1. William Alex Radovich was a National Football League guard and a film actor who regularly played the "tough guy".
15 Facts About Bill Radovich
1. 2.
Bill Radovich was the first NFL player to file suit against the league.
3.
Bill Radovich played college football at the University of Southern California.
4.
In 1938, he was not selected in the 1938 NFL draft, but Bill Radovich began his NFL career as a guard with the Detroit Lions after being signed, picking them because they offered an off-season job.
5.
Bill Radovich played five seasons in the National Football League with the Detroit Lions.
6.
Bill Radovich returned to the Lions after the war ended, in 1945.
7.
Bill Radovich expressed a desire for either better pay or to be traded to the Los Angeles Rams during the year, since his father was seriously ill and living near the city.
8.
However, since his contract had expired, Bill Radovich signed with the All-America Football Conference and the Los Angeles Dons, regardless of if he was on the blacklist for five years as Madel stated.
9.
True enough, in 1948, Bill Radovich saw a potential job as player and coach for the San Francisco Clippers of the Pacific Coast Professional Football League slip away due to its affiliation with the NFL as a minor league.
10.
Bill Radovich was forced to look for different kinds of work, and one of them was as a waiter at Los Angeles's Brown Derby restaurant.
11.
Bill Radovich took the advice of his attorney Maxwell Keith to drop the case and accept a $42,500 settlement from the league.
12.
Bill Radovich worked as a position coach in the Canadian Football League before settling in Los Angeles.
13.
Bill Radovich is best remembered as Moose McCall in Trouble Along the Way, Ogeechuch in The World in His Arms, Eunuch in The Golden Blade, Lagi in Back to God's Country, Hassan in Against All Flags and many other tough character roles.
14.
Bill Radovich had a brother, Walt, and a sister, Gloria Kaye Clinton.
15.
Bill Radovich died on March 6,2002, and funeral services were held at St Sava Serbian Orthodox Church in San Gabriel, California.