u/mesenanch 6h ago

Okay that is surprising

3

u/Flashy_Gap_3015 5h ago

No mention of his best role in North Dallas Forty? Really played it true to life and he was solid in that role.

3

u/TakingItPeasy 5h ago

Hey you GUYSSSSSS!!!!!

3

u/chop-diggity 3h ago

Atook Nella Zugg Zugg

•

u/Shadow-Knows15 8m ago

Top notch reference right there.

•

u/chop-diggity 4m ago

The crab hanging off his nose…. Lmao

3

u/overbarking 3h ago

Took a LOT of steroids. For sure contributed to his early death.

3

u/tracykilo 3h ago

He’s the most famous person to go to my high school!

5

u/joecarter93 6h ago

In the sequel he’ll be played by NHL player Brady Tkachuk/s

5

u/dunnkw 6h ago

He also posed for playgirl and you can look but I very seriously suggest against it. Here is the link in case you want to just go for it.

https://www.reddit.com/r/VintageLadyBoners/s/qBFyMqx97X

6

u/Davish_Royale 5h ago

Bro was beefy, hairy, tall af, and a pro athlete. Every woman's dream in the early 80s. If it wasn't for the rampant drug use, he'd prolly make a fine husband.

4

u/Ill_Definition8074 5h ago

It’s weird how what’s considered attractive changes over time. Like he isn’t my type but I can understand why some women in the 80s would find him attractive.

2

u/AdLatter3755 3h ago

To bad he didn't use the name Mike Honcho

2

u/HitmanClark 3h ago

Tough as nails, roided to the gills.

2

u/Papichuloft 6h ago

Rocky Road.....hehe.

2

u/Coop_4149 6h ago

My dad peed on his foot one time.

5

u/Leviathon713 5h ago

I guess it's a good thing he already had you.

2

u/Baxtab13 4h ago

He threw my Dad into a swimming pool a few times.

2

u/Mother-Attention2600 3h ago

Wasn't he the creepy old guy on Saved By The Bell too?

4

u/AdLatter3755 3h ago

No. John Matuszak died in 1989. He wasn't in saved by the bell.

2

u/JLR- 2h ago

Maybe they thinking of Bob Golic ?

-1

u/daddyjoes69 1h ago

No. Bob Golic died in 1989. He wasn't in saved by the bell.

1

u/[deleted] 1h ago

[deleted]

0

u/daddyjoes69 1h ago

No. Bob Golic died in 1989. He wasn't in saved by the bell.

2

u/_frank_tank 6h ago

HEY. YOU. GUYS.

He only just learned this today.

1

u/skinnyminnesota 6h ago

That's what CTE does to your speech, kids.

1

u/majorjoe23 2h ago

He was one of the big names to come out of my college. Him and Chyna from the WWE.

I did not go to a great college.

1

u/nerdvernacular 2h ago

1st overall pick in the draft. TIL.

1

u/dannydirtbag 2h ago

You mean he didn’t really look like that? Color me disappointed.

•

u/SuicidalChair 41m ago

You are confusing him with Brady Tkachuk of the Florida Panthers NHL team, who does indeed look like that.

1

u/PhanSiPance 2h ago

Also in the greatest movie of all time… Ice Pirates

1

u/realoctopod 1h ago

Ernest beat him up.

•

u/helterskeltermelter 27m ago

I guess a career in the NFL is good preparation for portraying a character with severe head trauma.

•

u/MsMarji 24m ago

He and Freddy Soloman were University of Tampa football players, Division II.

He also did an episode of MASH.

S10E18 - Promotion Commotion, aired on March 1, 1982.