Phil Robertson has died at the age of 79 after a recent Alzheimer's diagnosis.
The founder of the Duck Commander brand became a TV personality in 2012 with the popular TV show "Duck Dynasty."
Robertson turned his love of duck hunting into a wildly successful business in West Monroe, Louisiana.
His website says Robertson was a football star at Louisiana Tech University and started at quarterback ahead of Terry Bradshaw in 1966.
Robertson said, "Terry went for the bucks, and I chased after the ducks."
Bradshaw became a four time Super Bowl winning QB, while Robertson would go on the earn a Masters in Education and start teaching and coaching in Louisiana schools.
"In 1972, Phil Robertson gave up a coaching career for his love of duck hunting when he whittled a better duck call than any on the market, the first Duck Commander call. His first year, Robertson sold $8,000 worth of duck calls," according to his company bio.
The Robertson family home in West Monroe became the Duck Commander factory.
The family assembled, packaged, and shipped the calls.
They turned it into an international, multimillion dollar company.
The TV show drew nearly 12 million viewers at its height.
