Gerald R. Ford Jr., poses in his Grand Rapids South High School football uniform in 1930. Ford was the team captain and an all-state center in his senior prep season.
Gerald Ford is photographed as center for the University of Michigan in 1934. The future president enjoyed success on the gridiron. He was named to the 1959 Sports Illustrated Silver Anniversary All-America roster, his teams enjoyed consecutive undefeated, national championship seasons in 1932 and 1933, and he was the Wolverines' most valuable player in 1934. Michigan later retired Ford's No. 48 jersey.
Gerald Ford is shown as a football player at the University of Michigan. After graduating, Ford turned down offers from the NFL's Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers. Instead, he went to Yale to become an assistant football and boxing coach, with the hope that it would help him get accepted into Yale Law School.
President Gerald Ford is shown addressing the Michigan football team in Ann Arbor. Former Michigan coach Bo Schembechler, who died in November, said that Ford, in his later years, would call on the team and join the players for dinner at their training table when he was in town.
President Gerald Ford, left, with Michigan football coach Bo Schembechler, watches players at practice in this undated photo. "At practice [Ford] would say, 'Bo, do you mind if I get in the huddle?"' said Schembechler, who coached the Wolverines from 1969-89.
Rep. Gerald R. Ford relaxes with his wife, Betty, while deep-sea fishing during a Caribbean vacation in 1972.
President Gerald Ford comes up for air while swimming in the pool of his home in Alexandria, Va., on Aug. 11, 1974. While living in the White House, Ford swam every day, skied regularly and played golf and tennis better than most other presidents, historians say.
President Ford practices golf on the South Lawn of the White House under the watchful eye of the Secret Service on May 9, 1975.
President Ford, left, Chief of Staff Donald Rumsfeld, center, and David Kennerly, personal photographer to the President, leave the court following a tennis match at the White House on July 16, 1975.
In one of several mishaps captured by the press during his time in office, President Ford laughs as he starts to get up after a skiing spill at Vail, Colo., on Dec. 26, 1975. Ford developed a thick skin over the years, but he never cared for the jokes about his clumsiness.
Former President Gerald Ford waves to spectators on Feb. 22, 1978, during the pro-celebrity round at Inverrary, in Lauderhill, Fla. On a number of occasions, Ford, while golfing, hit into the galleries that lined the fairways to watch him.
Gerald Ford and golfing pal Bob Hope watch golfers in September 1978 in Tennessee. Hope once quipped: "It's not hard to find Jerry Ford on a golf course - you just follow the wounded." Ford was known to sometimes hit the ball into the galleries that lined the fairways to watch him.
Former President Gerald Ford works out on the driving range at the Mendenhall Golf Course in Juneau, Alaska, on June, 19, 1990.
Then-President Bill Clinton, right, and former presidents George Bush, left, and Gerald Ford, react to ending their round of golf in which they played together at the Bob Hope Classic Golf Tournament at Indian Wells Country Club, Calif., on Feb. 15, 1995.