Early life
Willard was born on July 14, 1943, in Richmond, Virginia. [1] He attend Varina High School where he was both an outstanding athlete, earning 16 letters in football, baseball, basketball and track; and was a member of academic honor societies. [2] Willard was 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m), 185 pounds (83.9 kg) in high school, with both speed and strength; running the hundred-yard dash and throwing the shot and discus for the track team. [3]
College career
Willard received a football scholarship from the University of North Carolina in 1961 after turning down a $100,000 offer to play baseball for the Boston Red Sox. [4] [5] He played for the Tar Heels from 1962 to 1964, where he led the Atlantic Coast Conference in rushing yards in 1963 and was named MVP of the same year's Gator Bowl. [6] [7] He received All-ACC honors in 1963 and 1964 and was selected to the College Football All-America second-team in 1964. [2]
Willard rushed for 1,949 yards on 514 attempts over his three years at North Carolina, with 18 touchdowns. He also had 46 pass receptions for 432 yards and another touchdown. [6] Two-way player Chris Hanburger was the center on the offensive line that blocked for Willard at North Carolina, [8] and was All-ACC at center as a junior and senior. [9] Hanburger went on to an NFL career at linebacker for the Washington Redskins, and induction into the professional football hall of fame. [10]
Willard was also a member of the UNC baseball team, where he led the ACC in home runs two times [11] and is unofficially credited with the longest home run in Tar Heel history at an estimated 525 feet (160 m). [12] He was also named all-conference in baseball as a senior. [3]
Professional career
Willard was drafted with the second pick of the 1965 NFL draft, by the San Francisco 49ers ahead of future NFL Hall of Famers Dick Butkus and halfback Gale Sayers. [13] [14] [15] Willard believed he was taken as a high draft pick because his draft came during the "Big Back" era, when many teams were looking to model their offense on Vince Lombardi's Green Bay Packers backfield of Jim Taylor and Paul Hornung; rather than relying on smaller and faster running backs. [16] In addition to Willard, first round running back picks in 1965 included large (for the time) backs like 220-pound Tucker Frederickson (No. 1), [17] 215-pound Donny Anderson (No. 7), [18] and 230-pound Tom Nowatzke (No. 11). [19] [20] Willard also believed that the big back style power runners endured longer in the NFL without injuries than smaller faster backs who would make radical cuts while running, or were more likely to be blind-sided. [16]
He played nine seasons with the San Francisco 49ers and one with the St. Louis Cardinals. [1] He opted to pass on his eleventh season after two consecutive years of knee injuries in St. Louis.
Willard was a four-time Pro Bowler, selected in 1965, 1966, 1968 and 1969 and scored 45 rushing and 17 receiving touchdowns. His best year was 1968 when he ran for 967 yards and 7 touchdowns. [1] He was a member of the 49ers when the team won the NFC West title in 1970, 1971 and 1972 [21] [22] [23] and with the Cardinals when they won the division title in 1974. [24]
In 1970, Willard rushed for 85 yards (with two fumbles) and had an 18-yard reception in the 49ers 17–14 win over the Minnesota Vikings in the divisional playoff round, [25] but lost 17–10 against the Dallas Cowboys in the conference championship game (Willard rushing for 42 yards on 13 carries). [26] In the 1971 divisional playoff round between Washington and San Francisco, a 24–20 victory for the 49ers, Willard faced off against former college teammate Chris Hanburger (Willard having 56 total yards from scrimmage); [27] but the 49ers again lost to the Cowboys in the conference championship game, where the 49ers only had 31 offensive plays in the entire game (Willard having only six carries). [28] In 1972, they lost to the Cowboys again, this time in the divisional round, 30–28; but Willard did not play in that game (unlike the previous four games where he was a starter). [29]
On the retirement of Leroy Kelly, Willard became the NFL's active leader in career rushing yards for most of the 1974 season, before being passed by O. J. Simpson in Game 11. He retired with 6,105 rushing yards (then 8th all-time) [30] and 45 rushing touchdowns (tied for 12th).
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