Yale Lary: Pro Football Hall of Famer and Texas Legislator (1930–2017)

Robert Yale Lary, Pro Football Hall of Famer, businessman, and Texas state legislator, was born on November 24, 1930, to Kathryn (Capps) Lary and Yale Buster Lary in Fort Worth, Texas. Lary, called by his middle name Yale, had no siblings. In his youth he was a member of the Fort Worth Boys Club. Lary graduated from North Side High School in Fort Worth in 1948 and then attended the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (later Texas A&M University) in College Station, where he played football and baseball before graduation in 1952. In 1951 Lary set a Southwest Conference baseball record for doubles, participated in the College World Series, and was a member of the All-Southwest Conference football team. As a student he also played semi-pro baseball with the Alpine Cowboys and the Columbus Redbirds and turned down an offer to sign with the St. Louis Cardinals Major League Baseball club. On January 17, 1952, at the age of twenty-one, Lary was drafted by the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). One week later, on January 24, he married Mary Jane Boothe in Austin, Texas. The couple had two children together, Robert Yale Lary, Jr., in 1958 and Nancy Jane Lary in 1960.

Professional Football Career

Lary played for the Detroit Lions for eleven seasons (1952–53, 1956–64). He played as a safety, punter, and return specialist. He appeared in the Pro Bowl nine times, was named to three All-Pro teams, won three NFL championships, and led the NFL in punting three times. He was voted to the NFL’s All Decade Team of the 1950s and is regarded as one of the best punters in NFL history. Lary missed the 1954 and 1955 football seasons due to his military service. He had received a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps commission while at Texas A&M, and in 1954 he was ordered to Fort Benning in Georgia, where he served for two years as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. For a few years Lary also played minor league baseball during the football off-season. He began in 1953 with the Beaumont Exporters of the Double-A Texas League.

Political Career

In 1958, while still playing for the Lions, Lary launched a campaign to represent District 60, Place 1 (Tarrant County) in the Texas House of Representatives. He defeated incumbent Dixon Holman for the Democratic party nomination in a primary runoff election. He was unopposed in the general election. During Lary’s first term in the legislature, which began on January 13, 1959, he was a member of the House committees on Banks and Banking, Counties, Education, Municipal and Private Corporations, and State Affairs.

In 1960 Lary ran for reelection on a platform of support for teacher pay raises; equal rights for Texas women; a fair auto insurance rating plan; more freeways in Fort Worth; and medical financial protection for needy, aged, disabled, and blind persons; as well as opposition to a general sales tax, a state income tax, and a city car tax. In the Democratic primary Lary won renomination for state representative by defeating Wayne Roberts, an attorney and political novice. In the same race his father, Buster Lary, was defeated by Lon Evans for Tarrant County sheriff. Unlike his son, Buster Lary ran without the support of organized labor.

As a member of the Fifty-seventh Texas Legislature, which commenced on January 10, 1961, Lary served on the House committees on Agriculture, Counties, Enrolled Bills, Labor, Public Printing (of which he was vice chair), and Texas Turnpike Authority Problems. During his first term, his son, Robert Jr., was one of the children of legislators named as a mascot of the House of Representatives for the term of the Fifty-sixth Texas Legislature. In his second term his daughter, Nancy Jane Lary, was similarly honored. The two children were featured in the official composite photographs of House members for their respective legislatures.

Business Career and Honors

Following his second term in the legislature, Lary chose to not run for re-election in the 1962 race. In February 1965 he opened a Ford Motor Company dealership in Hurst with his childhood friend and automotive dealer Bobby Helm. The ground-breaking ceremony featured a helicopter, carrying Lary and Helm, which turned the first load of dirt with a bolted-on shovel. Helm/Lary Ford advertised with the tagline, “Where the Customer is the Quarterback.” During his time as president of the dealership, Lary served as a director of the Hurst-Euless-Bedford Chamber of Commerce. In 1978, after thirteen years in business together, the partners sold the dealership to Sam Lingard. Lary formed an investment company, Yale Lary Investments, with interests in real estate, oil, and natural gas. He also served on the board of directors and as vice president of Mid-Cities National Bank in Hurst until his retirement.

In 1979 the NFL recognized Lary’s career with the Detroit Lions by inducting him into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the Texas A&M Athletic Hall of Fame in 1973, the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 1988, and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1994. In 1981 the Detroit Lions established the annual Yale Lary Special Teams MVP Award.

Lary was an active Scottish Rite Mason and led philanthropic efforts to support the Shriners Hospitals for Children. In 1971 he served as president of the Texas Shriners Association and held the title of Illustrious Potentate of the Moslah Temple Shrine in Fort Worth. Lary was a member of the Christian Church. In retirement, he was an active golf player. Yale Lary died at the age of eighty-six at his home in Fort Worth on May 12, 2017. He was buried at Greenwood Memorial Park in Fort Worth.