A Member of The NFL's Fiercest D-Line Was Also RFK's Bodyguard

Rosey Grier (if you are unfamiliar) was a former member of the original 'Fearsome Foursome' of the Los Angeles Rams, along with Deacon Jones, Merlin Olsen, and Lamar Lundy. It was considered one of the best defensive lines ever put together in football history. He was originally drafted 31st overall in 1955 by the New York Giants, where he played until he was traded to the L.A. Rams in 1963.

After Grier's professional sports career, he worked as a bodyguard for Senator Robert Kennedy during the 1968 presidential campaign. Grier was guarding Ethel Kennedy when Senator Kennedy was shot on June 6, 1968 at Good Samaritan Hospital, in Los Angeles, CA. Although unable to prevent the assassination, Grier took control of the gun and subdued the shooter, Sirhan Sirhan. 

Sirhan Sirhan is still alive today, and is serving a life sentence at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego County, California.

Pamela Grier (Rosey's cousin, born May 26, 1949) achieved fame for her roles in the 1970s as a blaxploitation actress in films for American International Pictures and New World Pictures, most notably Coffy (1973) and Foxy Brown (1974). Her other films during this period include The Big Doll House (1971), The Big Bird Cage (1972). 

Grier met comedian Richard Pryor through her relationship with Freddie Prinze (another story) but they did not begin dating until they were both cast in the film 'Greased Lightning.' (1977, The true life story of Wendell Scott, the first black stock car racing driver to win an upper tier NASCAR race.) 

In her memoir, Grier revealed her sexual relationship with Pryor caused cocaine to enter her system. During an appointment, she was informed that she had a "buildup of cocaine residue" around her cervix and vagina which her doctor called an "epidemic" in Beverly Hills.

Download Now & Listen