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GARO YEPREMIAN
He was a 5'7" Armenian immigrant who had never seen a football game, let alone played in one. But that didn't stop him from kicking off for the Detroit Lions. His teammates had to help him into his uniform because as a soccer player in Cyprus he didn't wear pads or a helmet.
The rest is well known. Garo Yepremian played for the Detroit Lions, the Miami Dolphins, the New Orleans Saints and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His accomplishments in NFL competition are known to football fans everywhere. From 1966 through 1981 he missed only one season: 1969, during which he proudly served with the US Army, and gained his American citizenship.
The first time he ever saw a football game was in the game he played - in the NFL - against the Baltimore Colts! Naturally, there were many humorous and uncertain moments in his fifteen-year career. Through it all, he persevered and in the process broke almost every NFL kicking record in the books.
Garo left the game in 1981 having already too long denied his nagging injuries, "when you're a kicker nobody backs you up, so you don't get the opportunity to heal like some of the other players." He remains one of the top scorers in NFL history and is among the top percentage-rated kickers for field goal kicking accuracy.
He was Garo Yepremian. He still is. But now he comes without the helmet, without the pads, to tell what it's like to turn adversity into enormous success.
With appropriate humor (always in good taste), obvious sincerity, and unbridled love for the American way, he speaks of the game, of the players, of the starring moments, and the pain that suddenly says "it's over" - or is it?
Garo Yepremian was, and remains, an inspired man who truly understands that regardless of physical stature or social situation, anyone can dare to be the best. His delivery is warm, his message is clear, and his invitation is to all men and women to strive for excellence.
You will laugh, you will find cause to reflect on your own commitment to excellence, and you will come away with a renewed confidence in yourself as an individual and as a member of a team.
Garo Yepremian is an unusual man. He made it against incredible odds. When he's done speaking, you'll know you can too.
Today, Garo lives in Pennsylvania with his wife Maritza and their two sons, Garo Jr. and Azad.
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865.388.5296
