The Road to College

In California , he attended Polytechnic High and was involved in football, baseball, track and field. By the time he was a senior in high school, he was recruited by several colleges and universities. He was offered the opportunity to play baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

But, he was more interested in football. A scholarship offer from UCLA sparked his interest. However, he did not have the grades to attend. So he enrolled at East Los Angeles Jr. College in order to improve his grades. His stay at the junior college was brief: “I was kicked out,” Keys says.

“I was hanging around the mess hall telling jokes with a guy by the name of Richard Pryer. He didn’t get his grades and neither did I”. Expelled from junior college, Keys began working menial jobs for $1.65 an hour. The dream of playing football stayed with him, however.