Glen Cove's Carl Karilivacz was a member of the last Detroit Lions team to win a title
Lions defensive back Carl Karilivacz tries to beat a block by Packers Hall of Fame tackle Forrest Gregg during an NFL game in Green Bay, Wisc., Sept. 30, 1956. Credit: AP/Vernon Biever
Not all Long Islanders-turned-Lions have found only heartbreak in Detroit. One actually helped bring the city its most recent (relatively speaking) taste of football glory 6 1/2 decades ago.
Carl Karilivacz, a defensive back from Glen Cove, played an integral role on the last two NFL championship teams for the franchise. As a rookie in the 1953 title game, Karilivacz picked off a pass from Browns quarterback Otto Graham with 1:54 remaining to seal a 17-16 victory for the Lions. Four years later, it was Karilivacz’s second-half interception off Y.A. Tittle that helped lead the Lions to a comeback win over the 49ers in the 1957 Western Conference final (the franchise’s last road playoff win, by the way, heading into Sunday’s return to the Bay Area). The Lions routed the Browns a week later, 59-14, for their fourth world championship and Karilivacz’s second.
He nearly had a third the following season when he was traded to the Giants and was on the field for the final play of overtime against the Colts, a touchdown run by Alan Ameche that gave Baltimore the win at Yankee Stadium in what has been dubbed “The Greatest Game Ever Played.” Footage from the end of that game shows fans rushing onto the field and bringing down the goalposts while Karilivacz, wearing 21, walks slowly and dejectedly away from that end zone.
Karilivacz played two more NFL seasons after that, both for the Rams in Los Angeles. He died of a heart attack in 1969 at home in Glen Cove at the age of 38. He is buried at Cemetery of the Holy Rood in Westbury.
There still are some around who remember him personally, though. Marc Martone, 97, grew up in the house next door to Karilivacz on Coles Street and recalled him playing with his younger brother, Joey Martone, who was the same age and died in 2016. “He was a terrific guy, terrific player,” Martone said.
Even when they were growing up playing on the sandlots around town, Ben Farnan, 93, told Newsday that “Kava” — as Karilivacz often was called because it was much easier to pronounce — was always the fastest runner and highest leaper in town. “He was a natural athlete,” Farnan said.
Karilivacz helped Glen Cove High School win the Rutgers Cup as the top team in Nassau County in 1949. He was a split end on offense then and went on to play at Syracuse, where he first converted to defense. He was selected by the Lions in the 23rd round of the 1953 draft.
Karilivacz would come home during his offseasons and play fast-pitch softball in relative anonymity for local bar teams in leagues at Jones Beach and in Brooklyn to keep in shape for his football career, Farnan said.
Because the NFL games were not widely televised and pro football was still far from the juggernaut it is today (the 1958 championship game was the first big push in that direction), any excitement over Karilivacz’s Lions exploits, even in his hometown, was mostly muted. There were no parades, no celebrations, when he came back to Long Island with his championships (although there was some buzz when Bobby Layne rolled into town for Karilivacz’s wedding).
“I would think if you walked down the main street in Glen Cove and asked about the Lions and Carl Karilivacz, they wouldn’t know who the hell you were talking about,” Farnan said. “He probably got more recognition in Detroit than he did in New York at the time.”
Even if his name isn’t immediately recognizable these days, Karilivacz’s spirit lives on in Glen Cove. Every year since his death, the Glen Cove football team has presented “The Kava Award” to the player who most encompasses commitment, team spirit, integrity and discipline.
“He was one of the best players to come out of Glen Cove,” current Glen Cove varsity football coach Steve Tripp said of Karilivacz’s legacy. “For us, each year, the Kava Award recognizes our most outstanding player.”
Named, as it turns out, for one of the Detroit Lions’ most significant ones of all time, too.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
