Harry’s Hits

Bill Willis passed away this week. The name might not mean anything to many of you but to me he was a hero and a trailblazer. Mr. Willis was the last of the original 4 African-American football players who re-intergrated the National Football League in 1946. Of that group were Mr. Willis and Marion Motley who played for the Cleveland Browns and Woodie Strode and Kenny Washington were signed to play for the Los Angeles Rams. In history books much has been written of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in professional baseball but very little is ever mentioned of those who did the same in professional football.

With the murder of the Redskins safety Sean Taylor, Mr. Willis’ passing will only earn a slight mention in most national newspapers. But every African-American football player who ever played in the National Football League should say a prayer and give thanks to Bill Willis and the others who paved the way for others. As a fellow Hall of Famer I was honored to be in his presence at Hall of Fame activities. As Executive Director of the Fritz Pollard Alliance I was humbled to be a part of an organization that honored Mr. Willis (or as my mother would say “give him his flowers while he could smell them”) in February at the last NFL Combine Reception in Indianapolis. As an African American football player I thank him, Mr. Strode, Mr. Washington and Mr. Motley for the scarafices they knowingly or unknowingly made for players that followed them. As a man I’m honored to have shared a seat with him on the bus as we traveled from our hotel to the golf course when we participated in Mike Ditka’s Golf Tournament on August 27th in Chicago. Mr. Willis wanted to know what was happening with the retired player’s issues. We spent much of that ride talking about those issues. At the end of the ride he encouraged us as retired players to continue the fight for all players.

Rest in Peace Mr. Willis……

Damn….!  I have to apologize again for not being up on keeping this blog updated. I’ve been working on about 6 different projects that have taken up not most but all of my time.

For all of you who want to know of my opinion about the Giants: after the initial rough start of losing 2 games, they’ve bounced back to win 6 games in a row.  But after watching them play against the Cowboys the second go round it’s obvious that the Cowboys are the team to beat in the NFC. The Giants are pretty good but they are not there yet and might not be this season but they are better than most of the other teams in the leagues.

Been on the road recently; my wife Maribel and I went to London to be with Giants fans for the Giants/Dolphins game. The game was just so-so. But for the players the playing field was awful to play on. The thing that really stands out is the buying power of the American dollar in Europe versus the Pound and the Euro sucks.  We went on to Paris to spend a few days with friends during the bye week and then Miami to play in the Ted Hendricks and the Miami Project golf tournaments over the weekend.

I was honored to be one of the 100 top players recognized by South Carolina State University as the school celebrated 100 years of football. For me, it’s always special to travel back to Orangeburg, SC, a place I consider one of my homes. It’s good to see some old friends who seem more like extended family members than former coaches, instructors die hard Bulldog football fans and people I went to school with. It was interesting to be back in the company of many of the guys I played with at State in the 70’s but also see players who established reputations on the field that I wanted to shoot for as a young college player.

Want to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope to spend time with my family, my kids and especially my “Puddin”, my grand-daughter Jamison

On November 26^th I will turn 54!  All in all, life’s been really good to me so far!!