Lyle Alzado, who relished the limelight as a football player and later an actor, asked that his funeral be small and private.
Alzado's wishes were met and he was buried Friday after a graveside service at which some 50 people attended.Alzado, a two-time All-Pro defensive end who blamed prolonged use of steroids for his terminal brain cancer, died Thursday in the Portland suburb of Lake Oswego, not far from where he was buried. He was 43.
His widow, Kathy, led the procession of mourners to the gravesite. Alzado's 9-year-old son, Justin, did not attend the service. He lives with Alzado's former wife on Long Island, N.Y.
Los Angeles Raiders owner and president Al Davis, for whom Alzado played, was among those bidding farewell to former defensive lineman at a sun-drenched cemetery on a hillside above the Willamette River.
Reporters were not allowed to attend the service.
Sam Boghosian, who was an assistant coach of the Raiders during Alzado's playing days, said he "never met a more intense person, not only on the football field, but off it, too. When he committed himself to something, it was total. That was why I thought that if there was anybody who could beat this problem, it would be Lyle, because of his commitment."
"He was one of the wildest, craziest players who was ever on the field," Boghosian said.
Alzado played 14 seasons in the NFL for Denver, Cleveland and the Raiders.