Conrad Dobler played 10 years in the NFL for the Cardinals, Saints and Bills.
Former NFL offensive guard Conrad Dobler died at the age of 72 with the Arizona Cardinals announced Monday. The team did not name a cause of death.
Dobler began his career with the Cardinals, then playing in St. Louis, after being drafted in the fifth round of the 1972 draft from Wyoming. He made three Pro Bowls with the team from 1975-77.
Dobler and future Hall of Famer Dan Dierdorf were on the same Cardinals offensive line in 1975, which allowed only eight sacks in a season (sacks were not counted as an official statistic until 1982). Dobler then played for the New Orleans Saints and Buffalo Bills to end his 10-year career. He played in 129 regular season games.
Dobler was perhaps most notoriously known as one of, if not the, dirtiest player in the NFL. He told Sports Illustrated in 1977 that he would “do anything I can get away with to protect my quarterback.” According to the article, these included “holding, gouging out the eyes, twisting the face mask, whipping the legs, tripping and even biting”. Dobler added that on the field he prefers physical attacks to verbal ones.
“Verbal abuse could go on all day,” he said in 1977. “A quicker and more efficient way to upset and intimidate people is to beat the breath out of them.”
During his time in the league, Dobler allegedly punched Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Fame linebacker Joe Greene, kicked Los Angeles Rams Hall of Fame linebacker Merlin Olsen in the head and spat at Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Bill Bergey, after Bergey was injured in a game.
Years after his playing career ended, Dobler stared into a Miller Lite commercial in which he described himself as a “troublemaker” before instigating a fight between two fans. Dobler also wrote a 1988 book with sportswriter Vic Carucci called They Call Me Dirty, in which he documented “dirty details on everything from football violence to Alex Karras to his Miller Lite commercials.”