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OL/DL Bill Willis (National Champion, OSU HOF, CFB HOF, NFL HOF, R.I.P.)

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Dispatch

Bill Willis funeral
OSU great remembered for being family man

Tuesday, December 4, 2007 3:03 AM
By Andrew Tobias


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
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RENEE SAUERdispatch
Bill Willis' grandchildren, from left, Kisa Willis, Jehuti Willis, William Willis III and Imani Willis spoke about their grandfather during the memorial service at First Congregational Church.


Laid to rest yesterday in his gold Pro Football Hall of Fame jacket, Bill Willis was remembered as many things: a football legend, a trailblazer, a civil servant. But those who knew him best said he was first a family man.
"His greatest team was his home team," said Bishop Timothy Clarke, one of three clergy members who presided at Willis' funeral service, "and his quarterback was Odessa," his late wife.



Cont..
 
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Canton

HALL OF FAME: HOFer Willis remembered as trailblazer, family man
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
FROM STAFF, WIRE REPORTS

Bill Willis, a Hall of Fame guard with the NFL?s Cleveland Browns and Ohio State?s first black football All-American, was remembered at his funeral as a family man along with being a star and a trailblazer.

Willis, 86, died Nov. 27 after a short illness. He was laid to rest Monday after a two-hour funeral attended by about 225 people at First Congregational Church in downtown Columbus.

?Bill was the last person who would take credit for something,? said Gov. Ted Strickland, recalling Willis? work as a commission director. ?He would say he was just doing what was right.?

Mike Brown, owner of the Cincinnati Bengals, remembered Willis as one of his childhood heroes. His father, Paul Brown, coached Willis at Ohio State and with the Browns.

Ohio State Athletics Director Gene Smith thanked Willis for paving the way for blacks in collegiate and professional sports.

Cont...
 
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I picked up an issue of SI today (the one with Favre as the sportsman of the year), and there was an awesome section about Bill Willis.

It talked about Paul Brown's giving Bill the opportunity to be one of the first African-Americans to play in the league.

But the parts that were amazing are the almost legendary feats of speed that embody Bill Willis. There was a blurb that said that in the media guides, it instructed photographers to use 1/16th frame shots in order to correctly capture Bill Willis' speed. WOW - that is stuff of legend.

And then there was a little quote from Bill when he was talking about his reputation as being the fastest interior lineman ever. He said: "How many linemen were sprinters in college?"

Awesome.
 
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Johnson: Remembering the first black in pro football
Saturday, December 15, 2007

The Buckeye Nation and the Cleveland Browns family lost a beloved football pioneer in November - a pioneer who was to the gridiron what Jackie Robinson was to the diamond. Bill Willis, a talented and lightning-quick guard at Ohio State during the 1940s, and the first black professional football player in the All-America Football Conference, passed away at age 86. A few weeks before Willis' death, Ohio State retired his jersey and Coach Jim Tressel made a significant statement to reporters, pointing out that we have not talked enough about Willis' monumental breakthrough of football's racial barrier.

Willis' achievements have indeed been overlooked, despite his being a member of the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame. I was blessed with the opportunity to assist in preserving his legacy last year when I wrote a feature on him for a gala celebrating distinguished black elders in the Columbus, Ohio community. As Willis told me the story of his trailblazing journey through college and pro football, not only did I gain a sense of his tremendous courage and tenacity, but also the refined dignity with which he carried himself. During his playing days at Ohio State, black students were not allowed to stay on campus. They had to find a way to class on their own, which normally meant catching the bus or trolley. Willis endured these conditions of segregation and did not complain, and his calm but confident demeanor made it clear to detractors that he knew he belonged.
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OnlineAthens.com | Opinion | Johnson: Remembering the first black in pro football 12/16/07
 
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More than just Jackie
Dick Heller
February 9, 2009

If Jackie Robinson were alive today, he might chuckle at the irony and injustice of it all.

Robinson was one of three players on UCLA's 1939 football team who subsequently were pioneers in the integration of major league professional sports. But although Robinson's baseball achievements have been duly honored, Kenny Washington and Woody Strode have received much less attention.

During Black History Month and this bicentennial week of Abraham Lincoln's birth, therefore, it is right and proper to hail the two men who integrated the modern NFL in 1946, one year before Robinson's debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Washington, Strode and two other men broke through pro football's unofficial color barrier that season. Fullback Marion Motley and guard Bill Willis played for the champion Cleveland Browns in the fledgling All-America Football Conference, and both are enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Neither of the Rams matched Motley and Willis on the field. Washington lasted just three years in the NFL, gaining 1,086 yards rushing and receiving and scoring nine touchdowns before retiring at 30. Strode became an actor after catching just four passes for 37 yards in 1946, his only NFL season.

Yet in terms of significance, all four are equal.
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Now all of the 1946 pioneers have died: Washington in 1971, Strode in 1998, Motley in 1999, Willis in 2007. But they deserve to be remembered every bit as much as Jackie Robinson, whose spirit and fierce pride spawned a revolution in baseball.

In 2006, a special flag honoring Motley and Willis on the 60th anniversary of their debuts flew and flapped all season at Cleveland Browns Stadium. The same year, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution hailing them, along with Washington and Strode.

A more lasting memorial would be the respect of all fans for their part in helping to make pro football - and American culture - into the much more inclusive entity it is today.
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Washington Times - More than just Jackie
 
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A Pioneer and An All-Time Great
Remembering Bill Willis
by Tony McClean, [email protected]
POSTED: Feb 19, 2009

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NEW HAVEN, Ct. -- Just two years ago, longtime Cleveland Browns guard Gene Hickerson was named to the 2007 class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The former University of Mississippi joined an illustrious list of former Brown offensive and defensive lineman enshrined in Canton.

Among the first of several Cleveland standouts to be chosen to pro football's ultimate fraternity was also a pioneer that helped integrate college and professional football. Bill Willis was one of the first blacks to play professional football and by the end of his career, he proved to be one of the game's all-time greats.

Born in Columbus, Ohio on October 5, 1921, Willis attended Columbus East High School where he both ran track and played football. His older brother, Claude, was an All State fullback at the school. However, Bill carved his own niche as an offensive lineman and received All-State honors in his senior year.

Willis would eventually attend Ohio State University in 1941, but he didn't his football career with the Buckeyes immediately. At the time, head coach Francis Schmidt refused to play black ballplayers. Also at his size of 202, some considered Willis too small to play college football.

Willis would focus primarily on track during his freshman year. Much like in his high school days, the young Willis excelled in the 60-yard and 100-yard events. But it would take a major coaching change at Columbus that would change Willis' career forever.

Ohio State would fire eventually Coach Schmidt and hire a coach that changed the Buckeyes' and Willis' fortunes. New OSU head coach Paul Brown had no problem playing black ballplayers and he also favored quickness over size. Willis eventually became a starter as a sophomore in 1942.
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A Pioneer and An All-Time Great
 
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Willis would eventually attend Ohio State University in 1941, but he didn't his football career with the Buckeyes immediately. At the time, head coach Francis Schmidt refused to play black ballplayers. Also at his size of 202, some considered Willis too small to play college football.

Willis would focus primarily on track during his freshman year. Much like in his high school days, the young Willis excelled in the 60-yard and 100-yard events. But it would take a major coaching change at Columbus that would change Willis' career forever.

Ohio State would fire eventually Coach Schmidt and hire a coach that changed the Buckeyes' and Willis' fortunes. New OSU head coach Paul Brown had no problem playing black ballplayers and he also favored quickness over size. Willis eventually became a starter as a sophomore in 1942.
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I really don't understand these statements. The coaching change to Paul Brown was made prior to Willis's 1941 freshman season. And in 1941, freshmen were not eligible to play varsity football (that rule was rescinded temporarily shortly after that due to World War II).

I'm not saying that the change to Braun wasn't fortuitous for Willis; just that the timing of it seems to be misreported; and the fact that Willis wasn't eligible for varsity ball in 1941 was ignored.
 
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BB73;1412198; said:
I really don't understand these statements. The coaching change to Paul Brown was made prior to Willis's 1941 freshman season. And in 1941, freshmen were not eligible to play varsity football (that rule was rescinded temporarily shortly after that due to World War II).

I'm not saying that the change to Braun wasn't fortuitous for Willis; just that the timing of it seems to be misreported; and the fact that Willis wasn't eligible for varsity ball in 1941 was ignored.
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Well la tee da, Mr "I am old enough to have been on campus and know this shit first hand". Looks like you are older than the author and his editors. :wink2:
 
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Jaxbuck;1412257; said:
Well la tee da, Mr "I am old enough to have been on campus and know this shit first hand". Looks like you are older than the author and his editors. :wink2:
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If you're going to give me shit like that, could you at least use a larger font so I could read it without my magnifying glass?
 
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BB73;1412198; said:
I really don't understand these statements. The coaching change to Paul Brown was made prior to Willis's 1941 freshman season. And in 1941, freshmen were not eligible to play varsity football (that rule was rescinded temporarily shortly after that due to World War II).

I'm not saying that the change to Braun wasn't fortuitous for Willis; just that the timing of it seems to be misreported; and the fact that Willis wasn't eligible for varsity ball in 1941 was ignored.
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What really makes no sense to me is that someone considered 202 too small to play college football in 1941??? Hardly anyone was bigger than that playing in 1941.
 
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OSU ON SUNDAY
Defensive tackles
Thursday, November 5, 2009
By RAY STEIN
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

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PHOTO (top): Bill Willis helped break down pro football's color barrier when he signed with the Cleveland Browns in 1946. (Associated Press file photo)
Each week, Gameday examines Ohio State's impact on professional football with a position-by-position analysis of the Buckeyes who have made a mark in the NFL.

The Best
Bill Willis

College life: Blacks had not played football at Ohio State since 1930 before Paul Brown arrived as coach in 1941. Brown made it clear that he sought football players, and Willis, a Columbus native who played at East High School, got the message. Willis couldn't live in the OSU dorms, but he became a three-year starter, was part of the national-title team in 1942 and a 9-0 team in '44, and twice was named All-America.

Path to the pros: Another obstacle: When Willis left OSU in 1945, no blacks had played in the NFL for 12 years because of a "gentlemen's agreement." But Brown was no gentleman, apparently. In 1946, Willis had spent a year coaching at Kentucky State and was mulling an offer from the Montreal Alouettes when Brown signed him to his Cleveland Browns team in the All-America( Football Conference. Brown added another black player, Marion Motley, a few days later.

Pro career: Willis and Motley, as well as Woody Strode and Kenny Washington of the Los Angeles Rams, became the first blacks in the modern pro football era, a year before Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier. Willis was a force in Brown's five-man defensive front; he helped the Browns win four AAFC titles, then made All-Pro in each of his four seasons after Cleveland joined the NFL. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977, six years after his election to the college hall.

Little-known facts: At 6 feet 2, 210 pounds - about the size of today's safeties - Willis was a small man even back in the day. But he was so quick that in his training-camp workout with the Browns, Willis flew past the center on four straight plays and each time crashed into QB Otto Graham. That night he signed a pro contract, for a starting salary of $4,000. Willis missed one game in 1946, when the Browns played at Miami, where Jim Crow laws forbade blacks from competing against white players. Brown added $500 to Willis and Motley's next paychecks. Willis took pride in never retaliating against overt acts of racism on the field. He also had an enforcer in Browns tackle Lou Rymkus, who gave his own brand of payback.
Best of the rest
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GameDay+
 
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