Oscar winner Jones discusses sports during Harvard talk

CAMBRIDGE – Mention the name Tommy Lee Jones and you might think of Assistant Marshal Gerard in “The Fugitive” ? or Agent K in “Men in Black.”Well, Jones’ list of roles also includes the real-life role of an athlete, as revealed in his talk with fellow actor John Lithgow at Harvard on Thursday.A Class of 1969 graduate whose roommate was future vice president/presidential candidate Al Gore, Jones played football for the Crimson. He was an offensive tackle on the 1968 team that rallied from a 16-point deficit to tie rival Yale, 29-29, in the final game of the season.”It felt pretty good because we were undefeated my senior year,” Jones said.The 1968 Harvard-Yale game is the subject of the documentary “Harvard Beats Yale 29-29” (Jones is interviewed in it), and Lithgow, who graduated from Harvard in 1967, asked for a show of hands as to who had seen it. Not many hands were visible.Jones, whose career includes both Oscar and Emmy wins (his latest film, “Men in Black 3,” opens in theaters next month), visited his alma mater to receive the 2012 Harvard Arts Medal, which is awarded each year to an alumnus who has achieved success and set a positive example in the arts. Past winners include singer-songwriters Pete Seeger and Bonnie Raitt; the late author John Updike; and cellist Yo-Yo Ma.The audience watched a video clip of a performance that landed Jones a different award, seeing him as Deputy US Marshal Samuel Gerard pursuing Dr. Richard Kimball (Harrison Ford) in “The Fugitive.” Jones received the 1993 Best Supporting Actor Oscar for the role.In addition to addressing acting and sports, Jones mentioned several prominent social issues of the 1960s. Answering a question about his Texas roots, Jones discussed racial prejudice against African-Americans in Texas, and anger among Harvard undergraduates at Texas because it was where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963 – two years before Jones’ freshman year.Sometimes, Jones’ athletic and acting interests converged, such as when he pursued a role in the 1970 tearjerker “Love Story.””They were looking for Harvard football players,” Jones said. “I thought, ‘This is a job for me.'”Yet when he showed up for a role he had actually played on the field, he was told, “You are not right. You might pass for a football player, but these are very special football players, not ordinary.”When he protested, he said, he got a thank-you and was booted out.Jones then used his Harvard networking skills.”There was a producer from California who went to Harvard and saw the team at Franklin Field in Philadelphia in 1968,” Jones recalled.The producer read a profile of Jones in the program book, including the tidbit that “I had an interest in acting,” Jones said. “He wrote a note saying, ‘Give me a call.'”Jones never followed up “until I was told I was not right for the part of a Harvard football player,” he said. “He said, ‘OK, stay where you are.’ He called the producer (of ‘Love Story’).”Twenty minutes later, Jones said, he got some good news: He would be doing a dramatic reading the next day.”It was a good introduction to the motion-picture business,” Jones said.He wound up playing the role of Ryan O’Neal’s character’s roommate in the film.Jones also ended up enjoying a second act to his athletic career, in polo, which he said he picked up in California after ruling out other options.”Golf was a rich man’s game, tennis was boring,” he said.He has gone to the polo US Open four times, and said, “We’re getting horses ready for the Super Bowl this summer.” He has also donated “about 15 horses” to polo at Harvard.”They’re better horses than they know how to ride,” he quipped. Yet, he added, student riders use his Texas ranch for all-day preseason practice, at the same time the Harvard football team is doing two-a-days in Cambridge.”They get better and better every year,” he said. “Men and women. They go to Florida also (to train). Every year and month that goes by, the kids become better ho