Before They Were Stars: Tommy Lee Jones Plays Football for Harvard in 1968

In 1968, Tommy Lee Jones was attending Harvard and became an offensive guard on their varsity football team and also happened to participate in one of the most famous football games of all time. On November 23, Harvard and their hated rival, Yale, were both undefeated and closed out the season by playing each other. During the final 42 seconds, Harvard was down 29-13 until they pulled a miraculous comeback and scored 16 points to tie the game. Even though the game technically ended in a tie, the story was accompanied by an iconic headline in Harvard’s student newspaper: “Harvard Beats Yale, 29-29”. Anyway, even though it’s tough to see him in this footage, look for Tommy Lee Jones as the guy in the red uniform wearing #61. Jones even appeared in the documentary, Harvard Beats Yale 29-29, to recount his experiences playing in the famous game.