How tall was John Matuszak

Rampage(-_-_-)Clover said on 9/Jul/22
This guy was a walking train wreck and chronic alcoholic. Can’t imagine the nightmare it must’ve been dealing with him in a bar with his size and temper fuelled by booze

Rampage(-_-_-)Clover said on 29/Jun/22
Strong 6ft7 is spot on, 6ft7½ tops. Most NFL guys are rounded up and down to the nearest inch.

Costa said on 14/Oct/21
It seems like there’s more evidence of him being closer to 6’8” than 6’7”.

Hyper said on 4/Jul/21
@ Daycringeothon

Supposedly, he was measured at 6’7 1/2” in the draft.

Maybe not an absolute low, but it’s certainly specific.

Daycringeothon said on 22/Jun/21
Matuszak’s NFL combine low measurement would be interesting. Can’t see it being under 6’7 and an eighth.

Daycringeothon said on 12/Jan/21
Matuszak’s listing sounds about right. In the Goonies finding the location documentary he was given various estimates by his co-stars. One says 6’9” about 300lbs. The other says 6’6”, 6’7” and five feet wide.

Hyper said on 17/Dec/20
@Rob

I remember someone mentioned he was drafted as 6’7 1/2”.

Maybe not an absolute low but certainly a specific measurement.

Hyper said on 11/Dec/20
Rob, did you find the quote about him measuring over 6’7”?

Sulu2020 said on 10/Dec/20
Heights for some listings do not remain exactly the same all the time.

ChaosControl (Formerly Known As J2Frenzy said on 6/Dec/20
He’s had a quarter inch upgrade, a new photo and some quotes. Cool

Canson said on 4/Nov/20
@Tall Sam: maybe 6’7.25 midday for someone his size. He would likely lose an inch. So 6’8 out of bed

Miss Sandy Cowell said on 16/Sep/20
Is he trying to stare me out, OR WHAT? 😳

John gets 6ft8 😁👍

Rampage(-_-_-)Clover said on 18/Jul/20
He was regularly described 6ft7 and 6ft8. Somewhere between is arguable I think. I certainly wouldn’t argue below 6ft7

Daycringeothon said on 4/Oct/19
Interestingly Nick Nolte’s real life Granddad measured around 6’6”. His older sister even edged him out by an inch. There’s quotes floating around where Nolte talks about his tall relatives heights.

Tall Sam said on 11/Sep/19
I'd say it'd be hard to determine 6'7" or 6'7.5" mid-day, it's possible he could've measured both at different times. I've also heard his weight cited at 280 I believe. I thought in North Dallas Forty that Bo Svenson could look near 6'6" next to him, both seeming a half foot or more over Nick Nolte.

I never really read his backstory before but he seems like he would've been an unpleasant sort to be around (especially in his football but also Hollywood days) with a horrific violent streak and out of control drug problem.

Christian 6'5 3/8" said on 6/Dec/18
240lbs nowadays is pretty undersized (weight wise) for a NFL defensive lineman.

Dream(5'9.5") said on 5/Dec/18
I like to laugh at Michael's comment about the Goonies cast being short. He claims that the tallest people were about 5'9".

Meanwhile, he hasn't seen that John Matuszak was in the movie, and John is anything but short.

Henry said on 23/Mar/18
I read somewhere that he was measured 6'7 1/2" barefoot. Rob, he really needs that height upgrade.

Rampage(-_-_-)Clover said on 2/Mar/18
Strong 6ft7 range, 201-202cm

RP said on 26/Jan/18
He was 6'7-1/2" barefoot as an NFL rookie. Should be updated to 6'7.5" IMO.

Sorin176 said on 8/Dec/17
John must have been at least a weak 6ft 8, he has visibly more than 1 inch on Fred Dryer who was a solid 6ft 6 when young. See Click Here
Only way John was "only" 6ft 7 would be if he had some moderate footwear advantage (like boots) in that picture. There is, however, an aboundance of sources saying he was actually 6ft 8, so probably something like 6ft 7.75 suits him better.

Njp said on 8/Nov/17
I think if you’re over 6’6” then you’d expect to see larger variations in height from morning to night. If he was 6’8” in the morning he could’ve lost an inch over the course of the day quite feasibly, averaging out half way between the two.

Rampage(-_-_-)Clover said on 3/Jul/17
Rob, maybe in the same range as Tyson Fury?

anonymous said on 8/Apr/17
Absolutely loomed over guys like 6'5 Merlin Olsen and 6'6 Fred Dryer on TV shows',.. inches taller. Even a couple inches taller than 6'6 Bo Svenson. I have seen him called even taller than 6'8 in some places.

Anonymous said on 25/Dec/16
Was very specifically listed at 6'7.5 and 280 on draft day(1-3-1973) when he was the #1 pick. Wish I could copy and paste the article. A few months later in training camp he was listed at 6'8 288. In 1978 Worlds strongest man he was listed at 6'8 309.

Anonamous said on 11/Mar/16
"I asked him, 'John, do you really think at 6-7, 315 pounds you wouldn't be noticed on Bourbon Street?" Flores said. "He said, 'Coach, I was out making sure everyone else was in.' To keep from laughing, I just said, get out of here, go to your meeting."

Ian C said on 13/Apr/15
Now Wardady, of course I didn't know Matuszak, but when somebody talented enough to be the number one draft pick in the NFL keeps getting traded because of bad behavior, it is fair to deduce that he was not a nice guy.

As for me, I'm Canadian, and ineligible to vote in American elections. But if I were a politician running for office, and could magically claim the votes of anyone who wouldn't someone like John Matuszak, I would exercise the magic and easily win the elction.

Wardaddy said on 28/Mar/15
Ian C

A fascinating example of perfect assholishness

Self righteous preening about someone he never knew doing something he knows nothing about

The perfect Obama voter

Ian C said on 26/Mar/15
A fascinating example of perfect selfishness. If you are enormous and abnormally strong and rich and famous, and you can get people to imagine that being wildly irresponsible is, in your case, kind of charming, you can do things that would get other people evicted from human society. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that a lot of physical giants develop unusually gentle and affable personalities, just to keep people from fearing them. Not Mr. Matuszak, who seems to have delighted in doing whatever he wanted and scaring everybody who might be offended into putting up with him. He was the number one draft pick when he entered the NFL, and then managed to get himself fired multiple times, just by being a vicious bully and all-around dangerous fool. He died from an accidental drug overdose at age 39, which was excellent timing, as his next move would likely have been a felony conviction for one thing or another.

jasperwazap said on 23/Jan/12
anyone remember the bikers from hell episode in Miami Vice. He stood beside Sonny Landham who's 6'2.5'' peak height here. there was at least a 5'' difference they were both wearing biker boots given each an even boost.

Big MIke said on 22/Feb/11
He looked 6 ft 7 in the Gonnies but he may be 6ft8 I say 6ft7 and he was a strongman too and he weighs alot probably 315 or more and he's very strong

Anonymous said on 25/Jan/09
I've seen at least 3 episodes of shows(Miami Vice,1st & 10,Fall Guy)where he is standing in obviously standard doorways and his hair is more than touching the top he basically has to duck. And one of the times he was in socks. No reason to not say 6'8.

Anonymous said on 13/Jan/09
matuszak was 6ft8 and 308lbs in wsm 6ft8 without footwear who ever said 6ft7 is thick

RLG said on 13/Jul/08
I was lucky enough to meet "The Tooz" in person in the late 70's in Glendale, CA. I'm 6'7" myself and he was easily 2-3 inches taller than me. He was a HUGE DUDE and super cool, too!

Check out "Crusin' With The Tooz" in Sports Illustrated magazine if you have access to it. Lots of good pics and funny stories about Big John...

Anonymous said on 25/May/08
He was way taller than Fred Dryer in the Hunter series. 2.5 inches taller, Dryer is put at 6'6.

Anonymous said on 11/Nov/07
Peter Gent, the guy who made North Dallas 40 said in an interview about the movie on ESPN Classics for the 25 year anniversery showing that Matuszak was 6'9 300. Not very scientific, but it's something I saw.

pete said on 7/Oct/07
He was a legit 6'8 and 300. That WSM competion was one of the few times that athletes had to get on the scale together in public and have their weights be known outside the training room, and he was 309, which is then is a minimum peak weight. And he played for all those pro teams and was a concensus 6'8. If fred dryer was 6'6, he was a little over 6'8. Probably the biggest NFL guy of the pre 90's era along with Erin Ladd who was 6'9 and 315 who also was all muscle and had no fat. Others who were as tall or as heavy were not built the same.

LOW said on 20/Jul/07
1978 Worlds Stongest Man. Gives a very accurate measurment for Matuszak and others like lou ferrigno. John was put at 6'8 309 lbs this was as accurate as could be because the entire nature of the compitition was to get equality for the sizes of the competitors as to best judge how to put who along with who in the events. They needed to be accurate. And they went on and on about how they were using olympic certified scales, used for the olympic boxers and wrestlers, so they would have been off like a quarter pound on a bad day. And the heights would have been within an inch because some of the events involed height considerations, so a 6'3 guy would not been able to get away with calling himself 6'5 when he would have been shorter than another guy listed at 6'4. Lou Ferrigno was 6'5 278.

DOW said on 8/Jul/07
I can't beleive that he is listed at 6'7 here. He was listed at 6'8 constantly his entire carear, and I don't know why the small sprinkling of 6'7 listings would trump the inumerable 6'8 listings. There are even some 6'9 listings. The database football.com and offical NFL registers all list him at 6'8. other pro football players on this site have there heights transfered from these places. Just an observation.

Anonymous said on 27/May/07
Saw a picture of him with Fred Dryer in a Hunter episode in the mid 80's. Dryer was 6'6" 225-230 and Dryer looks like a stick figure, Tooz was a good 2 1/2 inch taller and had to be 300 pounds.

Anonymous said on 26/May/07
I saw an episode of M*A*S*H and he is talking directly to Major Winchester who is said to be 6'4. Matuszak can look directly across the top of Winchester's head, you have to be 6'8 or 6'9 to do that. He must have close to 300 lbs also because if Winchester is 6'4 and heavy set he must be about 240.

Anonymous said on 12/May/07
Matuszak was huge,I've seen him standing team photos' in the 70's & 80"s where no one has an advantage on anyone else, and since he was a lineman he is standing with like 12 other linemen in the row, he dwarf's the other guys who are all like 6'5 270. He is at least 3 in and 25-30 lbs bigger than those guys. There are even a couple of guys who are about 6'6 & 285 that he is about 2 in and 15 lbs bigger. Now I can see that a few guys might be a little smaller than listed but not all 15 of them!!. As for Bo Svenson, if you look close there a a couple of scenes in which Matuszak is standing next to Svenson and he does seem to be only about an 1 1/2 inch to 2 inch taller. But Svenson has those big oversized cowboy boots on(Which would bring him up to 6'7+ and John has on just regular dress shoes, even those things up and I wouid say that John was a soild 3 inches taller than Svenson. I also think that Svenson was a big 6'5. 6'5 1/2-3/4 because I saw Snowbeast and he was about the exact same height as Clint Walker!! nuff said.

Kid-Icarus said on 17/Apr/07
Matuszak was listed as 6'8". But he must be 6'7" cause in North Dallas Forty, Bo Svenson who is 6'5" (Not 6'4" or 6'6 1/2) Looked 2 inches shorter than him.

JT said on 2/Jan/07
Saw him in a record store in the mid-1980s. 6'7" is a good estimate. He was maybe 260 lbs. when I saw him.