The estate of Bernie Casey -- a former NFL star turned actor -- is being sued by a woman claiming to be his widow who alleges the 78-year-old violently tackled her to the ground just 1 week before his death.
The woman behind the suit is Cheryl Castillo -- who claims she and Bernie lived together in L.A. as husband and wife ... but things went south during an altercation on Sept. 10th.
According to her lawsuit, Castillo claims she was having an argument with Casey over their cars when he suddenly grabbed her by the arm and tackled her to the ground "as though [she] was a football player.