When Mike Douglass strapped on a helmet for the Green Bay Packers, his tenacity earned him the nickname "Mad Dog."
Nearly a dozen years since his retirement from pro football, Douglass is still relying on that tenacious nature in a competitive arena. The former Green Bay linebacker is a professional body builder.
"I've been competing now since 1986 and I've probably won about 25 national body building shows," Douglass said. "The shows have zero tolerance for steroids so everybody's drug-free."
Douglass, who lives in San Diego, recently won the California body building title for the fifth year in a row. And if Douglass isn't actually competing, he's helping others stay fit, be it through personal training or his own fitness segment on television.
"I train a lot of guys for body building, but I also work with a lot of professional athletes to help them prepare for the season - weight loss, strength, speed work," he said. "And I do a fitness segment for (the) CBS (affiliate) back in San Diego.
"I compete in body building, I teach aerobics, I do everything."
Douglass -- who had 193 tackles and 32 sacks in two seasons at San Diego State -- was the first of two fifth-round selections by the Packers in the 1978 draft, the same draft that produced James Lofton and John Anderson. Douglass immediately won a starting role at outside linebacker, one that he failed to relinquish in his seven years with the Packers.
Douglass had a career-high 146 tackles in 1981, when he was named defensive most valuable player by the Wisconsin sports media for the second consecutive year. That total of 146 stops is second-best in club annals, trailing only Rich Wingo, who had 151 tackles in 1979. In 1983, Douglass made 127 tackles, forced four fumbles and recovered four, returning two of them for touchdowns.
In eight Packer seasons, Douglass paced the Green and Gold in tackles three times. Douglass also picked off 11 passes as a Packer, returning one 80 yards for a score at Detroit in his final season in Green Bay.
Douglass returned to Lambeau Field as the honorary captain for the Packers-Rams game on Nov. 9 of this season.
"It's awesome," he said of the atmosphere at Lambeau. "I've been to a lot of stadiums and different cities, but no where that I've been is it like this. It makes it special."
GREEN BAY PACKERS SEASON RESULTS (1978-85)
1978: 8-7-1 (2nd, NFC Central)
1979: 5-11 (4th, NFC Central)
1980: 5-10-1 (T-4th, NFC Central)
1981: 8-8 (T-2nd, NFC Central)
1982: 5-3-1 (3rd, NFC)
1983: 8-8 (T-2nd, NFC Central)
1984: 8-8 (2nd, NFC Central)
1985: 8-8 (2nd, NFC Central)
