Written by Jeff Rich

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This is one installment in a team effort by The Cleveland Fan, highlighting the top local sports figures by jersey number. Please weigh in with your thoughts, in the Boards. As David Letterman would say, “For entertainment purposes only; please, no wagering.”

Jackie Robinson blazed trails, no one would dispute that, but it was convenient that he was spectacular at playing the game he played amidst such controversy.  For Bill Willis and Marion Motley, playing in the All-American Football Conference, they could not claim the title of being first; the Rams had a few also-rans that could claim the distinction of being the first black professional football players since 1933, but the players signed to the Cleveland team in 1946 were bona fide stars.

There was no real prospect for Willis, a star at Ohio State to play football professionally after graduating in 1945, so he went to coach at Kentucky State, a predominantly black school.  The next year, he heard Paul Brown was holding a tryout in Bowling Green, and the Columbus native, hungry to play, chose trying out for the eventual AAFC juggernaut over playing in Canada and not playing at all.

It wasn’t even a social issue for Paul Brown, he just wanted the best football players.  "I never considered football players black or white, nor did I keep or cut a player just because of his color," Brown writes in his autobiography.  Willis stated, before his death in 2007, how much he appreciates how today’s black athlete is able to intermingle.  He also downplays the difficulty of race, citing playing at Ohio State and in the Big Ten as one of the things that prepared him for pro-caliber competition.

Playing middle guard, a position we don’t typically hear about, Willis was responsible for anchoring a 5-min front, but also using his athleticism to drop back into coverage.  Willis was known for his speed, which frustrated QB Otto Graham and his center at practices, with his ability to anticipate the snap and get to the quarterback.  Willis tells Tony Grossi in Tales From the Browns Sideline, “…a lot of times Paul would do that just to embarrass some of the backs.”

“The coaches told me I was doing a lot things I wasn’t supposed to as middle guard, like making tackles in the back-field.  Paul would have me pull out sometimes to the left and right, to bat down those little passes, like a linebacker.”

“Paul often said I was the forerunner to middle linebacker.  Actually, the middle guard was not supposed to go in and make the tackle.  But because of the fact I played tackle at Ohio State, I couldn’t help but go in.  I had the mentality to be right in the quarterback’s face.  At the same time, I knew that my responsibilities were to go from side to side.”

When doing sprints at practice, Willis would run with the backs.  He was known as Big Willis, even though he wasn’t especially large.  Sure, he was 6’2”, but he barely weighed 200 pounds.  Willis’s entire eight year career was filled with memorable moment, but none more recounted than the 1950 NFL semi-final playoff game against the Giants.  Reminiscent of Frank Gore being caught at the 7 to save the touchdown for the Ravens, Willis ran down New York’s Choo Choo Roberts at the four after a 32 yard gain.  On the series inside the 5, Willis threw another Giant for a loss and they had to settle for a field goal.

The Browns won the game, where ‘oh, by the way’, Willis also had a safety, by a count of 8-3.

It was their first year in the NFL after dominating the AAFC for four years, and that win set them up to play in the NFL Championship.  Of course, the Browns won the game 30-28, making the Browns 5-for-5; that’s five seasons played and a championship in each one.

Canton came calling for Willis in 1977.  He was the 11^th black man to be enshrined.  In a word, he was the Jackie Robinson of football.  Football and the NFL taking a back seat to anything, but the pub wasn’t there for guys like Willis and Motley, who played football in an era where baseball, boxing, and horse racing dominated the sports pages.  But, Willis’s accomplishments weren’t overlooked by all.

On December 18, 2007, Sherrod Brown, for himself, George Voinvich, and the President-Elect of the United States (among others) submitted a Senate Resolution to honor the life of Willis and recognized his football accomplishments with Senate Resolution 415:

Whereas William Karnet Willis (``Bill'') was born on October 5, 1921, in Columbus, Ohio;

   Whereas, in 1942, Bill Willis began playing college football for the Ohio State University's Buckeyes and was a member of the 1942 National Championship team;

   Whereas Bill Willis earned All-American honors at the Ohio State University in 1943 and 1944, becoming the first African American All-American at the Ohio State University;

   Whereas Bill Willis was twice chosen to play in the College All-Star Game, in 1944 and in 1945;

   Whereas, on August 7, 1946, Bill Willis was the first of a pioneering foursome to sign a contract to play professional football for the Cleveland Browns, forever ending the race barrier in professional football;

   Whereas Bill Willis was named 3 times an All-America Football Conference all-league player, named 4 times a National Football League all-league player, and was named to the first 3 Pro Bowls;

   Whereas, in 1950, Bill Willis was a member of the National Football League champion Cleveland Browns and was named the team's Most Valuable Player;

   Whereas, in 1971, Bill Willis was inducted into the National Football Foundation's College Football Hall of Fame;

   Whereas, in 1977, Bill Willis was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame;

   Whereas Bill Willis was synonymous with his number 99 jersey in the Ohio State University community, and that number was retired on November 3, 2007;

   Whereas Bill Willis dedicated his life to helping others and served his community honorably on the Ohio Youth Commission;

   Whereas Bill Willis was a beloved community leader, husband, and father; and

   Whereas Ohio has lost a beloved son and a trailblazing pioneer with the passing of Bill Willis on November 27, 2007: Now, therefore, be it

    Resolved, That the Senate--

    (1) honors the life and accomplishments of William Karnet ``Bill'' Willis, a dedicated family man, civil servant, and football legend; and

    (2) respectfully requests the Secretary of the Senate to transmit an enrolled copy of this resolution for appropriate display to the family of Bill Willis.

Upon retiring in 1953, at the age of 32, Willis opted to exploit his popularity in Ohio, his native state, to reach out to the community.  He accepted a position in Cleveland as the Assistant Recreation Commissioner, before being named chairman of the Ohio Youth Commission, an Ohio agency that worked with young people to deter them from a criminal lifestyle.  He died on November 27, 2007, but his legacy lives on forever in the Hall of Fame and the annals of Cleveland Sports History.

Simply put, no one wore the #30 more honorably than Bill Willis.

Honorable Mention

For someone my age, you mention the #30, and my mind goes right to Joe Carter, a Cleveland Indians outfielder from 1984-1989.  Carter is most well-known for his walk-off homerun against Mitch Williams in the 1993 World Series, with the Toronto Blue Jays.  What’s not at the top of everyone’s mind is that Carter also had the final putout of the 1992 World Series, playing first base and catching the throw from Blue Jays pitcher Mike Timlin on Otis Nixon’s bunt.  While Bill Mazeroski shares the distinction of being one of two players to end the World Series on a home run, Carter stands alone when it comes to recording the final out of one World Series defensively and having a walk-off hit in another Series.

However, Carter’s career, especially with the Tribe, isn’t nearly as remarkable as most of us seem to recall it being.  Carter hit home runs, sure, a tally of 151 in six years with the Tribe is nothing to shake your head at, but a .269 career average made the above-average defensive outfielder expendable.  Thus, he was traded to San Diego for Sandy Alomar, Carlos Baerga, and Chris James.  In fact, one might argue that Carter’s legend has a lot to do with who was traded in and out of town for.  He came to the Indians in 1984, in a trade that sent the Tribe’s ace Rick Sutcliffe to the Cubs.  A side note on Carter and the number 30 is the man who wore it before him, Karl Pagel, the brother of eventual Browns backup Mike Pagel.

Gene Bearden probably best represents the #30 for the Tribe.  Bearden wore a few different numbers in his 4 seasons with the Tribe, but this was the number he wore in 1948 as a World Champion and 20-game winner.  He was 20-7 with a league-leading 2.43 ERA; the 20^th being the pennant clincher in a 1-game playoff with the Red Sox.  Bearden appeared twice in the 1948 World Series, throwing a complete game shutout in Game 3 and earning the save in Game 6 on 1^2/3 innings pitched.

The list of Cavs to have worn the number includes Dell Curry, Tree Rollins, Lamond Murray, and most recently Jon Leuer, but Mike Mitchell probably wore it best.  Mitchell appeared in 244 games over three seasons with the wine & gold.  He averaged 24 point and 7 rebounds per game in his final two full seasons with the Cavaliers, before being sent to San Antonio for Ron Brewer and Reggie Johnson in 1981.