Every wide-eyed boy wishes he could follow in his father’s footsteps, but when Dad is a Heisman Trophy-winner, is that still the case? It certainly was with Mark Harmon, who, like his late father Tom, led his collegiate club to consistent victory on the gridiron. Unlike his pop – a Hall of Famer immortalized by ESPN as the sixteenth-best player of all time – the younger Harmon chose acting over the NFL, where he’s been the leading man on television’s top-rated scripted drama, NCIS, for the past 10 years.

Despite an on-field career free of the traumas plaguing today’s gladiators, Harmon’s football injuries, though minute, remained bothersome throughout his adult life. That is, until he discovered Pilates. “For years I’ve been trying to find things that are less impacting on the body,” says Harmon, who recently discovered the benefits of the ancient fitness regimen. “[And] I was shocked to find how hard it is,” he adds, in the above video. “I like that a lot.”

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