[Buckskin86]

Hall of Famer shares story of breaking color barrier with Browns
Player recalls tough times
Bill Willis, who started in '46, to be honored
By Marla Ridenour
Beacon Journal staff writer

CANTON - His knuckles were studded with gold and diamonds. Bill Willis' left hand glimmered with a commemorative 1942 Ohio State national championship ring that bears a huge No. 1 atop the red stone. His right hand sported well-worn jewelry celebrating the Cleveland Browns' 1950 NFL title and his 1977 induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

But in 1946, those knuckles had another purpose. They defended Willis from the bigotry and racism he encountered as an African-American playing professional football.

The Columbus native didn't believe in fighting.

The two-way player who excelled as a middle guard on defense listened to the catcalls and slurs. He took the elbows while he lay in a pile and felt the shots to the back of his head on his way to the huddle. He retaliated by ``laying wood.''

``If you're going to tackle a guy, you can really lay wood to him,'' he said. ``If you're blocking, you can lay wood to him. If I tackled a fella, I could get on top of him and look right in his face and let him know, `I can slug you, but I'm not going to. Let's get up and play the game, boy.' ''

Sixty years ago, Willis, Marion Motley, Woody Strode and Kenny Washington signed pro football contracts, breaking a color barrier that dated to the end of the 1933 season. Willis and Motley played for the Browns of the All-America Football Conference, Strode and Washington for the NFL's Los Angeles Rams. It was a year before Jackie Robinson's historic debut with baseball's Brooklyn Dodgers.

Willis, 84, is the only living member of the groundbreaking quartet. To celebrate the men's trailblazing efforts, Willis will be honored at halftime of Sunday's Hall of Fame Game in Fawcett Stadium. One day shy of the anniversary of his signing with the Browns, he will receive Senate and congressional resolutions from Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, and Rep. Ralph Regula, R-Navarre.

While he's enjoying his time in the spotlight, Willis has been reluctant to talk about his travails. He suffered a stroke eight years ago and lost Odessa, his wife of 53 years, three years ago. But Willis opened up Friday after a news conference at the Canton Marriott so young football fans will gain a better understanding of the game's history.

One of the worst incidents Willis experienced came in his first game as a Brown, a 1946 exhibition against the Brooklyn Dodgers at the Rubber Bowl. Willis said the Dodgers were particularly ugly in their treatment of running back Motley.

``Motley made a couple for good yardage and they all piled up on Motley,'' Willis said. ``I ran over and said, `OK, the play is over.' I picked up a guy who was about 5-foot-5. He said, `Get your blacks hands off of me.' He's right here in my face. That was kind of hard to take. But I did have sense enough to put my hands on his shoulder but to hold my chin back so if he swings, he wouldn't hit me.''

Willis said during the regular season, they played each team in the league twice and by the second time, the physical and verbal abuse was less vicious.

``The second time around, I guess the word got around the league that `here's a couple guys who can take it as well as dish it out,' '' Willis said.

Willis was grateful that coach Paul Brown, whom he also played for at Ohio State, brought in Motley to be his roommate shortly after he made the Browns. They bunked together for Willis' entire Cleveland career from 1946 to 1953. And except for one year when he stayed in the YMCA, Willis lived with Motley and his family during the season.

The racism they experienced was lessened by Brown, who believed everyone had the same right to opportunity and expected the other players to treat the pair as he did.

When Willis was a member of the OSU track team, he and another black teammate weren't allowed to stay in the same hotel as the rest of the Buckeyes when they went to Philadelphia for the Penn Relays. But he said that rarely happened with the Browns. Willis said Brown called hotels before they arrived and made arrangements so ugly scenes would be averted.

``I remember my dad saying they went to Miami one time and when they got to the hotel, the manager said Bill and Marion couldn't stay there,'' Mike Brown said. ``My dad said he'd called and this was all set up. He said, `This is the way it has to be or we all go.' The guy backed down and they all stayed.''

But Willis said Paul Brown once left them home on a trip to Miami.

``Paul told Motley and myself that we'd had a great year and he was going to give us a bonus. He wasn't going to take us to Miami,'' Willis said. ``... I didn't find out until later that there was a threat that bodily harm would come to a whole lot of people if we played in that game.''

Mike Brown used to sneak up to Motley and Willis' room and play hearts during training camp and said the two ``have been my heroes forever.'' Brown is thrilled that Willis is finally getting his due.

``It's odd how he and some of the others were overlooked,'' Brown said. ``I'm all for the Jackie Robinson story, but this was actually before that. It should be known. It deserves to be known.''

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