Ken Willard would have fit right
in with the gunslingers of the Old West we see on television. He could have
been one of the famous pioneers we read about in history books. By Lisa Bailey
Ken Willard would have fit right
in with the gunslingers of the Old West we see on television. He could have
been one of the famous pioneers we read about in history books.
But, Willard did not grow up in the Old West, he grew up in Richmond in the 1940s and 1950s. And he played football for the San Francisco 49ers in the 1960s and 1970s.
He played in a time when there were no training camps and no million-dollar contracts, he told a University of Richmond journalism class. Everyone showed up two weeks before the season to get in shape and off-season really meant off. Willard never touched a weight until two years after he retired from the National Football League.
In spite of all this, Willard accomplished impressive NFL statistics, such as his 1,582 rushing attempts, which still ranks second, 25 years after his retirement.
Amazingly, Willard never planned for any of this.
Willard grew up knowing he would be a professional baseball player and a doctor, just like his idol, New York Yankee Bobby Brown. He never thought he would end up as a star running back for the 49ers.
Willard attended Varina High School, where he became known for his athletic prowess in a number of sports, including baseball and football.
No one taught him how to play either sport, he said, he was always big, strong, fast and coordinated, which gave him an advantage over others.
He was heavily recruited by baseball teams while he was still at Varina. Even Red Sox sluggerTed Williams paid him a visit the day after he graduated from high school.
Williams came to watch him hit one day, at the request of Red Sox scout Mace Brown.
"It was like having God standing behind the screen," Willard said. Brown had taken an interest in Willard and thought that a visit from Williams and an offer of $100,000 would convince him to sign with them, Willard said.
But Willard had other plans.He wanted to go to college, he said, but he had never told Mace Brown, partly because he liked to keep his options open and partly because he was fascinated that Brown was interested in him. In essence, he led Brown on, Willard said.
So, sitting in the living room of his $4,000 house with his mother, his girlfriend, his coach, Brown and Williams, he told them that he wanted to go to college. At this point, Williams and his coach got up and returned to sit in their car, he said.
"I didn't know what money was," he said. So, Willard packed his bags and headed for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on a baseball and football scholarship.
At first, Willard had envisioned himself attending the University of Richmond, he said. E. Claiborne Robins had taken an interest in him and coach Ed Merrick had heavily recruited him.
He chose to go to UNC instead because he could play baseball in the spring and football in the fall and skip the spring training season for football, he said. He was also attracted by the lure of playing for a bigger program, he said.
Willard was not satisfied with being just an athlete, he said. He excelled academically and became one of two legitimate athletes on the first team academic list at UNC.
Willard only planned to stay in school for two years, then play professional baseball, he said. But, fate had no such plans.
Willard sprained his ankle his sophomore year and, consequently, he had a horrible hitting season. He became disgusted with baseball, he said.
Then, a Boston farm team wanted him to go to North Dakota for the summer. But, Willard was thinking about getting married, he said, and he had no desire to go to North Dakota. So, he returned to UNC for his junior year.
That year, UNC's football team won the Gator Bowl, beating the Air Force, which brought the NFL scouts out of the woodwork, he said. He also got married that year, which changed his outlook on life.
By then, Willard had also learned what money was, he said, and he decided that if he was ever presented with another opportunity like the one from the Red Sox, he would take it.
So, when the San Francisco 49ers chose him as the second player in the first round of the NFL draft, ahead of Gayle Sayers and Dick Butkus, he jumped at the chance to sign.
He stayed for nine years, during which time he was their leading rusher seven consecutive years (1965-71), played in the Pro Bowl four times and, in 1968, he rushed for 967 yards in a 12-game season, earning the ranking of the NFL's No. 2 rusher.
Willard was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1974.
Leaving the 49ers was difficult for him, he said, and he has always considered himself a 49er, not a Cardinal. He did have a good experience in St. Louis, he said. In all, he, his wife and their four children moved 19 times in 11 years.Each place had a different atmosphere, which he and his family enjoyed because they were open to change, Willard said.
"It was always an adventure," he said. "And all the hassle was worth it."
Willard attributes his longevity to luck and his ability to "ride the saddle, " which he describes as the middle stage in the three stages of a professional player's career. In the first, the player goes on talent alone, then in the second, called "riding the saddle," the player combines talent and experience. In the third, only experience allows him to continue playing. The most successful players learn to ride the saddle as long as they can, he said.
Willard never did become a doctor, mainly because he failed chemistry at UNC and switched his major to history, political science, and religion. Instead, he became an insurance salesman.
It gives him the same thrill as football, he said, and it gives him what he considers the most important thing in life, freedom. Just as in football, insurance allows him to work in brief spurts and be intense for short periods of time, knowing he can back off soon, he said.
"I think I'm classified as a skimmer," he said. "I like to perform and drop out."
Well, he certainly did not drop out of football. Willard played in the NFL for 11 years, before a knee injury ended his career in 1975. During that time, he is proud that he showed up for every game, even when he was injured, he said.
Retirement came as a relief for Willard. He had been pushing himself his whole life and, although he loved the thrill of getting to the highest level, being one of the players who had survived so long was stressful, he said.
He could walk away from football because his doctors told him he had to, he said, so it was not as if he was giving up.
Even though Willard is no longer on the playing field, he is still in the game. Twenty-five years after retirement, he still ranks third in rushing yardage (5,930), third in career touchdowns (61), eighth in pass catches (273) and eighth among NFL rushers with 6,105 yards and an average of 3.8 yards per carry.
All this from a baseball player.