Yale Lary

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Yale Lary
Date of birth	November 29, 1930 (age 76)
Place of birth	Fort Worth, Texas
Position(s)	Defensive back, Punter
College	Texas A&M
NFL Draft	1952 / Round 3/ Pick 34
Career Highlights
Pro Bowls	9
Honors	NFL 1950s All-Decade Team
Stats
Statistics	Pro Football Reference DatabaseFootball
Team(s)
1952-1964	Detroit Lions
Pro Football Hall of Fame, 1979

Robert Yale Lary (born November 24, 1930 in Fort Worth, Texas) was a football player.

He played attended Texas A&M University where he was a standout in football and baseball, and was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the third round in 1952. He would help lead the Lions to three NFL championships.

He played right safety, a position which gradually became free safety, for the Lions from 1952 to 1964. He had 50 career interceptions, an outstanding figure for that era. He was a Pro Bowl selection for nine years. He also returned kickoffs in 1952, 1953, and 1956. He missed the 1954-1955 seasons for military service.

He was also an outstanding punter, winning punting titles in 1959, 1961. and 1963. He was noted for hang time, and in 1960 opponents averaged returns of less than one yard per punt. His career average was 43 yards per punt, in 503 attempts. According to Paul Hornung in 2004 he was the best punter ever.

He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979.