Local

‘Modern Family’ star, Youngstown native Ed O’Neill turned down mob job after NFL tryout

By Staff report

Updated January 22, 2024 12:27 PM

IMAGE DISTRIBUTED FOR THE TELEVISION ACADEMY - Ed O’Neill, left, and Catherine Rusoff arrive at the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 20, 2015, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Dan Steinberg/Invision for the Television Academy/AP Images) Dan Steinberg Invision for the Television Academy

During a recent podcast, television star Ed O’Neill, who was a Youngstown native and Ursuline High School graduate, revealed he almost became a member of an organized crime family instead of winning awards in Hollywood.

O’Neill who starred on the gridiron for the Fighting Irish, said he failed in a tryout with the Pittsburgh Steelers and was then weighing career options after realizing he was in his 20s and “broke”.

What did the mob offer?

O’Neill, now 77, said he took a ride with a guy named Jimmy in 1969, who gave him “an offer.”

“(Jimmy) said, ‘you can do this stuff for me, I’ll protect you. I’ll give you easy stuff,” the actor recalled saying the jobs involved collecting money or dropping off “stuff.”

O’Neill recalled Jimmy telling him he may have to lean on a guy, “but you’re good at that” assuring the future actor he could make some good money.

How Ed O’Neill’s dad talked him out of organized crime

Luckily for O’Neill, his dad was on the porch of their northside Youngstown home when Jimmy dropped by. The next day, they had a father-son talk, where his dad asked O’Neill if he can do hard time, saying he didn’t think he could be in jail.

After thinking about it, O’Neill said he refused Jimmy’s offer and moved to New York.

The rest is history as O’Neill in the 1980s starred as Al Bundy in the hit TV comedy “Married with Children” and going on to win four Screen Actors Guild Awards playing the patriarch in the hit ABC-TV sitcom “Modern Family.” He also was nominated for two Golden Globes and three Emmys.

O’Neill told this story to former Modern Family partner actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson on the podcast “Dinner’s On Me.”