OL/DL Bill Willis (NFL Hall of Fame)

[diehardbuckeye]

Originally Posted by OregonBuckeye

Has ESPN even mentioned Bill once? I guess they're too busy covering Sean Taylor to give a rat's ass.

First off You will be missed Bill. You were top class all the way.

Second I wasn't on the BP all day and just looked in the paper and saw that he passed away. You are correct ESPN radio didn't even mention this at all today. Nor did the BN radio hour but I believe that is taped early.

[Buckskin86]

Bill Willis dies
Posted by Mary Schmitt Boyer November 28, 2007 19:23PM
Categories: Browns
Gene Fekete still remembers the first time he met Bill Willis.

It was in the fall of 1940, the opening game of the high school football season. Fekete was a senior running back for Findlay. Willis was a senior defensive lineman for Columbus East.

"The only recollection I have of that game is that we had a fifth man in our backfield -- and it was him," Fekete said with a chuckle.

Willis, a Hall of Fame middle guard with the Browns who also was Ohio State's first black football All-American, died Tuesday evening from complications following a stroke suffered on Thanksgiving. He was 86.

"As great a football player as he was, he was three times as good a dad," his son Will Willis Jr. told The Columbus Dispatch.

Willis' speed and quickness revolutionized the position of middle guard. But, more significantly, he helped break the color barrier in professional football. Signed by Paul Brown in 1946, a year before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball, Willis became the first African-American in the All-America Football Conference and was among the first in the modern era of professional football, along with teammate Marion Motley, who signed with the Browns shortly after Willis.

When Willis was inducted in to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977, he asked Brown to present him.

"Paul, I am honored to have you to be my presenter today because, after all, that's the way it began 31 years ago," Willis said in his induction speech. "I have always said that Paul Brown changed my life. If it had not been for PB, I am certain I would not be here receiving this honor today. It was he who afforded me the opportunity to play pro football when it was not the popular thing to do. I was the first black to play in the All American [Football] Conference, and Paul arranged for me to play without fanfare. He simply gave me the opportunity to make that ballclub of his."

Brown was well aware of Willis' abilities by that time, having coached him at Ohio State. Although Willis was a standout athlete in football and track for Columbus East, he didn't think he had the money to attend Ohio State. His high school coach, Ralph Webster, graduated from the University of Illinois and was trying to get Willis a scholarship there. But when Brown became the coach at Ohio State in 1941, Webster figured Willis would be better off staying in Columbus.

Indeed, Willis played on offense and defense and was a key figure on the Buckeyes' 1942 championship squad. He attended the 65th anniversary celebration of that squad earlier this fall and on Nov. 3, he had his No. 99 jersey retired. In spite of failing health, he was able to attend the game, riding in a golf cart to midfield for the ceremony.

"It was kind of a miracle he was able to go to the Ohio State game that day," his son, Clem Willis, recalled. "It was quite a joy for him to see some of the old-timers."

After graduating from Ohio State, Willis became football coach and athletic director at Kentucky State, an all-black school in Frankfort. Although his team lost only two games, Willis missed playing football so much that he decided to have knee surgery in an effort to make it to the pros. He was en route to Montreal in the Canadian Football League when Brown called and invited him to try out for the Browns in the new AAFC.

Bill Willis dies - Cleveland Sports News – The Latest Breaking News, Game Recaps and Scores from The Plain Dealer

Browns' reaction to death of Bill Willis
Posted by Mary Schmitt Boyer November 28, 2007 19:34PM
Categories: Browns
Browns running back Jason Wright didn't know Bill Willis. But he knew the impact of the Browns' Hall of Famer who passed away Tuesday.

Willis was the first African-American player in the All-America Football Conference and was among the first in the modern era of pro football, along with teammate Marion Motley, who signed shortly after Willis.

"What we don't realize is the cycle that the NFL went through, being integrated at the beginning, which was a novel thing at the time, and then moving away from that and mirroring the rest of society in segregation," Wright said Wednesday.

"So to think of what adversity and what trial had to be in their faces when they came back the second time to establish an integrated league is really, really amazing. It's something that every player, not just the black players in the league, owes a ton of gratitude towards because one of the unique things about the football environment is that we really become a family, across racial lines, across socio-economic lines. You don't see that in the rest of society and those guys paved the way for that special atmosphere we have here."

Wright said Browns coach Romeo Crennel made a point of educating the team on the history of the Browns, including the impact of Willis.

"I've heard great things about him through coach Crennel," Wright said. "It was an excellent level of play to go with an extremely strong character and that's what makes it so significant."

Crennel called Willis a pioneer. "Everyone associated with the Cleveland Browns is saddened by his loss," Crennel said. "His hard-nosed play on the field, coupled with the manner in which he conducted himself off it, epitomized what it is to be a Cleveland Brown."

Browns' reaction to death of Bill Willis - Cleveland Sports News – The Latest Breaking News, Game Recaps and Scores from The Plain Dealer

[Buckskin86]

Breaking barriers, Browns mourn passing of Hall of Famer Bill Willis
By Tom Withers, AP Sports Writer

BEREA, Ohio ? Not long after Romeo Crennel was hired as Cleveland's first black head coach, he was visited by an elderly man whose strength, courage and sacrifice decades earlier changed the NFL.
Bill Willis sat in Crennel's office that day and talked about football, the Browns and his special life, one that inspired generations of players, many of whom were unaware of his lasting legacy.

"Bill was a pioneer," Crennel said Wednesday. "He blazed a trail for guys like myself."

Willis, a two-time All-American at Ohio State and Hall of Famer with the Browns who helped break down pro football's color barrier in the 1940s, died Tuesday night in Columbus from multiple illnesses. He was 86.

More than 60 years ago, Willis, a two-way star from 1946-53 with the Browns as an offensive lineman and middle guard, was among a group of players who desegregated pro football a full year before Jackie Robinson stepped across baseball's racial divide.

Yet, Willis' story and those of Cleveland teammate Marion Motley and Woody Strode and Kenny Washington of the Los Angeles Rams are not well known.

"It went under the radar," said Cincinnati Bengals president Mike Brown, whose legendary father, Paul, coached Willis with the Buckeyes and Browns. "Everyone knew the Jackie Robinson story, but Bill Willis and Marion Motley were every bit as important to the world of football and it was overlooked."

Willis is recognized as the first black full-time starter in pro football's modern era. He was also Ohio State's first black All-American, and the school recently honored him by retiring his No. 99 jersey. He was also inducted into the college football Hall of Fame.

"He may have been the finest player that ever played here," Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel said.

At halftime of a Nov. 3 game against Wisconsin, Willis, who suffered a stroke a few years back, was driven to the 50-yard line in a golf cart for an emotional ceremony that concluded with his name and number being unveiled on a permanent sign at one end of Ohio Stadium.

Surrounded by family and friends, Willis tipped his cap in thanks. Watching him were thousands of fans oblivious to his enormous imprint on football's history in Ohio and beyond.

Breaking barriers, Browns mourn passing of Hall of Famer Bill Willis - USATODAY.com

[Buckskin86]

Bill Willis, 86, Racial Pioneer in Pro Football, Dies
By RICHARD GOLDSTEIN
Published: November 29, 2007

Bill Willis, the Cleveland Browns Hall of Fame guard who played a major role in breaking professional football?s racial barrier in the decade after World War II, died Tuesday in Columbus, Ohio. He was 86.

The cause was complications of a stroke, said the current Browns franchise, the successor in Cleveland to the original Browns.

In the autumn of 1946, a year before Jackie Robinson broke the racial barrier in major league baseball, Willis joined the newly formed Browns of the fledgling All-America Football Conference, playing guard on offense and middle guard ? akin to today?s noseguard ? on defense.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/29/sp...l?ref=football

Willis was an NFL pioneer
Former Browns, Ohio State star dies at age 86
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
By Steve Doerschuk
Repository sports writer

Bill Willis’ death recalls to life some heavy sports history with a strong Canton imprint.

Willis, from Columbus, and Marion Motley, from Canton, were among four men who did in pro football what Jackie Robinson did more famously in baseball: Broke a color barrier.

Blacks played during the early NFL in the 1920s but were phased out amid racist gentlemen’s agreements.

Years passed before the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams, who had won an NFL title as the Cleveland Rams three months earlier, signed black halfback Kenny Washington on March 21, 1946. The Rams added a black end, Woody Strode, on May 7.

The Cleveland Browns of a new rival league, the AAFC, signed a black middle guard, Willis, on Aug. 6. Motley, a black running back, joined the Browns three days later.

Willis and Motley became Hall of Fame players on the premier dynasty in Cleveland sports history. Both played for the Browns from 1946-53. The team reached a league championship game in all eight of those seasons.

Willis died Tuesday in Columbus, a few months after attending Gene Hickerson’s Hall of Fame induction in Canton. He was 86.

cantonrep.com

[vioravis]

YouTube - In Memory of Bill Willis

[osugrad21]

CPD

A dignified pioneer


Thursday, November 29, 2007Mary Schmitt Boyer
Plain Dealer Reporter
Gene Fekete still remembers the first time he met Bill Willis.
It was in the fall of 1940, the opening game of the high school football season. Fekete was a senior running back for Findlay. Willis was a senior defensive lineman for Columbus East.
"The only recollection I have of that game is that we had a fifth man in our backfield -- and it was him," Fekete said with a chuckle.
Willis, a Hall of Fame middle guard with the Browns who also was Ohio State's first black football All-American, died Tuesday evening. He was 86.
"As great a football player as he was, he was three times as good a dad," his son Will Willis Jr. told The Columbus Dispatch.




Cont...

[osugrad21]

CPD

A life of class and dignity

Pioneering Willis took slights in stride

Thursday, November 29, 2007 Bill Livingston

Plain Dealer Columnist
The day they buried Marion Motley, the Rev. Marvin McMickle's soaring voice filled the church as he cast Motley and the Browns' other racial pioneer, Bill Willis, as characters in the story of David and Goliath.
"It wasn't that they won," McMickle said, although the Browns won more than any pro football team ever after the pair began to play in the All-America Football Conference in 1946.
"It was," he said, "that they went."
Motley and Willis, who died Tuesday in Columbus at the age of 86, helped end the color barrier in pro football. They both went into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, carried there by the sum of their ability and the content of their character.
Some believe the way Willis and Motley contained their urge to strike back at racial insults provided an example for Branch Rickey when he sought out Jackie Robinson to break baseball's whites-only tradition in 1947.




Cont...

[osugrad21]

Canton Rep

Willis was an NFL pioneer
Former Browns, Ohio State star dies at age 86
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
By Steve Doerschuk
Repository sports writer

Bill Willis? death recalls to life some heavy sports history with a strong Canton imprint.

Willis, from Columbus, and Marion Motley, from Canton, were among four men who did in pro football what Jackie Robinson did more famously in baseball: Broke a color barrier.

Blacks played during the early NFL in the 1920s but were phased out amid racist gentlemen?s agreements.

Years passed before the NFL?s Los Angeles Rams, who had won an NFL title as the Cleveland Rams three months earlier, signed black halfback Kenny Washington on March 21, 1946. The Rams added a black end, Woody Strode, on May 7.

Cont...

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

Quotes about Bill Willis

Thursday, November 29, 2007 5:50 AM




What people are saying about former Ohio State and Cleveland Browns legend Bill Willis, a Columbus native who died Tuesday at age 86:

Cont...

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

Willis remembered for his feats off field
Modest man cared deeply for children
Thursday, November 29, 2007 3:37 AM
By Ken Gordon


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH


Bill Willis was good enough to lead Ohio State to a national championship in football and earn All-America honors, but he wasn't the right color to live in the dormitories. In the early 1940s, blacks could not live in campus housing. So Willis would catch a bus from his h

Cont...

[osugrad21]

CPD

Ex-Brown Bill Willis was an NFL pioneer



Friday, November 30, 2007

Born William Karnet Willis on Oct. 5, 1921, in Columbus.
His No. 99 is retired at Ohio State University.
Didn't play pro ball in 1945 after college but instead was coach and athletic director at Kentucky State College, an all-black college. Went 10-2 that year.
Telephoned his old OSU coach, Paul Brown, and asked for an invitation to the Cleveland Browns camp in the summer of 1946, held at Bowling Green University. Made the squad on his first day, earning a $4,000 contract.
Played both offense and defense. Was inducted as middle guard, similar to today's nose tackle.
In their rookie years, Willis and running back Marion Motley were forbidden by law from competing against white players in Miami and were required to sit out their game against the Miami Seahawks.




Cont..

[osugrad21]

CPD

Willis' legacy far from forgotten



Friday, November 30, 2007 Mary Schmitt Boyer

Plain Dealer Reporter
Browns running back Jason Wright didn't know Bill Willis. But he knew the impact of the Browns Hall of Famer, who passed away Tuesday at age 86.
Willis was the first black player in the All-America Football Conference and was among the first in the modern era of pro football, along with teammate Marion Motley, who signed shortly after Willis.
"What we don't realize is the cycle that the NFL went through, being integrated at the beginning, which was a novel thing at the time, and then moving away from that and mirroring the rest of society in segregation," Wright said Wednesday.




Cont...

['BusNative]

Sportcenter did a nice - albeit brief - tribute to Mr. Willis tonight in reference to the decals the Browns will wear this weekend.

Also - I'll use this post to to thank Mr. Willis for his contribution to OSU and American sports. RIP, Mr. Willis, and I'm also happy that he was able to see his number retired before he passed.

[SanAntonioBuck]

[Buckskin86]

Bill Willis praised as family man first
Hundreds honor Hall of Famer at Downtown funeral
Monday, December 3, 2007 3:43 PM
By Andrew Tobias
FOR THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

?Papa was the perfect man,? said his youngest granddaughter, Imani Willis, 20. ?I would tell my friends, if only I could find someone just like him, only 60 years younger.?

The Columbus Dispatch : Bill Willis praised as family man first

12/3/2007
One for the record books: Willis' grace, courage, strength live on

GUIDO H. STEMPEL III

You probably have heard of the death of Bill Willis, an Ohio State football player who Ohio State Coach Jim Tressel says "may be he finest player who ever played here."

Willis is in fact in the Ohio High School Football Hall of Fame, the College Football Half of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but there is more to the story than that.

Some are saying that Willis was a pioneer because he broke the color line in pro football just the way Jackie Robinson did in Major League baseball. Willis in fact did it sooner, and it involves more than pro football. His story is as important as Robinson's.

Willis was a football player and sprinter for Columbus East High School. He wanted to go to Ohio State, but Ohio State Football Coach Francis Schmidt was not receptive to having African American football players. Willis decided nonetheless to go to Ohio State, but to participate only in track.

Fortunately Schmidt's Ohio State team closed out a mediocre season by losing to Michigan, 40-0. and Paul Brown became Ohio State's coach. He encouraged Willis to come out for football. Of the other Big Ten schools, only Indiana and Michigan had African American football players at that time.

Willis, who weighed only about 200 pounds, was an all-conference tackle on the Ohio State national championship team of 1942. Two years later he was an All-American on an undefeated Big Ten championship team.

Willis assumed that the 1944 season marked the end of his football career because no pro teams had African American players.

However, when he heard Paul Brown was going to coach the new team in Cleveland, he asked for a tryout.

The result produced a classic story. They put Willis at middle guard in a five-man defensive line in a scrimmage. Four times in a row Willis broke through and caught quarterback Otto Graham. At first they thought Willis was offside, but then they realized it was because of his quickness. That quickness would make Willis, playing at 210 to 215 pounds, the best middle guard in pro football for years.

His success opened the pro football door for African Americans. Braylon Edwards, a receiver for the Browns, says:

"It meant a lot that he paved the way and showed that guys of our race could play and that we were disciplined."

OSU Athletic Director Gene Smith agrees, saying:

"It is meaningful to me that I have opportunities that I might not have had otherwise if it had not been for Bill Willis."

Yet Willis, who really was a pioneer in both college and pro football, never said much about it. He moved on to spend 18 years with the Ohio Youth Commission, serving as director to seven years.

He committed himself to working out ways for incarcerated youth to get an education.

He became an inspiration to other African Americans. OSU football great Archie Griffin said in his speeches Willis was "so encouraging and motivational."

As a pioneer, Willis suffered the disgraceful behavior that some whites showed toward African Americans, but he rose above it and went beyond it. He wasn't just a great football player; he was a great human being.

Guido Stempel III is a distinguished professor emeritus in the Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University.

One for the record books: Willis' grace, courage, strength live on