Aggie Legend and NFL Hall of Famer Yale Lary passes away at 86

Yale Lary, class of '52 and an Aggie legend on the gridiron and the baseball diamond, has passed away at the age of 86.

During his time at Texas A&M, Lary was a two-sport athlete who lettered in both football and baseball. In 1951, Lary led the football team to a victory over over the Texas Longhorns, scoring two touchdowns in the game to snap a 12-year losing streak against the Aggies' in-state rivals. After the season, he was selected to the Associated Press All-Southwest Conference team.

Earlier that year, he excelled for the Aggies on the diamond, setting a record for doubles in the Southwest Conference, and helped lead A&M to a co-Southwest Conference Championship with a record of 20-9. Yale Lary and the 1951 baseball squad also made the team's first ever run to the College World Series.

Lary was drafted by the Detroit Lions with the 34th pick of the 1952 NFL Draft, and he won an NFL Championship during his rookie season with the Lions. After two years in the NFL, Lary left the Lions for two seasons to serve as a lieutenant in the United States Army at Fort Benning, Georgia.

After his two years of service, he returned to the NFL and went on to have an exceptional, 11-year career. Upon retirement from the NFL, Lary was named to the NFL All-decade team for the 1950’s and was inducted into the Texas A&M Athletic Hall of Fame in 1979. He also became the first ever Aggie inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979.

Lary also was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1958 and 1960. In 1965, he opened a Ford dealership in Ft. Worth that he owned and operated for almost a decade.

Last year, the Association of Former Students paid a visit to Yale after learning that he had worn out all his A&M shirts.



You can read the Pro Football Hall of Fame's full biography of Yale Lary by here.