 Lary on a 1952 Bowman football card | |||||||||||
| No. 28 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Positions | Safety Punter Return specialist | ||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
| Born | (1930-11-24)November 24, 1930 Fort Worth, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Died | May 11, 2017(2017-05-11) (aged 86) Fort Worth, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||||||||
| Weight | 185 lb (84 kg) | ||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||
| High school | North Side(Fort Worth, Texas) | ||||||||||
| College | Texas A&M | ||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1952: 3rd round, 34th overall pick | ||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||
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Robert Yale Lary Sr. (November 24, 1930 – May 11, 2017) was an American professionalfootball player, businessman, and politician. He played for 11 seasons as asafety,punter andreturn specialist for theDetroit Lions of theNational Football League (NFL). He was inducted into thePro Football Hall of Fame in 1979 and was also selected for theNFL 1950s All-Decade Team.
A native ofFort Worth, Texas, Lary playedcollege football for theTexas A&M Aggies from 1949 to 1951 and was selected as a first-teamdefensive back on the1951 All-Southwest Conference football team. He also playedbaseball at Texas A&M, led his team to the1951 College World Series, and set aSouthwest Conference record fordoubles. He was inducted into the Texas A&M Athletic Hall of Fame, theTexas Sports Hall of Fame, and theMichigan Sports Hall of Fame.
Lary played in the NFL with the Lions from 1952 to 1953 and from 1956 to 1964, missing the 1954 and 1955 seasons due to military service as an Army second lieutenant in Korea. He appeared in ninePro Bowl games, and was a first-team All-NFL player five times. He led the NFL in punting three times, and at the time of his retirement in 1964, his 44.3-yard punting average ranked second in NFL history, trailing onlySammy Baugh. He also totaled 50 NFLinterceptions for 787 return yards, both of which ranked fifth in NFL history at the time of his retirement.
Lary was born inFort Worth, Texas, in 1930.[1] He attendedNorth Side High School in Fort Worth, where he was a multi-sport athlete, receiving three letters each in football andbaseball, two intrack and field, and one inbasketball.[2]
Lary enrolled atTexas A&M University, where he playedcollege football for theTexas A&M Aggies football team from 1949 to 1951. On November 29, 1951, in his last college football game, Lary ran 68 yards for a touchdown and caught a 37-yard touchdown pass, both in the third quarter, to leadTexas A&M to its first victory overTexas in 12 years.[3] After the season, he was selected by theAssociated Press as a first-team defensive back on the1951 All-Southwest Conference football team.[4]
Lary also starred in baseball as an outfielder for theTexas A&M baseball team.[5] He set aSouthwest Conference record for doubles and led the 1951 Texas A&M team to theSouthwest Conference co-championship, a 20–9 record, and an appearance in the1951 College World Series.[6]
Lary was selected by theDetroit Lions in the first round of the1952 NFL draft. He signed with the Lions in June 1952,[7] and played his entire NFL career for the Lions as asafety,punter, andreturn specialist.
As a rookie, Lary played all 12 regular-season games in the defensive backfield, intercepting four passes and recovering a fumble. He also returned 16 punts for an 11.4 yard average (including a 58-yard return for a touchdown against theDallas Texans) and 12 kickoffs for a 25.2-yard average.[1] TheLions defeated theCleveland Browns, 17–7, in the1952 NFL Championship Game.
In his second NFL season, Lary intercepted five passes in 11 regular season games,[1] and returned a punt 74 yards for a touchdown against theBaltimore Colts on October 4, 1953.[8] The Lions again defeated the Browns, 17–16, in the1953 NFL Championship Game. Lary was selected to play in the1953 Pro Bowl.[1]
Lary also played professional baseball in the summer during his first few years in the NFL. He had been offered a $20,000 bonus by theSt. Louis Cardinals after his junior season, but he declined the offer and returned for his senior year at Texas A&M.[9] In January 1953, within days after the Lions' NFL championship, Lary signed a contract to play professional baseball for theBeaumont Exporters of theTexas League.[10] He appeared in at least seven games for Beaumont in 1953.[11] Lary again played minor league baseball in the summer of 1953, batting .429 for theLake Charles Lakers and also playing for theMacon Peaches.[11] In 1956, he played for theAustin Senators of theTexas League.[11][12] He concluded his baseball career in 1957, appearing in 24 games for Lake Charles and five games for Austin.[11]
In May 1954, Lary, who had served in theReserve Officers' Training Corps at Texas A&M and was a reserve lieutenant, was ordered to report for duty in theUnited States Army, effective in July.[13][14] Lary was stationed atFort Benning inGeorgia,[15] and missed the 1954 and 1955 seasons due to military service.[16]
In January 1956, Lary signed a contract to return to the Lions after completing his military service in May 1956.[17] Upon returning to the Lions, Lary became a regular in the Pro Bowl, playing in the all-star match every year from 1956 to 1962 and again in 1964.[1] He also received first-team All-NFL honors in five years: 1956 (Associated Press [AP] andThe Sporting News [TSN]); 1957 (TSN,United Press International [UPI],Newspaper Enterprise Association [NEA]); 1958 (AP, UPI, NEA); 1959 (TSN, NEA); and 1962 (AP, UPI, NEA).[1]
During his NFL career, Lary played in Detroit's dominant defensive backfields that also included Hall of Fame inducteesJack Christiansen,Night Train Lane, andDick LeBeau and six-timePro Bowl selecteeJim David, with Hall of FamerJoe Schmidt filling in the gaps at middle linebacker. Playing at the right safety position, Lary ranked second in the NFL with eight interceptions in both 1956 and 1962. During his career, he totaled 50 interceptions, which ranked fifth in NFL history at the time of his retirement (trailing onlyEmlen Tunnell, Night Train Lane,Jack Butler, andBobby Dillon).[18][19] His 50 interception currently ranks third in Detroit Lions history behindDick LeBeau andLem Barney.[20]
Lary was also known for his speed and evasiveness on interception returns. He returned an interception 73 yards for a touchdown in 1956, and his career total of 787 interception return yards ranked fifth in NFL history at the time of his retirement.[21]
In 1957, Lary helped lead the Lions to a third NFL championship in his four years with the team. On October 13, 1957, he intercepted two passes against theLos Angeles Rams, including one which he returned 63 yards to set up the game-winning touchdown.[22] The Lions defeated the Browns, 59–14, in the1957 NFL Championship Game.
From 1959 to 1964, Lary was the most dominant punter in the NFL. He led the league in punting average in 1959 (45 punts for a 47.1 yard average and a long punt of 67 yards), 1961 (52 punts for an average of 48.4 yards and long punt of 71 yards) and 1963 (35 punts for an average of 48.9 yards and a long punt of 73 yards). Lary narrowly missed a fourth punting title in 1964, trailingBobby Walden by one-tenth of a yard (or 3.6 inches) at 46.3 yards per punt.[23] In 1962, he was two-tenths of a yard from the lead,[24] losing the punting title due to a single blocked punt.[25] Over the course of his 11-year NFL career, he punted 503 times for 22,279 yards for an average of 44.3 yards.[1] His 48.9 yard average in 1963 was the second highest single-season total in NFL history, trailing onlySammy Baugh's 51.3 yard average in 1940.[26] At the time of his retirement in 1964, Lary's 44.3 yard career punting average ranked second in NFL history, trailing onlySammy Baugh.[27][28]
In addition to the length of his punts, Lary was also known for thehang time on his punts and once had a string of six games and 32 punts with no returns.[29] TeammateJoe Schmidt later recalled, "Kicking from the end zone, Yale invariably put the ball across midfield with enough hang time to let us cover the kick. He made our defense look good because he always gave us room to work."[30]
In 1992, sports writer Jack Saylor rated Lary as the second best punter in NFL history.[31]Paul Hornung went further, saying in 2004 that Lary was the best punter ever.[29]
Lary also handled punt returns for the Lions. He returned three punts for touchdowns and was among the NFL leaders in punt return yardage and yards per return in 1952, 1953, 1957, and 1958.[1] He had the NFL's longest punt return in 1957 at 71 yards.[1]
In July 1965, Lary announced that he was retiring from football. He said at the time that "it's too much to move my wife and kids twice a year. It's not fair to them."[19]
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Won theNFL championship | |
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Punting | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Punts | Yds | Lng | Avg | Blk | ||
| 1952 | DET | 12 | 5 | 181 | 43 | 36.2 | 0 |
| 1953 | DET | 11 | 28 | 1,112 | 61 | 39.7 | 0 |
| 1956 | DET | 12 | 42 | 1,698 | 41 | 40.4 | 0 |
| 1957 | DET | 12 | 54 | 2,156 | 66 | 39.9 | 0 |
| 1958 | DET | 12 | 59 | 2,524 | 62 | 42.8 | 1 |
| 1959 | DET | 10 | 45 | 2,121 | 67 | 47.1 | 0 |
| 1960 | DET | 12 | 64 | 2,802 | 63 | 43.8 | 2 |
| 1961 | DET | 14 | 52 | 2,519 | 71 | 48.4 | 0 |
| 1962 | DET | 14 | 52 | 2,354 | 68 | 45.3 | 1 |
| 1963 | DET | 10 | 35 | 1,713 | 73 | 48.9 | 0 |
| 1964 | DET | 14 | 67 | 3,099 | 73 | 46.3 | 0 |
| Career | 133 | 503 | 22,279 | 73 | 44.3 | 4 | |
| Year | Team | Punting | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Punts | Yds | Lng | Avg | Blk | ||
| 1953 | DET | 1 | 4 | 197 | 72 | 49.3 | 0 |
| 1957 | DET | 2 | 8 | 318 | 50 | 39.8 | 0 |
| Career | 3 | 12 | 515 | 72 | 42.9 | 0 | |
Lary and his wife, Mary Jane, were married in 1952. They had two children: Yale Jr., and Nancy Jane. Followed by four grandchildren Tara, and Tori Mathews[32] Yale III, and Erin Lary.
Even before retiring from the NFL, Lary served in theTexas House of Representatives, as aDemocrat, from 1959 to 1963.[33][9][34] In February 1965, he also broke ground on aFord Motor Company dealership in Fort Worth to be owned by Lary and a childhood friend.[35] He operated the automobile dealership for nearly a decade.[9] He later formed an investment company with interests in real estate, oil and gas leases, and oil and natural gas production.[19][28] He died on May 11, 2017, at the age of 86.[36][37]
Lary has received numerous honors and awards since retiring from football. These include:
Media related toYale Lary at Wikimedia Commons