Ben Davidson
“Big Ben” as he was called was a defensive end for the Oakland Raiders when I was a kid, and he was the biggest and meanest guy I had ever seen play football, so he is my hero out of fear, not admiration. Many claim the same for Ray Nitschke or Dick Butkus but to my mind, Ben Davidson was pure evil. He made illegal hits all the time as a mater of principle, not accident.
His most notorious hit was made during the 1970 ACF playoffs against Len Dawson, the quarterback of the Kansas City Chiefs. According to the Chief’s website,
"The Chiefs were ahead 17-14 when Dawson apparently sealed the win, running for a first down which would have allowed Kansas City to run out the clock. While on the ground, Dawson was speared by Raiders DE Ben Davidson in an infamous incident that cost the Chiefs a victory and further inflamed the already heated Chiefs-Raiders rivalry. WR Otis Taylor retaliated and a bench-clearing brawl ensued. Offsetting penalties were called, nullifying Dawson’s first down. The Chiefs were forced to punt and Raiders K George Blanda eventually booted a game-tying FG with 0:08 remaining. That tie ultimately cost the Chiefs a tie with Oakland for the division crown as Kansas City finished the year with a 7-5-2 record, while the Raiders went 8-4-2."
To this day, Davidson has never apologized to Dawson. When asked why, he maintains his belief in the utter brutality of the sport. He says that Dawson (and anyone he illegally hit) should have known the reality of the sport they chose to play. While full of rules, football, to his mind, is not pretty, nor is it fair.
That Davidson would go on to play the evil second in command under Thulsa Doom (James Earl Jones) in Conan the Barbarian in 1981 only cements his status for me as the nastiest guy ever.