Football legend Bill Willis dies at 86
A stolen 1942 Ohio State national championship ring was returned to the family of football pioneer Bill Willis hours before he died at Grant Medical Center yesterday evening.
Willis, 86, a Columbus East High School graduate, was a two-time All-American at Ohio State and the first black full-time starter in pro football's modern era.
A member of both the college and pro football halls of fame, Willis died at about 6 p.m., a nursing supervisor said. He had been at Grant for several days suffering from multiple illnesses, his son Willis Jr. said late last night.
"As great a football player as he was, he was three times as good a dad," Willis Jr. said.
Willis arrived at Ohio State in 1941 as a two-way lineman and track athlete. He blocked for Les Horvath, who won the Heisman Trophy in 1944, and became Ohio State's first black All-American in 1943-44.
The 1942 team on which Willis was a star won Ohio State's first national title.
The university honored Willis on Nov. 3 by retiring his No. 99 jersey. During the ceremony in Ohio Stadium, officials presented him with a replica of his championship ring. The original was stolen from Willis' East Side home when burglars ransacked it Aug. 16.
Columbus police detective Ken Decker said the original was recovered from a 17-year-old who confessed to him yesterday. Decker did not identify the teen because charges have not been filed.
Another stolen ring, from an All-American Football Conference championship Willis won as a member of the Cleveland Browns, was recovered the day of the burglary after officers apprehended Caleb Bruce and Dajuan Perrine as they ran from the scene of a crash involving Willis' stolen car. Both have entered guilty pleas to delinquency burglary charges in Franklin County Juvenile Court, Decker said, and sentencing is scheduled for next week.
None of them knew Willis was a football legend, Decker said.
Willis played both offense and defense for the Browns and won acclaim as a middle guard on a five-man defensive front. He made a touchdown-saving tackle in a playoff game against the New York Giants that allowed the Browns to advance and eventually win the 1950 championship game in their first year in the NFL.
After retiring from a career as director of the Ohio Youth Commission, Willis continued to live in the Columbus area.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.