Detroit Lions: 30 greatest players in franchise history
50. . Safety, Punter, Return Specialist. (1952-1953, 1956-1964). Yale Lary. 14. player
Yale Lary missed both the 1954 and 1955 seasons as a result of his military service in the U.S. Army, and that’s what intrigues me the most about his hall of fame career.
The fact that he was able to be an All-Pro/Pro Bowl player a year before his stint in the service, miss two full seasons and then come back to playing professional football at the same caliber as before, if not even better, absolutely boggles my mind.
Not many players from any era would be capable of such a feat and it speaks as much to Lary’s incredible talent as it does to his commitment to excellence.
The nine-time Pro Bowler and the three-time NFL champion finished with 50 career interceptions in 133 games played for Detroit. Though he never had double-digit interceptions in any year of his career, he was a consistent performer as he had at least two picks each year as a pro.
The value of punters being able to flip the field position battle in their team’s favor is something that has always been often overlooked in the game of football, but Lary was often called upon to do just that for his team.
Offenses weren’t quite as high-scoring in the 1950s and 1960s as they are today. With 503 career punts, Lary was successful more often than not in flipping the field. His longest two punts went for 71 and 73 yards, respectively. For his career, he was able to punt for well over 22,000 yards, as he averaged 44.3 yards per kick.
After an extremely well-decorated career, the Texas A&M standout was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979.