Biography
Born in Cuthbert, Georgia, on July 14, 1932, Roosevelt Grier—widely called Rosey—has pursued an unusually varied path that has taken him through high-school and collegiate football at Penn State University, professional play with the New York Giants and Los Angeles Rams as a member of the storied Fearsome Foursome, work as a recording artist and songwriter, appearances on both the large and small screen, a turn in politics, and, in later years, the ministry.
After excelling at Penn State, Grier anchored the right tackle position for the Giants between 1955 and 1962; the club dealt him to Los Angeles in 1963, thereby completing the defensive front that became known throughout football as the Fearsome Foursome alongside Deacon Jones, Merlin Olson, and Lamar Lundy. Tipping the scales at no less than 300 pounds—the Giants’ equipment could register no higher—he possessed the lateral quickness to pursue plays from one sideline to the other. Despite his imposing frame, Grier cultivated a reputation as a gentle giant whose off-field pastime was needlepoint and who sought to bring opponents down without inflicting injury. Those same traits—his weight and affable nature—have kept him from induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
He first entered a recording studio while still a Giant, cutting the 1960 singles “Sincerely” and “Moonlight in Vermont” for A Records. Over the ensuing years he issued 45s on Spindle, Battle, Ric, Youngstown, and twice on Liberty, yet none reached the charts and football continued to supply his primary livelihood. The most collectible of his early sides proved to be the regional favorite “Pizza Pie Man,” released on Detroit’s D-Town label in 1966; an album he recorded for Ric, titled Soul City, pairs the singles “Fool, Fool, Fool” and “In My Tenement” and now commands at least eighty-five dollars in top condition.
Securing a contract with MGM Records, Grier released two 1967 singles—one of them the self-penned “Slow Drag,” the other a revival of Ben E. King’s “Spanish Harlem.” He retired from the NFL that same year. Turning his attention fully to music and acting, he moved to Amy Records and issued three singles across 1967–1968: the gridiron-themed “Who’s Got the Ball (Y’all),” another original titled “High Society Woman,” and “Hard to Forget.”
Scattered releases followed on AGP (“Bad News”), ABC (“Rat Race”), and United Artists (“Bring Back the Time”) before a two-album stint with A&M Records that yielded the further non-charting sides “Beautiful People” in 1973 and “If You Hit on a Good Lick, Lay on It” in 1974. Final outings on Bell and 20th Century Records brought to a close a twenty-five-single career spread across fourteen labels and marked only by modest regional success. Throughout the period Grier composed more than twenty songs, several of which he recorded; on a number of them he collaborated with the prolific writer Clyde Otis.
His acting career began while he was still with the Rams, most notably in the recurring television role of Gabe Cooper on the Daniel Boone series that ran from 1964 to 1970. Motion-picture credits include Skyjacked, Evil in the Deep, Black Brigade, The Glove: Lethal Terminator, Magnum Force, Oh God, The Longest Day, Mr. Kingstreet’s War, Black Shampoo, Roots, The Three Mousekateers, The Son of Monte Cristo, Two-Laned Blacktop, Assault on Princent 13, Double Nickles, and The Executioner.
Today an ordained minister, Grier remains best remembered for the night of June 5, 1968, when he helped subdue Sirhan Sirhan after the gunman had mortally wounded Senator Robert Kennedy.
After excelling at Penn State, Grier anchored the right tackle position for the Giants between 1955 and 1962; the club dealt him to Los Angeles in 1963, thereby completing the defensive front that became known throughout football as the Fearsome Foursome alongside Deacon Jones, Merlin Olson, and Lamar Lundy. Tipping the scales at no less than 300 pounds—the Giants’ equipment could register no higher—he possessed the lateral quickness to pursue plays from one sideline to the other. Despite his imposing frame, Grier cultivated a reputation as a gentle giant whose off-field pastime was needlepoint and who sought to bring opponents down without inflicting injury. Those same traits—his weight and affable nature—have kept him from induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
He first entered a recording studio while still a Giant, cutting the 1960 singles “Sincerely” and “Moonlight in Vermont” for A Records. Over the ensuing years he issued 45s on Spindle, Battle, Ric, Youngstown, and twice on Liberty, yet none reached the charts and football continued to supply his primary livelihood. The most collectible of his early sides proved to be the regional favorite “Pizza Pie Man,” released on Detroit’s D-Town label in 1966; an album he recorded for Ric, titled Soul City, pairs the singles “Fool, Fool, Fool” and “In My Tenement” and now commands at least eighty-five dollars in top condition.
Securing a contract with MGM Records, Grier released two 1967 singles—one of them the self-penned “Slow Drag,” the other a revival of Ben E. King’s “Spanish Harlem.” He retired from the NFL that same year. Turning his attention fully to music and acting, he moved to Amy Records and issued three singles across 1967–1968: the gridiron-themed “Who’s Got the Ball (Y’all),” another original titled “High Society Woman,” and “Hard to Forget.”
Scattered releases followed on AGP (“Bad News”), ABC (“Rat Race”), and United Artists (“Bring Back the Time”) before a two-album stint with A&M Records that yielded the further non-charting sides “Beautiful People” in 1973 and “If You Hit on a Good Lick, Lay on It” in 1974. Final outings on Bell and 20th Century Records brought to a close a twenty-five-single career spread across fourteen labels and marked only by modest regional success. Throughout the period Grier composed more than twenty songs, several of which he recorded; on a number of them he collaborated with the prolific writer Clyde Otis.
His acting career began while he was still with the Rams, most notably in the recurring television role of Gabe Cooper on the Daniel Boone series that ran from 1964 to 1970. Motion-picture credits include Skyjacked, Evil in the Deep, Black Brigade, The Glove: Lethal Terminator, Magnum Force, Oh God, The Longest Day, Mr. Kingstreet’s War, Black Shampoo, Roots, The Three Mousekateers, The Son of Monte Cristo, Two-Laned Blacktop, Assault on Princent 13, Double Nickles, and The Executioner.
Today an ordained minister, Grier remains best remembered for the night of June 5, 1968, when he helped subdue Sirhan Sirhan after the gunman had mortally wounded Senator Robert Kennedy.
Albums
