What Did Mark Harmon Look Like When He Was Younger?

Mark Harmon has carved out quite the career for himself. While fans probably best know him for taking on the now iconic role of Leroy Jethro Gibbs in the longrunning crime drama "NCIS," he's also quite the athlete. Before finding mega fame on the CBS series in 2003, Mark was actually a successful football player (just like his dad, Tom Harmon), starting for the UCLA Bruins back in the 1970s (via National Football Foundation).

Mark's first major acting credit came around the same time when he landed a role on the sitcom "Ozzie's Girls" in 1973, before he then went on to take on more notable roles in huge TV hits like "Laverne & Shirley," "St. Elsewhere," "Reasonable Doubts," and "The West Wing."

So, with so many years spent in the spotlight, it's safe to say fans really have seen Mark grow up before their very eyes. But what did the star really look like when he was younger? For those too young to remember a young Mark Harmon (including us, just don't check our driver's license please) we're taking a deep dive into what the "NCIS" superstar really looked like when he was younger before becoming the multi-millionaire silver fox we know and love today.

For our first look back at a young Mark Harmon, we're throwing it back to 1984 when Mark was most famous for appearing as Dr. Robert Caldwell on "St. Elsewhere." At the time, the star gave an interview to a news station that's since popped up on YouTube when he opened up about his love of sports and his clear talent for volleyball. The then 33-year-old Mark was giving us serious Tom Cruise vibes as he rocked his '80s best; an oversized sweatshirt and some of the shortest shorts we've seen in a while with pulled up white socks and sneakers.

During the chat, Mark opened up about his passion for sports and how he wanted to follow in his dad's footsteps as his father, Tom Harmon, was also a football player who went on to be a sportscaster. The two have several sweet similarities, including Tom also being a major player in the college football world, playing for the University of Michigan in the late 1930s.

If you want to take a peek at what this hunky TV star looked like even before that, we can throw it back even further to show you Mark's jet-black locks back in 1976. Footage of his guest role on "Laverne & Shirley" as a character named Victor is also available to watch on YouTube and shows the actor delivering flowers to Cindy Williams' Shirley. Can you say unrecognizable?

If 1976 Mark Harmon isn't quite enough of a throwback for you, we also have footage dating (get it?) all what way back to 1972 when the then single son of Tom Harmon appeared on ABC's "The Dating Game." The grainy video shows the actor looking seriously dashing in a suit and tie as he chatted up the single ladies on what may just be one of the most 1970s things we've ever seen.

Bringing it forward again a few years, the black and white snap above shows a young Mark aged around 30 in 1981 while sharing a laugh with actor Cristina Raines, who he starred alongside in the since cancelled sop opera "Flamingo Road." Dapper!

But it seems like, despite the star looking seriously handsome in these throwback photos and videos, Harmon has actually only gotten better with age. It wasn't until 1986 when the star was crowned People's Sexiest Man Alive, when he became only the second person to receive the prestigious honor after Mel Gibson.

It seems like Mark stayed ever humble though as the world fawned over his handsomeness, as he told People almost 30 years later in 2015 that "there are people who take it certainly much more seriously than I do," as he encouraged those who have earned the title since to "have a sense of humor" about it. Handsome and modest? That's our Mark Harmon!