ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) — Ben Davidson, the hulking defensive end who starred for the Oakland Raiders in the 1960s before becoming a television pitchman, died Monday night. He was 72.

Davidson was being treated for prostate cancer. The former Raiders coach John Madden first reported Davidson’s death on Tuesday on KCBS radio in San Francisco.

Davidson spent 11 years in professional football, starting with the Green Bay Packers and the Washington Redskins in the N.F.L. before joining the Raiders in the American Football League in 1964.

That was where the 6-foot-8 Davidson became famous. With his distinctive handlebar mustache, raspy voice and physical play, Davidson helped personify Al Davis’s renegade Raiders on the 1960s.

“He was a tough, gutsy ballplayer, team-oriented with enough meanness in him to be feared and enough talent to be effective,” his former Raiders teammate Tom Flores said.

Davidson played in the second Super Bowl for Oakland after the 1967 season and then was on the team that lost the conference title game the next three seasons.

One of Davidson’s most memorable plays came on Nov. 1, 1970, against Kansas City. The Raiders trailed by 17-14 late in the fourth quarter when Chiefs quarterback Len Dawson ran for a first down to seemingly seal the win.

As Dawson was on the ground, Davidson dived into him with his helmet. In a rage, Chiefs wide receiver Otis Taylor jumped on Davidson, and a brawl ensued.

“Their attitude was, if you’ve got a shot at the quarterback, take it,” Dawson said in 2010.

The play was negated by offsetting penalties, and the Chiefs eventually had to punt. Oakland tied the game on a field goal by George Blanda with eight seconds remaining, and that proved to be the difference in the A.F.C. West race. The Raiders won the division with a record of 8-4-2; the Chiefs missed the playoffs at 7-5-2.

Davidson did not play football until going to East Los Angeles Community College. He went from there to the University of Washington, where he helped the Huskies win Rose Bowls in 1960 and ’61.

He was taken in the fourth round of the 1961 draft by the Giants, but he played his rookie season with Green Bay, winning the N.F.L. championship with the Packers in 1961.

He then spent two years in Washington before joining the Raiders in Davis’s second season as the coach. He spent eight seasons with the Raiders. He was a second-team Associated Press All-A.F.L. selection in 1965 and a first-teamer in 1967.

“He was just a big, tall, skinny guy that Davis took a chance with,” Flores said. “He was able to rush the passer and worked hard to get bigger and stronger, with the character and personality. He was always that way.”

After his playing career, Davidson became an actor with roles in films like “MAS*H,” “Conan the Barbarian” and “Necessary Roughness,” and he played himself in Miller Lite advertisements.

Davidson is survived by his wife, Kathy, and daughters Jan, Dana and Vicki.

Ben E Davidson