Former star player with the Los Angeles Rams during the 1960s, this impressively built African-American athlete broke into acting via appearances in TV shows including _"The Man from U.N.C.L.E." . He became an ordained minister in 1983, and has continued to champion the causes of those less fortunate, and to guide inner city teens from poor backgrounds.
Brawling L. A. Rams football player, guitar-strumming folk singer, and expert at the art of macram.
He and Olympic Gold Medal Winner Rafer Johnson helped capture and detain Robert F. Kennedy s assassin Sirhan Sirhan June 6, 1968; Grier placed his sizable thumb behind the trigger of Sirhans gun to prevent him from firing the weapon at anyone else in the crowd.
Cousin of actress Pam Grier , Rodney Grier and Gina Grier-Townsie.
The seventh of 11 children, he was named after President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Named All-Pro twice while with the L. A. Rams.
A torn Achilles tendon effectively ended his football career during the 1967-1968 season.
Became an ordained minister in 1983 and founded an inner city teen resource center the following year.
He turned Republican and supported the "religious right" and the Moral Majority led by Jerry Falwell.
Counseled and ministered fellow pro-baller O.J. Simpson while Simpson was in prison. Oddly, the two had never met before. Simpsons football career began just as Griers ended.
One of his hobbies is needlepoint.
Along with Merlin Olsen , Lamar Lundy and Deacon Jones , formed the "Fearsome Foursome" of the L.A. Rams.
Has a son Roosevelt Kennedy Grier born on November 19, 1971 in Los Angeles, California.
He was nominated for the 2012 New Jersey Hall of Fame for his contributions to Sports.
He was nominated for a 2013 New Jersey Hall of Fame for Sports.
He was nominated for the 2015 New Jersey Hall of Fame for his services in sports.
The June 30, 1971, issue of Variety, in the Hollywood Production Pulse section, lists a movie "S. R. O." directed by Jerry Schafer for Hollywood International Pictures with actors Rory Calhoun , Ruth Roman ,Roosevelt Grier , James Mitchum , Tom Bosley , Jesse White ,John Fiedler , and Percy Helton. which started filming Jun 14, 1971, in Dallas. No evidence the movie was completed or released.
He was inducted into the 2016 New Jersey Hall of Fame in the Sports category.
Before becoming a comic-foil as "Benji" on "Movin On" , he played "Fats", a loading dock manager with a time-clock where his heart should have been in "Movin On" {Fraud #1.18} ) .
Grier also has a daughter from an earlier relationship, Sherryl Tubbs of New Jersey.
