Verlie Abrams was born on February 5, 1921, in
Oklahoma City. His family moved to
Webb City, Missouri when he was young, and he attended
Webb City High School there between 1936 and 1939. He joined
University of Missouri in 1940, spending his first season on the freshman roster. He joined the
varsity team in 1941, and was given a
varsity letter in the following two years. He was drafted to serve in
World War II as a member of the
United States Marine Corps in 1943, and played for the
University of Notre Dame while in service. He was a demolition officer with the Marines, and "blasted Japs out of Okinawa caves, leveled their bridges, changed the courses of rivers so his side could gain," wrote
Al Cartwright of
The News Journal. "He coached his men to go all-out to blow the enemy out of the way, to be reckless," Cartwright also said. He was named honorable mention all-Big Six following the season. He earned his fourth varsity letter as a senior in 1947 and was named team captain. His final game was the Kansas-Missouri all-star game late in the year. ==Professional career==