Sports and Torts: Hall of Famer Jim Taylor

When Vince Lombardi took over the Green Bay coaching reins in 1959, fullback Jim Taylor became the Packers\' bread-and-butter guy. Lombardi depended upon him to get the needed short yardage whether it was for a first down or a touchdown.

Sports and Torts: Hall of Famer Yale Lary

ale Lary was a multi-talented Texas A&M product who was a key cog in Detroit Lions’ fearsome defensive platoon in the 1950s and 1960s.
He is remembered as a superb right safety, one of history’s truly great punters, and a return specialist with breakaway ability on punt returns that set him apart from all the rest.

Jim Taylor

Jim\'s Page at the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Yale Lary

Lary was a superlative defensive back from 1956 to 1964, with time out for a tour of Army duty in 1954-55. Yale Lary also became one of the best punters in the game\'s history upon his return from the service. He was a key contributor for the Lions as they claimed three NFL World Championships in 1952, 1953 and 1957.
Lary played in the defensive backfield alongside Jack Christiansen and Jim David on \"Chris\' Crew\" in the early 1960s, when Detroit was one of the best pro teams of the era. The position he played is known today as free safety - the center fielder of the defensive backfield. He made 50 career interceptions, and only recently (with expanded schedules allowing for more opportunities per season) has Lary been pushed from the top 20 list in NFL career interceptions.
He remains third on the Lions list, and his 787 career return yards is No. 2 in Detroit history behind Lem Barney\'s 1,015. He not only excelled as a safety, but he was an exceptional punter. Lary won punting titles in 1959, 1961 and 1963, missing another one in 1962 by just 3.6 inches. A year he didn\'t win, 1960, Detroit opponents averaged less than one yard per return on his punts. From the end zone, Lary could consistently punt past midfield with enough hang time to let the coverage team get downfield and do its work. According to Paul Hornung in 2004, he was the best punter ever.
Once, Lary had a string of six games and 32 punts with no returns, and he had just four punts blocked out of 503 in his career. Lary also returned kickoffs in 1952-53 and 1956, scored three times on punt returns (longest: 74 yards in 1953), was named All-NFL four times and played in nine Pro Bowls. Lary was also a member of the All-Decade Team of the 1950s. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979.

Yale\'s Page at the Pro football Hall of Fame Website