There, he began to display his ample work ethic by unloading flowers for 25 cents an hour, and later serving as an usher at football games for double that amount.

His senior campaign nearly ended in an abrupt fashion in 1947, when he and some Bruin teammates were investigated for posing in local advertisements for a Los Angeles clothing store.

[citation needed] This job had been one of many provided by school boosters, and included a brief bit as a pilot in the Humphrey Bogart film Action in the North Atlantic.

The record would be short-lived as he increased that mark to 84 during the 1950 season, including a then-record 18 catches in one game against the Green Bay Packers on November 12.

He also helped the team advance to the NFL title game with a trio of touchdown receptions in the divisional playoff against the Chicago Bears, winning All-Pro accolades for the second consecutive year.

After bouncing back in 1952 with 48 receptions for 600 yards and six scores, the beginning of the end of his career began after he fractured two vertebrae in an October 18, 1953 game against the Detroit Lions.

He was a contestant on the national radio program You Bet Your Life hosted by Groucho Marx in an episode that aired on December 7, 1955, and also included calypso singer Sir Lancelot.

Business conflicts back in California caused him to leave the position at midseason, but Fears resumed his coaching career the following year with the Rams under former teammate Bob Waterfield.

Fears applied for the head-coaching job with the St. Louis Cardinals (football) after the 1965 NFL season, but after not being chosen, he joined fellow Packer assistant Norb Hecker, who had been named head coach of the expansion Atlanta Falcons.

In the first game of the 1966 regular season, Fears caused controversy when he accused Rams coach George Allen of attempting to garner inside information on the team from a player who had been cut, charges that were never proven.

Roberts was hired as Fears's successor, and in his first game, Tom Dempsey kicked an NFL-record 63-yard field goal to give the Saints a 19–17 victory over the Detroit Lions, New Orleans's only other win of 1970.

After spending 1973 off the gridiron, Fears was named head coach of the fledgling World Football League's Southern California Sun on January 14, 1974.

The two roles came together in controversial fashion when Fears began working on the production of North Dallas Forty, a film that took a look at the sordid side of the professional game.