John Frederick Dryer was born on 6 July 1946, in Hawthorne, California USA, to Genevieve Clark and Charles Dryer. He is an actor and former American Football player in the National Football League(NFL), best known as a defensive end for the New York Giants and Los Angeles Rams, and as the only player to score two safeties in one game. As an actor, he is best known for starring in the television series “Hunter”.
So just how rich is Fred Dryer? According to sources in late 2016, Dryer has amassed a net worth of over $12 million, earned during his football career, as well as through his involvement in the film and television industry.
Fred Dryer Net Worth $12 Million
Dryer attended Lawndale High School in Los Angeles County, where he started his football career. He later enrolled in El Camino Junior College, eventually transferring to San Diego State University, playing on the defensive line for the SDS Aztecs, which became the College Division National Champions in both seasons that Dryer played, being named the #1 team by both the Associated Press and United Press International, and sharing the College-Division title with North Dakota State in 1968. Dryer himself was named the outstanding defensive lineman on the team, earning the Byron H. Chase Memorial Trophy as well as a spot on the 1968 Little All-America Team. He was eventually inducted into the San Diego State University Aztec Hall of Fame, and was named to the College Football Hall of Fame, one of only three SDSU Aztecs to achieve this distinction. He was also named to the San Diego Sports Hall of Fame.
Dryer was drafted in the first round, as the 13th overall pick by the New York Giants in the 1969 NFL Draft. He was the starting right defensive end for three years, leading the Giants in quarterback sacks in each season, which significantly contributed to his popularity, and helping his net worth.
In 1972 he joined the Los Angeles Rams – his tenure with the Rams being marked with an extraordinary performance of recording two safeties by tackling two opposing quarterbacks in their end zone during the fourth quarter of the match against the Green Bay Packers in 1973, the only player in the NFL history to achieve this feat, considerably boosting his popularity.
After 13 years in the NFL, Dryer retired from football in 1981, having established a sizable wealth. For some time he worked as a color analyst for the CBS NFL coverage, eventually pursuing an acting career. His most notable role came in 1984, when he was cast in the leading role of Det. Sgt. Rick Hunter in the television crime drama series “Hunter”, the performance that enabled the former athlete to make a name for himself in the acting world, and considerably adding to his net worth. He also directed several episodes of the show. In the meantime, he starred in the action thriller film “Death Before Dishonor”.
During the next decade, Dryer produced the television series “Land’s End” and starred in it as Mike Land, and started his own production company, Fred Dryer Productions. Several years later, he launched another production company, Dryer/Padgett Films, with his son-in-law, actor Jason Padgett. His net worth was still growing.
In 2013 he was cast as Mr. Collins in the sitcom “The Exes”, and the same year he starred in the drag racing film “Snake and Mongoose”, and then appeared in the series “Crisis” in 2014. His most recent television appearance was in the series “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” in 2015.
Additionally, Dryer serves as a spokesman for the law service Injury Solutions, representing football players who have suffered serious injury.
In his private life, in 1983 Dryer married Tracy Vaccaro, an actress and former Playboy centerfold, with whom he had worked on “Hunter” and “Land’s End”; the couple divorced in 1988, after having one child together. Sources believe Dryer is single at present.
