He played college football as a halfback for the Princeton Tigers from 1949 through 1951 and was the winner of the 1951 Heisman Trophy,[1][2] the Maxwell Award, and the AP Male Athlete of the Year.

[4] A halfback, kicker, and quarterback at Princeton University, Kazmaier ended his career third all-time in Tigers' history with over 4,000 yards of offense and 55 touchdowns.

[7] The Chicago Bears selected him in the 1952 NFL draft, but he declined to play pro football, instead going to Harvard Business School.

After spending three years in the U.S. Navy (1955–1957) and attaining the rank of lieutenant, he founded Kazmaier Associated Inc, an investment firm in Concord, Massachusetts.

His daughter, the late Patty Kazmaier-Sandt, was an All-Ivy member of the Princeton women's ice hockey team who died in 1990 at the age of 28 from a rare blood disease.