Lester McClain entered UT in 1967 and made his varsity debut as UT’s first African American varsity football player in the 1968 season opener against Georgia, in which he caught a fourth-down pass on the drive that led to UT’s tying touchdown in the 17-17 tie.
Not widely recruited, he had a choice of UT, Middle Tennessee State University, or Tennessee State University at which to play his college football. According to McClain, UT recruited him to be Albert Davis’s roommate—Davis was an outstanding athlete, heavily recruited by UT, who eventually did not attend. A business administration major, McClain was drafted by the Chicago Bears (9th round) but failed to catch on with the Bears or the Denver Broncos.
He started work as a door-to-door salesman for Encyclopaedia Britannica, abandoning the job after one unsuccessful call. He then held jobs in sales for Blue Cross and Blue Shield and for Xerox and served a three-year term as assistant to Knoxville Mayor Kyle Testerman. In 1983 he bought a State Farm Insurance Agency and built the agency into a very successful company, with Nashville and Knoxville offices. In 1989 he was selected as a winner of the Maxwell House Coffee/Southeastern Conference Spirit Award for SEC alumni.