jcollingsworth
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Making the List: Bill Willis Broke Barriers
jcollingsworth via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Making The List has ignited into a joyous part of my week. After completing the previous week’s entry I find myself journeying into the process of researching the next deserving Great Buckeye. Certainly we all have names lined up. Trust me though it is a tougher avenue to travel than imaginable, because there are indeed many names that are Buckeye Great.
Let’s click off the ones we have mentioned thus far. There was Jesse Owens, Jack Nicklaus, Woody Hayes, Archie Griffin, Art Schlichter, Orlando Pace, and last week’s honoree, Jack Tatum. So where do we go from there?
As I have been mentioning in the previous weeks – let’s stay with football since it is football season.
Last week we chose our first defensive name, the Great Buckeye Jack Tatum. So I feel a need to stay Defensive. Mr. Tatum would agree!
Let’s go Old School.
There are three names that surface in the archives of Ohio State Football as the pioneer African American players to play for the Buckeyes. The first player way back in 1912 was Fred Patterson. There isn’t much known of him other than he left the University due to hardships. Then there was William Bell, an offensive lineman, who played from 1929-31. But the first outstanding ‘super-star’ for The Ohio State University who was African American was Bill Willis.
Bill Willis was a star at Columbus’ East High School in both track & field and football. His brother Claude was an All-State running back so Bill, not wanting any comparisons, decided to play on the defensive side of the ball – exclusively – during a time when stars played both offensively & defensively.
The Ohio State Football Coach Paul Brown would bring him onto the team in 1942 when Bill was a sophomore. He put him in at the middle guard position which is comparative to the nose guard today. At 202 pounds he was relatively small for a lineman but his quickness and strength is what caught Coach Brown’s attention. That first year the Buckeyes would have a record of 9-1 and would go on to win the Big 10 Championship. They would be voted the #1 team of the nation by the AP – the School’s first.
It was the height of WWII and scores of players on the team would depart for the military. Willis attempted to do likewise but would be classified as a 4-F – meaning his eligibility for military service would be granted only in the case of a national emergency. His 4-F classification had been imposed due to varicose veins. So his Buckeye career continued. With the depletion of stars from the team Coach Brown loaded his Buckeyes with 17-year olds who were not yet eligible for military service. This team rapidly became known as “The Baby Bucks”. They would deliver an unimpressive record of 3–6. This though did not eliminate the notice of Willis and his superior play. He would be named on the first-team All-Conference.
In 1944 after Coach Brown went off to the military himself the Buckeyes would be undefeated and Willis would be named to the UPI and Look Magazine All-American teams. This same year he landed in the College All-Star game in Chicago and eventually at game’s end was named the outstanding player (MVP).
Bill Willis would go on to break barriers professionally as well. He’d be of the first group of African-Americans to play in the league that would evolve into the NFL – being the first to play for Paul Brown and the Cleveland Browns.
Bill Willis would go on to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1971. In 1977 he was inducted as a charter member of the Ohio State Varsity O Hall of Fame. This same year he’d be elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The Ohio State University would further their honor of this great Buckeye by retiring his number – #99 on November 3, 2007.
Bill Willis is our first ‘Old-School’ mention in Making The List based on two reasons. The first reason is clearly in respect of his abilities and his accomplishments. These can never be taken from him. The second reason is blended with the first. Bill Willis lived in an era most of us could hardly imagine. His achievements simply had to be more magnified in order for recognition to be achieved. His strong and intelligent play of defense was critical for the successes of the Buckeye teams that he played on, which includes the School’s first National Championship. His strengths followed him into a Hall-of-Fame career in the AAFC & NFL with the Cleveland Browns. And this entitles Bill Willis to be a part of Making The List. Because not only does he deserve to be included but I would simply be taking a serious misstep in evading the standards that I prescribed from the start of this column by not embracing this Great Buckeye.
The post Making the List: Bill Willis Broke Barriers appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
Continue reading...
jcollingsworth via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Making The List has ignited into a joyous part of my week. After completing the previous week’s entry I find myself journeying into the process of researching the next deserving Great Buckeye. Certainly we all have names lined up. Trust me though it is a tougher avenue to travel than imaginable, because there are indeed many names that are Buckeye Great.
Let’s click off the ones we have mentioned thus far. There was Jesse Owens, Jack Nicklaus, Woody Hayes, Archie Griffin, Art Schlichter, Orlando Pace, and last week’s honoree, Jack Tatum. So where do we go from there?
As I have been mentioning in the previous weeks – let’s stay with football since it is football season.
Last week we chose our first defensive name, the Great Buckeye Jack Tatum. So I feel a need to stay Defensive. Mr. Tatum would agree!
Let’s go Old School.
There are three names that surface in the archives of Ohio State Football as the pioneer African American players to play for the Buckeyes. The first player way back in 1912 was Fred Patterson. There isn’t much known of him other than he left the University due to hardships. Then there was William Bell, an offensive lineman, who played from 1929-31. But the first outstanding ‘super-star’ for The Ohio State University who was African American was Bill Willis.
Bill Willis was a star at Columbus’ East High School in both track & field and football. His brother Claude was an All-State running back so Bill, not wanting any comparisons, decided to play on the defensive side of the ball – exclusively – during a time when stars played both offensively & defensively.
The Ohio State Football Coach Paul Brown would bring him onto the team in 1942 when Bill was a sophomore. He put him in at the middle guard position which is comparative to the nose guard today. At 202 pounds he was relatively small for a lineman but his quickness and strength is what caught Coach Brown’s attention. That first year the Buckeyes would have a record of 9-1 and would go on to win the Big 10 Championship. They would be voted the #1 team of the nation by the AP – the School’s first.
It was the height of WWII and scores of players on the team would depart for the military. Willis attempted to do likewise but would be classified as a 4-F – meaning his eligibility for military service would be granted only in the case of a national emergency. His 4-F classification had been imposed due to varicose veins. So his Buckeye career continued. With the depletion of stars from the team Coach Brown loaded his Buckeyes with 17-year olds who were not yet eligible for military service. This team rapidly became known as “The Baby Bucks”. They would deliver an unimpressive record of 3–6. This though did not eliminate the notice of Willis and his superior play. He would be named on the first-team All-Conference.
In 1944 after Coach Brown went off to the military himself the Buckeyes would be undefeated and Willis would be named to the UPI and Look Magazine All-American teams. This same year he landed in the College All-Star game in Chicago and eventually at game’s end was named the outstanding player (MVP).
Bill Willis would go on to break barriers professionally as well. He’d be of the first group of African-Americans to play in the league that would evolve into the NFL – being the first to play for Paul Brown and the Cleveland Browns.
Bill Willis would go on to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1971. In 1977 he was inducted as a charter member of the Ohio State Varsity O Hall of Fame. This same year he’d be elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The Ohio State University would further their honor of this great Buckeye by retiring his number – #99 on November 3, 2007.
Bill Willis is our first ‘Old-School’ mention in Making The List based on two reasons. The first reason is clearly in respect of his abilities and his accomplishments. These can never be taken from him. The second reason is blended with the first. Bill Willis lived in an era most of us could hardly imagine. His achievements simply had to be more magnified in order for recognition to be achieved. His strong and intelligent play of defense was critical for the successes of the Buckeye teams that he played on, which includes the School’s first National Championship. His strengths followed him into a Hall-of-Fame career in the AAFC & NFL with the Cleveland Browns. And this entitles Bill Willis to be a part of Making The List. Because not only does he deserve to be included but I would simply be taking a serious misstep in evading the standards that I prescribed from the start of this column by not embracing this Great Buckeye.
The post Making the List: Bill Willis Broke Barriers appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
Continue reading...