Grambling, LA (AP) -- Ernie ``Big Cat'' Ladd, who played on championship professional football teams before finding more lucrative success in pro wrestling, has died. He was 68.
Ladd played in the America Football League and is a member of the World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Fame. He died Saturday night after a long bout with cancer, according to the Otis Mortuary in Franklin.
Ladd, who was almost 6-foot-10 and weighed over 300 pounds, was the 15th player taken in the 1961 AFL draft and played for the San Diego Chargers, Houston Oilers and Kansas City Chiefs.
Born Nov. 28, 1938, in Rayville, La., but raised in Orange, Texas, he had battled cancer - first in his colon, then later in his stomach and bones - since 2004.
Ladd was a defensive stalwart on Grambling's first Southwestern Athletic Conference championship football squad. He then helped San Diego win the 1963 AFL championship. He also played for the Chiefs when they reached the Super Bowl in 1967 and '70.
Ladd's bad-guy story lines, not to mention signature moves that included the ``guillotine drop'' and a boot to the face, made him star in the WWE.
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
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