 He also played hockey, the piano and the flute as a child, prompting his mother to embarrass him by having him play "The Star-Spangled Banner" on said flute in front of the hockey team, which he also captained.Due to his family's poverty, Donaghy began working at the age of 12, as a stevedore at the Port of Boston.He attended Princeton University on a handsomeness scholarship, where he played football and baseball for the Tigers, joined the Princeton Charter Club, played Maria in an all-male production of "West Side Story", was a member of the "Twig and Plums" secret society, and was a classmate of Michelle Obama.