Bill Willis
Position(s): Defensive lineman	Jersey #: N/A
Date of birth: October 5, 1921 (1921-10-05) (age 86)
Place of birth: Columbus, Ohio
Career information
College: Ohio State
Career highlights
Pro Bowls	1950, 1951, 1952
Honors	Cleveland Browns Honor Roll, NFL 1940s All-Decade Team
Teams
1946-1953	Cleveland Browns
Stats at DatabaseFootball.com
College Football Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame, 1977

William Karnet Willis (born October 5, 1921 in Columbus, Ohio) was one of the dominant American football players of the 1940s and 1950s, and is an inductee in the College and Professional Football Halls of Fame. Willis was one of the first African American football players to play professional football. He was signed to a contract with the Cleveland Browns of the AAFC a full year before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball with the Brooklyn Dodgers. His success helped open the doors of professional sports for other African Americans. Willis married Odessa Porter in 1947, has three sons, William, Jr., Clement and Dan. In American football, each team has 11 players on the field at one time. ... A defensive lineman is any of the down positions on the defensive side of American football. ... For other uses, see 5th October (Serbia). ... Year 1921 (MCMXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Nickname: Location in the state of Ohio, USA Coordinates: , Country State Counties Franklin, Delaware, and Fairfield Government  - Mayor Michael B. Coleman (D) Area  - City  212. ... This is a list of athletic conferences of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). ... The Ohio State University (OSU) is a coeducational public research university in the state of Ohio. ... In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League (NFL). ... Browns redirects here. ... // Offense Defense Special teams See also National Football League NFL 1920s All-Decade Team NFL 1930s All-Decade Team NFL 1950s All-Decade Team NFL 1960s All-Decade Team NFL 1970s All-Decade Team NFL 1980s All-Decade Team NFL 1990s All-Decade Team ... Browns redirects here. ... See also: 1976 in sports, other events of 1977, 1978 in sports and the list of years in sports. // Auto racing Stock car racing: NASCAR Championship - Cale Yarborough Cale Yarborough won the Daytona 500 USAC Racing - Tom Sneva wins the season championship Indianapolis 500 - won by A.J. Foyt. ... For other uses, see 5th October (Serbia). ... Year 1921 (MCMXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ... Nickname: Location in the state of Ohio, USA Coordinates: , Country State Counties Franklin, Delaware, and Fairfield Government  - Mayor Michael B. Coleman (D) Area  - City  212. ... United States simply as football, is a competitive team sport that is both fast-paced and strategic. ... College Football Hall of Fame front. ... The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of the National Football League (NFL). ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... Browns redirects here. ... The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a professional American football league that challenged the rival National Football League from 1946 to 1949. ... Jack Roosevelt Jackie Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) became the first African-American major league baseball player of the modern era in 1947. ... The baseball color line was the policy, unwritten for nearly its entire duration, which excluded African American baseball players from organized baseball in the United States before 1946. ... MLB and Major Leagues redirect here. ... Major league affiliations National League (1890–present) West Division (1969–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 1, 2, 4, 19, 20, 24, 32, 39, 42, 53 Name Los Angeles Dodgers (1958–present) Brooklyn Dodgers (1932-1957) Brooklyn Robins (1914-1931) Brooklyn Dodgers (1913) Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers (1911-1912) Brooklyn Superbas (1899...

Early life

Willis was the son of Clement and Willana Willis. His father died when he was four years old, and he was raised by his grandfather and mother. He attended Columbus East High School where he both ran track and played football. In football he chose to play on the line so as not to be compared to his older brother, Claude, who had been an All State fullback in the same high school a few years earlier. Playing on the line, Bill Willis received Honorable Mention All-State honors in his senior year.^[1] In American football, a fullback (FB) is a position in the offensive backfield. ...

College career

Willis entered the Ohio State University in 1941. His expectations for athletics at Ohio State centered primarily on the track team, where he excelled in the 60-yard and 100-yard events. Ohio State football head coach Francis Schmidt had played no African Americans during his stay from 1934 to 1940. Furthermore, at only 202 pounds, many considered Willis small for a lineman. New Ohio State head coach Paul Brown, however, favored quickness over size. Willis became a starter as a sophomore in 1942.^[2] The Ohio State University (OSU) is a coeducational public research university in the state of Ohio. ... The head coach in sports coaching is the coach who is in charge of the other coaches. ... Francis Albert Schmidt (December 3, 1885 - September 19, 1944) was an American football coach and is an inductee in the College Football Hall of Fame. ... Paul Eugene Brown (September 7, 1908 - August 5, 1991) was an athletics coach of American football and a major figure in the development of the National Football League. ...

That year the Buckeyes won the Big Ten Conference and were voted national champions by the Associated Press. Before the following season, the Ohio State team was decimated by inductions into the war effort. Willis volunteered for the army, but was declared 4F due to varicose veins.^[3] He was a first team All Conference selection in the Big Ten that year. In 1944 the Ohio State Buckeyes completed an undefeated season, and Willis was named to the United Press International and Look Magazine All-America teams. He played in the 1944 College All-Star Game at Chicago. For other uses of the term Big Ten see Big Ten (disambiguation) The Big Ten Conference is the United States oldest Division I college athletic conference. ... The Associated Press, or AP, is an American news agency, the worlds largest such organization. ... The United States Army is the largest and oldest branch of the armed forces of the United States. ... The Selective Service System is the means by which the United States administers military conscription. ... Vein gymnastics in the barefoot park Dornstetten, Germany. ... Front of UPI Headquarters, Washington, D.C. “UPI” redirects here. ... ... An All-America team is a sports team composed of star players. ...

Willis was 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. Willis is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. The Ohio State University will honor Bill Willis on November 3, 2007 when his jersey is retired. College Football Hall of Fame front. ... The Ohio State Varsity O Hall of Fame is the athletic hall of fame for the Ohio State University. ... Kappa Alpha Psi (KAΨ) is the second-oldest collegiate Greek-letter fraternity with a predominantly African American membership and the first black intercollegiate fraternity incorporated as a national body. ...

Professional career

A career in the National Football League was unlikely for Willis in 1945. No African Americans had played in the league since 1933. He took a job at Kentucky State College, an historically-black school, as head football coach and athletic director. He also began exploring the option of playing for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League. Kentucky State University (KSU, or less commonly, KYSU, to differentiate from Kansas State University) is a four-year institution of higher learning, located in Frankfort, Kentucky, the Commonwealths capital. ... The Montreal Alouettes (French: Alouettes de Montréal) are a Canadian Football League team based in Montreal, Quebec. ... “CFL” redirects here. ...

Willis then read of a new professional league being formed in the United States, the All-America Football Conference, and that Paul Brown was to be in charge of the Cleveland team, the Cleveland Browns. He wrote to Brown asking for a tryout. Brown sent a message through Columbus Dispatch reporter Paul Hornung that Willis would find it worth his time to show up at the training camp. Without a formal invitation, Willis' official status was a walk-on. Willis made the team, and a few days later the Browns also signed African American fullback Marion Motley. The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. ... Browns redirects here. ... The Columbus Dispatch is a daily newspaper, based in Columbus, Ohio, that serves the central portion of the state. ... Marion Motley (born June 5, 1920, in Leesburg, Georgia, died June 27, 1999) was a former American Football fullback who played for the Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers. ...

In their rookie years, Willis and Motley were forbidden by law from competing against white players in Miami, and were required to sit out their game against the Miami Seahawks. Brown gave both men an extra $500 in their checks, and told Willis he would take care of the problem. The following year, Miami disappeared from the league.^[4]

Willis began with the Browns playing both offense and defense, but changes in substitution rules soon allowed him to concentrate on the defensive middle guard position. As a pro, Willis weighed between 210 and 215 pounds but was listed at 225 as a psychological ploy. The Browns won their league title every year they played in the AAFC, and Willis was named as an All League player after three of those four years.

In 1950 the Browns moved into the National Football League. Willis was selected for the Pro Bowl in 1950, 1951, and 1952. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977. NFL redirects here. ... In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League (NFL). ... // August 23 — European Championships Marathon, Brussels, Belgium Mens Winner: Jack Holden (ENG) 2:32:14 December 10 — Fukuoka Marathon, Japan Mens Winner: Shunji Koyanagi (JPN) 2:30:47 May 21 — United States Mens Winner: — 2:45:55 July 22 — Netherlands Mens Winner: Adri Moons — 2:58... See also: 1950 in sports, other events of 1951, 1952 in sports and the list of years in sports. // Auto Racing NASCAR Championship - Herb Thomas AAA Racing: Tony Bettenhausen won the series championship Lee Wallard won the Indianapolis 500 Formula One Championship - Juan Manuel Fangio of Argentina 24 hours of... See also: 1951 in sports, 1953 in sports and the list of years in sports. Auto Racing NASCAR Championship - Tim Flock AAA Racing: Troy Ruttman won the Indianapolis 500 Chuck Stevenson won the season championship Formula One Championship - Italy 24 hours of Le Mans: Hermann Lang / Fritz Reiss won, driving...

External links

• Bill Willis at the Pro Football Hall of Fame
• Class of 1977

The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of the National Football League (NFL). ...

Notes