Wrestler / Football player / Competitive eater Ernie Ladd dies at 68
Shadow Fire Promotions reports that former WWF star “Big Cat” Ernie Ladd died of cancer at the age of 68. Before becoming a professional wrestler, Ladd was a defensive lineman with the San Diego Chargers, Houston Oilers and Kansas City Chiefs. During his football career, Ladd was 6’9″ and 315 pounds, with a 52-inch chest, 39-inch waist, 20-inch biceps, 19-inch neck, 20-inch calves, and size 18D shoes. Ladd also had achievements in areas besides wrestling and football:
In an interesting piece of trivia picked up from the Museum of the Gulf Coast’s website (http://www.museumofthegulfcoast.org/Content/Personalities/Sports_Legends/Ernie_Ladd)
in Port Arthur, TX (Ladd being a Texas native), it was stated that Ladd’s appetite equalled his size and at a charity pancake eating contest in 1965, he ate 124 pancakes topped with 6 containers of syrup. How that stacks up against modern “professional competitive eaters” isn’t known. Ladd lost the aforementioned contest, but he was competing alone against two-man teams, which is pretty impressive in and of itself. Ladd claimed he started late and was “only four pancakes behind at the end.”
Ladd is not the only pro wrestler with an impressive eating feat in the 1960’s. The Big Texan’s 72 ounce steak page reports that “Klondike” Bill Soloweyko ate two 72 ounce steaks in an hour in that decade.
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beautifulbrian said
March 12, 2007 @ 2:15 pm
That is a real shame. I used to watch him wrestle on WOR Ch 9 and the old IWA back in the mid 70’s . This was before wrestling became commercialized. He was one big mean dude. He challenged Willis Reed and Wilt Chamberlain to a wrestling match , years ago two of the strongest NBA players ever to live and they both backed off. He once brought a table full of large burgers in the wrestling ring before a match and consumed them like he was eating raisins. “Big Cat” will be missed.