Bill Atessis

Last updated

Bill Atessis
No. 73, 77
Position: Defensive end
Personal information
Born: (1949-07-16) July 16, 1949 (age 74)
Houston, Texas, U.S.
Height:6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight:240 lb (109 kg)
Career information
High school: Houston (TX) Jones
College: Texas
NFL draft: 1971  / Round: 2 / Pick: 52
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Player stats at NFL.com  ·  PFR

William James Atessis (born July 16, 1949) is a former American football player who played on two NCAA national championship teams at the University of Texas. He was a three-year starter and was a second-team All-American as a junior and a consensus All-American as a senior. He currently resides in Houston, Texas.

Contents

High school career

Atessis attended Jesse Jones High School, in Houston. He graduated in 1967. He was a Texas All-State tackle in 1966. [1] Atessis was the state's number one lineman in the recruiting class of 1967. [2] He played baseball and basketball in addition to football. He was inducted to the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame in 1995. [3]

College career

Atessis was a member of teams which set a school record 30-game winning streak that currently stands as the twelfth-longest in NCAA history and was a three-year letterman and three-year starter at left defensive end, [4] including two years as a starter on the back-to-back National Champion Texas Longhorns teams of 1969 and 1970. [5] He was voted Longhorn Defensive MVP by the Dallas Morning News and Houston Post both in 1969 and 1970. [6]

The Longhorns also won three consecutive Southwest Conference championships and appeared in three consecutive Cotton Bowl Classic games, winning two [7] during that time. He was a consensus 1st Team All-American in 1970 and was second-team All-American in 1969. In 1970 he was voted Southwest Conference Co-Lineman of the Year. He was a consensus All-SWC choice in 1969 and 1970. [8] He was also a finalist for the Outland Trophy and finished fifth in the voting for the UPI Lineman of the Year, both in 1970.

Atessis played in the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama in January 1971. He was voted into the University of Texas Men's Athletics Hall of Honor in 2001. [6] Texas Coach Darrell Royal called him a "[s]uper player, who hasn't played a bad game in three years." [9] He played in the Coaches' All-America Game in Lubbock, Texas on June 28, 1971. [10]

In 2005, he was named to the All-Time University of Texas team by the Austin American-Statesman and was named to the Red River Rivalry all-time team by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram . In 2006, he was named number 16 on a list of the 50 best players in Texas Longhorn history. [1]

NFL

Atessis was drafted in the second round, with the 52nd overall pick, of the 1971 NFL Draft. He was injured in training camp and released in the preseason. The New England Patriots signed him in 1971, and he played in five games for the team. [11]

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References

  1. 1 2 nl.newsbank.com
  2. ↑ nl.newsbank.com
  3. ↑ Barron, David (August 23, 2019). "2019 football season brings major convergence of past, present". Houston Chronicle . Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  4. ↑ "www.mackbrown-texasfootball.com - All-Time Lettermen". Archived from the original on September 26, 2007. Retrieved May 5, 2007.
  5. ↑ "www.mackbrown-texasfootball.com". MackBrown-TexasFootball.com. Archived from the original on October 10, 2007. Retrieved April 5, 2017.
  6. 1 2 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved May 5, 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ↑ "www.mackbrown-texasfootball.com - Bowl Games". Archived from the original on April 26, 2007. Retrieved May 5, 2007.
  8. ↑ "www.mackbrown-texasfootball.com - All-Conference". Archived from the original on September 26, 2007. Retrieved May 3, 2007.
  9. ↑ "Sport: TIME'S All-America Team: Prime Prospects For the Pros". December 28, 1970. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved April 5, 2017– via www.Time.com.
  10. ↑ "Odessa American Newspaper Archives, Jun 29, 1971, p. 10- NewspaperArchive®". NewspaperArchive.com. Retrieved April 5, 2017.
  11. ↑ "Bill Atessis". Pro-Football-Reference.com . Retrieved February 29, 2024.
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