DON’T let those shaggy beards fool you! The stars of A&E’s hit new reality series “Duck Dynasty” are a far cry from the country bumpkins they appear to be!
In fact, not only does family patriarch Phil Robertson have a master’s degree in engineering, he played first-string quarterback ahead of football legend Terry Bradshaw at Louisiana Tech University in the 1960s!
WHILE Bradshaw went on to fame and fortune as the Super Bowl-winning quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Phil turned down his chance to play in the pros because it interfered with his duck hunting!
In an exclusive ENQUIRER interview, Phil said: “After we graduated, Terry went after the bucks, and I went after the ducks!
“Everybody told me to try out for the NFL because I was better than Terry.
“But, I was thinking, do I want a bunch of violent guys running after me and repeatedly slamming me to the ground? NO!”
Phil, 66, started whittling duck calls by hand out of cedar trees in his native Monroe, La., in 1972. He incorporated his business, Duck Commander, in 1973, and in his first year says he sold a paltry $8,000 worth of product.
But Phil knew he was on to something big, and just six years later, he reached $64,000 in sales. At the time, the median household income was just over $15,000.
Today, Duck Commander has sales in the millions, with contracts in outdoor stores across the United States. And being featured on a reality show sure hasn’t hurt its bottom line!
AFTER BEING FEATURED on the Outdoor Channel, the eccentric family was approached by A&E to star in their own series – and it’s turned out to be a win-win for both the Robertsons and the network.