He played as a back for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team from 1956 to 1958 and was selected by the Associated Press as a first-team player on the 1958 All-America Team.
[2][3] He finished sixth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy in 1958,[4] and he rushed for 2,073 yards and scored 204 points during his college football career at Rutgers.
[5] Austin also played lacrosse at Rutgers, earning honorable mention All-American accolades in 1958 and 1959.
He was selected by the Washington Redskins in the 28th round (329th overall) of the 1959 NFL draft.
[6] A resident of Camarillo, California who spent most of his professional career as an executive of a number of bicycle manufacturers, Austin grew up in Fanwood, New Jersey and played football at Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School, graduating in 1955.