Roger Staubach is a Hall of Fame NFL quarterback and current executive chairman of Jones Lang LaSalle, and he has accumulated a net worth of $600 million. Although he is most famous for his football career, Staubach has done quite well for himself within the business industry due to Jones Lang LaSalle, his professional services and investment management company, which specializes in real estate. Despite being such a recognizable and revered public figure, Roger Staubach still has some facts about him that aren’t as well-known as others. Here are five things you didn’t know about Roger Staubach.
He’s colorblind.
When Staubach was a junior at the Naval Academy, his color blindness was detected. His diagnosis led to Staubach becoming the Naval Academy’s first ever graduate to be commissioned directly into the Supply Corps. In the Supply Corps, Staubach did not need to differentiate between red (port) and green (starboard) lights or recognize color differences in the electrical circuity. Therefore, his color blindness did not impair his performance in any way.
He volunteered to serve in Vietnam.
Many men were drafter to go fight in Vietnam but Roger Staubach volunteered to serve there. When he graduated from the Naval Academy, Staubach could have requested to be stationed somewhere in the United States. However, he instead chose to go to Vietnam, where he acted as as a Supply Corps officer for the Navy at the Chu Lai base and port, which provided aid and relief for Da Nang Air Base approximately 50 miles to the northwest, until 1967. While being stationed at Chu Lai in Vietnam, Staubach commanded 41 enlisted men.
He’s involved with NASCAR.
Even though Staubach is most famous for his football career, he actually is involved with NASCAR presently, partially owning Hall of Fame Racing, a NASCAR Nextel Cup team. A fellow former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and now NFL announcer, Troy Aikman, jointly owns the team with Staubach. The team began racing in 2006.
People want him to run for political office.
Unknown to some, Roger Staubach is actually a conservative Republican who raised money and encouraged fundraising for others for John McCain’s campaign back in 2008. However, what’s most interesting about Staubach with regard to politics, is how often he is mentioned as a possible candidate for office. In fact, Staubach was even asked to run for the United States Senate once but declined. That doesn’t mean that all his family members aren’t politicians, though. Staubach’s daughter, Jennifer Staubach Gates, is a member of the city council in North Dallas’s 13th District.
He’s the inventor of the “Hail Mary.”
While I’m sure this is probably the most known fact on this list, I still had to put it on here for just how impressive and interesting it is. Staubach is the creator of the “Hail Mary” pass, after his 50-yard game-winning touchdown pass to wide receiver Drew Pearson in a 1975 playoff game, which he threw with only seconds on the clock. After the game, Staubach joked with reporters, saying that he prayed a Hail Mary after he had let the ball out of his hand. Since that game, any big, last second, game-winning touchdown pass attempt is called a Hail Mary.
Photo by Mychal Watts/NFLPhotoLibrary for ON 3 PRODUCTIONS
