Former ferocious Eagle ‘Wildman' Willey dies at 83

Norm Willey, a star defensive end with the Eagles in the 1950s, died on Thursday. He was 83.

Nicknamed Wildman, Willey was a ferocious pass rusher who earned Pro Bowl honors three years in a row, 1953-55. It is hard to document Willeys career because quarterback sacks did not become an official statistic until 1982, but Willey estimates he averaged 20 sacks per season. No one who saw him play disputes that figure.

He was a terror, he was in our backfield on every play, Detroit halfback Doak Walker said in a 1997 interview. I remember Bobby Layne (Lions quarterback) telling our linemen, If you cant block the SOB, tackle him, do something. Its a shame the Eagles werent a better team because he didnt get the attention he deserved. He should be in the Hall of Fame.

Willey should have made the Hall of Fame for one game alone: a 14-0 win over the New York Giants in 1952, a game in which Willey, according to newspaper accounts, tackled quarterback Charlie Conerly 17 times while he was attempting to pass.

Today, those would be counted as sacks and Willey would have the league record. As it is, the late Derrick Thomas of Kansas City has the record, seven sacks in one game against Seattle (1990). Willey more than doubled that in mauling the Giants.

Hugh Brown covered the game for the Philadelphia Bulletin and wrote: Willey awed inhabitants of the Polo Grounds by dumping Charlie Conerly 17 times while he was attempting to pass. Eleven of the dumpings came in sequence, causing New York scribes to remark, Hes the greatest defensive end weve ever seen and probably the greatest we will ever see.

Frank Gifford, the Giants great halfback, wrote about the game in his book, The Whole Ten Yards. In a 1996 interview, Gifford explained it simply enough. Norm Willey was very fast, he said, and we were very slow.

The Giants complained I was hitting Conerly late, but that was sour grapes, Willey said in an interview for the Eagles Encyclopedia. I mean, he was going down with the ball so how could it be late? He was bleeding and limped off the field, he said he had enough. I hate to blow my own horn, but I had a good day. I was named (NFL) Player of the Week.

The real highlight was when I got my bonus. We had an incentive clause: 10 for each hit on the quarterback. It was illegal, but the coaches did it anyway. Theyd look at the films and decide who got what. That week I got an envelope with 170 in it. Seventeen (sacks) times 10.

That was big money in those days, said Willey, who never earned more than 9,000 in a season. There really was an incentive (to the cash bonus). An extra 10 or 20 was important. Youd get that envelope and think you were rich.

At 6-2 and 225 pounds, Willey combined strength with surprising quicknesshe was a basketball standout at Marshall Collegeto defeat even the best blockers. The day he recorded 17 sacks, he was matched against New Yorks Roosevelt Brown, a future Hall of Famer.

Willey earned his nickname at his first Eagles training camp in 1950. Drafted in the 13th round as a fullback, Willey was riding the bench, but coach Greasy Neale liked the big, country boy from Hastings, W. Va., so he told him to line up at defensive end.

On the next three plays, Willey flew across the line and flattened quarterback Tommy Thompson. Finally, Thompson pointed at the rookie and said, Somebody block that wild man.

The nickname stuck and Willey lived up to it through an eight-year career with the Eagles.

Wildman was a good description of how he played, said Vic Sears, a star tackle with the Eagles. He went full-speed all the time. He didnt always carry out his assignment, hed just go. He played on instinct a lot, but he was so quick and aggressive he was always around the ball. The coaches knew it and just let him be.

Another memorable Willey performance came in the final week of the 1953 season. The Cleveland Browns brought an 11-0 record into Philadelphia with a chance to complete a perfect regular season, but Willey led an all-out assault on quarterback Otto Graham and the Eagles routed the Browns, 42-27.

I was beating (tackle) Lou Groza all day, Willey said. He was trying everything: holding, tripping, chopping. I was going right past him. I dont know how many times I dropped Otto, but it must have been eight or nine.

After the game, who comes in our locker room but Otto Graham. He walks up to me and says, Brother, am I glad I wont have to see you for another whole year. They put that story on the back of my bubble gum card. I have it framed at home.

Norm is one of those great forgotten players, said Tom Brookshier, who was Willeys teammate for three seasons. He played before (network) TV, before the media caught on to pro football. If he played today, theyd have a camera isolated on him every play. He was so quick off the ball, he ran some blockers right out of the stadium.

Willeys career was cut short by a compound fracture of his right leg in 1956. He came back the following year, but his leg was so painfully swollen that it robbed him of his speed. He retired after the season to become a teacher and coach at Pennsville (N.J.) High School where he served for 30 years.

Willey stayed close to the Eagles working with field security at home games. For 20 years, he patrolled the sidelines in a green blazer, checking media credentials and lining up the visiting teams for pre-game introductions. Even as an older man, Willey was no one to mess with. If any players got out of line, a stern look from the broad-shouldered man with the bushy moustache restored order in a hurry.

One time the Raiders gave me some guff, Willey said. When I told them to line up, they got a little mouthy. I said, Look, someday youll be like me, an ex-player standing on the sidelines. Show a little respect. Act like professionals. They settled down after that.

Willey is survived by his companion of 40 years, June L. Lange; children Kim Willey, Kyle Willey Gorman and her husband Albert and Scott E. Willey. Visitation will be from 6 to 8 P.M. Tuesday at Spicer-Mullikin Funeral Home, 1000 N. Dupont Highway, New Castle, Del. The funeral service will be private.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in his memory may be made to the Delaware Humane Association, 701 A Street, Wilmington, Del., 19801 or to the Pennsville Educational Foundation, P.O. Box 406, Pennsville, N.J. 08070.

E-mail Ray Didinger at viewfromthehall@comcast.net