Illini’s Karras the latest branch in a long, tough football tree

CHICAGO - Everywhere Ted Karras goes, his last name precedes him.

At Big Ten Media Days in Chicago, a lifelong Detroit Lions fan interrupted Karras' conversation to ask about the Illinois guard's football ancestry. Questions extended to his grandfather, also named Ted Karras, who is 82 and living in Gary, Ind. Eventually it reverts to his great uncle, former Iowa and Detroit legend Alex Karras, who died three years ago.

If you listen to Illinois linebacker Mason Monheim, it happens all the time.

'Like when we're on spring break, ‘I'm Teddy Karras,'” Monheim says with voice inflection. 'And they're like, ‘Karras? I know a Karras.' He starts naming off his grandpa or his uncle, his dad.”

Karras, a 6-foot-4, 310-pound senior from Indianapolis, is the seventh member of his family to play Big Ten football. His grandfather competed at Indiana and played nine seasons in the NFL, including as a starting left guard with the Chicago Bears' 1963 NFL championship squad. His father, also named Ted Karras, was a letterwinner at Northwestern from 1983-86. Of course there's defensive tackle Alex Karras, the 1957 Heisman Trophy runner-up and Outland Trophy winner from Iowa.

Alex Karras notoriously was at odds with former Iowa Coach Forest Evashevski, including once because he didn't start against his brother in 1956 at Bloomington, Ind. Alex Karras went on to become a three-time first-team All-Pro with the Lions in 12 seasons. He also was suspended for the 1963 season along with Green Bay Packers running back Paul Hornung for gambling.

Illinois' Ted Karras defends his late great uncle, whom his visited in Malibu when he toured UCLA on a recruiting visit. He also spoke with his grandfather about the 1963 Bears and the battles with owner and head coach George Halas.

'Hornung is in the Hall of Fame so I think Al should be in it, too,” Illinois' Karras said. 'They got in trouble together, but I guess Al didn't apologize for it. I talked to them about all the stories, from the Halas stories to Al's time at Iowa. I got to meet him a few times.

'The Halas stories were great. That team, what they were able to do. It's great. (My grandfather) still wears his ring every day.”

Ted Karras has formed his own legacy at Illinois. He has 31 starts over his career, including nine last year until a knee injury sidelined him for the final four games. He's a vicious straight-ahead blocker with a recognizable mean streak.

Monheim, who is one of Karras' best friends, engages Karras in trash talk almost every day in one form or another. Some of it was during a canoeing trip in July when Monheim made Karras paddle, then took off in it after the canoe tipped over. Other times it's because of football.

But the joking stops when it comes to pads on the field.

'He's physical, and he's violent,” Monheim said. 'If you shy away from contact, you're going to feel it. So it draws your attention to him, knowing you have to bring it on every play.

'He's definitely the motor to that O-line, just physicality. And that's what they really, really need. To be successful in the Big Ten running the ball, you've got to have a mentality, that violent mentality and Ted brings that to them.”

Karras' personality comes out as boisterous and engaging. He's a natural leader, He's also direct and honest. He boils down his responsibilities to a simple edict: keep quarterback Wes Lunt upright.

'What I've got to do is protect Lunt and win my one-on-one battles, that's all football is,” he said. 'Eleven guys singularly playing 11 other guys, especially in the Big Ten. You've got a lot of three-techs (nose tackles) by yourself. If I can win my one-on-one match-ups this year, we'll give our team a chance to succeed.”

Unlike his great uncle who disliked school, Karras was an academic all-Big Ten honoree. He studies NFL linemen on video and praises Baltimore guard (and former Iowa Hawkeye) Marshal Yanda as 'the best guard in the world.”

But like the family members who came before him, Karras loves football's physical side.

'I was never the greatest athlete, which I've worked on and now I'm pretty decent,” Karras said. 'I've always just tried to be as mean as possible, and it gets rewarded in football. So that's why I've always like the sport. You can be as violent as you want and you get rewarded for doing so, which has been an awesome aspect for me.”

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