Lally played collegiate ball for Cornell University and served as team captain.
He was a First-team Selection to the Silver Anniversary All-Ivy Football Team (1971), a Cornell Hall of Fame Inductee (1982) and was selected to the Cornell All-Time Football Team (1887–2003).
He played prep football for Bergen Catholic High School in Oradell, New Jersey, where he was inducted into the Hall of Fame (1991).
He signed with the Southmen where he was the '75 team captain and played MLB with teammates Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick, Paul Warfield, Danny White, and John Huarte for the two years the league existed (1974–1975).
This biographical article relating to an American football linebacker born in the 1950s is a stub.