Galloping Ghost
06-25-2009, 06:45 PM
According to his wikipedia page, Lee Majors was offered a tryout with the St Louis Cardinals which he turned down. But he had a brief stint with the Boston Patriots. I've checked pro-football-reference.com and I couldn't find any Lee Majors or Harvey Lee Yeary (Majors' original name) that played for the Boston Patriots.
Majors was born on April 23, 1939 as Harvey Lee Yeary in the Detroit suburb of Wyandotte, Michigan. He was the only child of Carl Yeary, who was killed in a work-related accident, and Alice Yeary, who was killed in a car accident. In 1941, when Yeary was two, he was adopted by an uncle and aunt, Harvey & Mildred Yeary, and moved with them to Middlesboro, Kentucky, where they already had another son, Bill.
Since his adoptive older brother had been a football star in school, Yeary tirelessly committed himself to the sport. While a student at Middlesboro High School, he participated in sports, from track to football. He graduated in 1957, and earned a scholarship to Indiana University, where he competed in more sports. Yeary left IU in 1959 and transferred to Eastern Kentucky State College in Richmond, Kentucky after he got into a fight at a fraternity house. He played in his first game the following year, but suffered a severe back injury which left him paralyzed for two weeks, and ended his college football career.
He then turned his attention to acting and performed in plays at the Pioneer Playhouse in Danville, Kentucky. Yeary graduated from Eastern in 1962 with a degree in History and Physical Education.
After graduating, he received an offer to try out for the St. Louis Cardinals football team; however, he turned it down and moved to Los Angeles and found work at the Los Angeles Park and Recreation Department as the Recreation Director for North Hollywood Park. This was after a brief stint playing for the new football franchise Boston Patriots as a safety. There, Yeary met many actors and industry professionals, including Dick Clayton, who had been James Dean's agent. Clayton suggested he attend his acting school. It took one year of studying in order for Clayton to help the newly christened Lee Majors start his career. Lee also studied at Estelle Harmon's acting school at MGM. At 25, Majors landed his first role in Strait-Jacket (1964), which starred Joan Crawford.
Majors chose his stage surname because of his childhood hero Johnny Majors who was a runner up for the Heisman Trophy at the University of Tennessee and was later the head football coach.
Majors was born on April 23, 1939 as Harvey Lee Yeary in the Detroit suburb of Wyandotte, Michigan. He was the only child of Carl Yeary, who was killed in a work-related accident, and Alice Yeary, who was killed in a car accident. In 1941, when Yeary was two, he was adopted by an uncle and aunt, Harvey & Mildred Yeary, and moved with them to Middlesboro, Kentucky, where they already had another son, Bill.
Since his adoptive older brother had been a football star in school, Yeary tirelessly committed himself to the sport. While a student at Middlesboro High School, he participated in sports, from track to football. He graduated in 1957, and earned a scholarship to Indiana University, where he competed in more sports. Yeary left IU in 1959 and transferred to Eastern Kentucky State College in Richmond, Kentucky after he got into a fight at a fraternity house. He played in his first game the following year, but suffered a severe back injury which left him paralyzed for two weeks, and ended his college football career.
He then turned his attention to acting and performed in plays at the Pioneer Playhouse in Danville, Kentucky. Yeary graduated from Eastern in 1962 with a degree in History and Physical Education.
After graduating, he received an offer to try out for the St. Louis Cardinals football team; however, he turned it down and moved to Los Angeles and found work at the Los Angeles Park and Recreation Department as the Recreation Director for North Hollywood Park. This was after a brief stint playing for the new football franchise Boston Patriots as a safety. There, Yeary met many actors and industry professionals, including Dick Clayton, who had been James Dean's agent. Clayton suggested he attend his acting school. It took one year of studying in order for Clayton to help the newly christened Lee Majors start his career. Lee also studied at Estelle Harmon's acting school at MGM. At 25, Majors landed his first role in Strait-Jacket (1964), which starred Joan Crawford.
Majors chose his stage surname because of his childhood hero Johnny Majors who was a runner up for the Heisman Trophy at the University of Tennessee and was later the head football coach.