 Willard, circa 1962 | |||||||||||||||||
| No. 40, 20 | |||||||||||||||||
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| Position: | Fullback | ||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
| Born: | (1943-07-14)July 14, 1943 (age 81) Richmond, Virginia, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 219 lb (99 kg) | ||||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||||
| High school: | Varina (Henrico, Virginia) | ||||||||||||||||
| College: | North Carolina (1962–1964) | ||||||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1965: 1st round,2nd pick | ||||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||||
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Kenneth Henderson Willard (born July 14, 1943) is an American former professionalfootball player who was arunning back/fullback in theNational Football League (NFL), where he was a four-timePro Bowler with theSan Francisco 49ers in the 1960s.
Willard received a football scholarship from theUniversity of North Carolina in 1961 after turning down a $100,000 offer to play baseball for theBoston Red Sox.[1][2]He played for the Tar Heels from 1962 to 1964, where he led theAtlantic Coast Conference in rushing yards in 1963 and was named MVP of the same year'sGator Bowl.[3][4] He received All-ACC honors in 1963 and 1964 and was selected to the College Football All-America second-team in 1964.[5]
He was also a member of the UNC baseball team, where he led the ACC in home runs two times[6] and is unofficially credited with the longest home run in Tar Heel history at an estimated 525 feet (160 m).[7]
Willard was drafted with the second pick of the1965 NFL draft, by theSan Francisco 49ers ahead of futureNFL Hall of FamersDick Butkus andGale Sayers. He played nine seasons with the San Francisco 49ers and one with theSt. Louis Cardinals. He opted to pass on his eleventh season after two consecutive years of knee injuries in St. Louis.
Willard was a four-timePro Bowler, selected in 1965, 1966, 1968 and 1969 and scored 45 rushing and 17 receiving touchdowns. His best year was 1968 when he ran for 967 yards and 7 touchdowns. He was a member of the 49ers when the team won theNFC West title in1970,1971 and1972 and with the Cardinals when they won the division title in1974. On the retirement ofLeroy Kelly, Willard became the NFL's active leader in career rushing yards for most of the 1974 season, before being passed byO. J. Simpson in Game 11. He retired with 6,105 rushing yards (then 8th all-time) and 45 rushing touchdowns (tied for 12th).
| Year | Team | GP | GS | Att | Yds | TD | Rec | Yds | TD | Fum |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | SF | 14 | 14 | 189 | 778 | 5 | 32 | 253 | 4 | 7 |
| 1966 | SF | 14 | 14 | 191 | 763 | 5 | 42 | 351 | 2 | 7 |
| 1967 | SF | 13 | 13 | 169 | 510 | 5 | 23 | 242 | 1 | 1 |
| 1968 | SF | 14 | 14 | 227 | 967 | 7 | 36 | 232 | 0 | 4 |
| 1969 | SF | 14 | 14 | 171 | 557 | 7 | 36 | 326 | 3 | 6 |
| 1970 | SF | 14 | 14 | 236 | 789 | 7 | 31 | 259 | 3 | 3 |
| 1971 | SF | 14 | 14 | 216 | 855 | 4 | 27 | 202 | 1 | 8 |
| 1972 | SF | 14 | 11 | 100 | 345 | 4 | 24 | 131 | 1 | 3 |
| 1973 | SF | 14 | 10 | 83 | 366 | 1 | 22 | 160 | 1 | 2 |
| 1974 | STL | 7 | 2 | 40 | 175 | 0 | 4 | 28 | 1 | 0 |
| Career | 132 | 120 | 1,622 | 6,105 | 45 | 277 | 2,184 | 17 | 41 | |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | Att | Yds | TD | Rec | Yds | TD | Fum |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | SF | 2 | 2 | 40 | 127 | 0 | 3 | 40 | 0 | 2 |
| 1971 | SF | 2 | 2 | 25 | 49 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 0 | 0 |
| 1974 | STL | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 5 | 4 | 66 | 176 | 0 | 5 | 56 | 0 | 2 | |
In 1985, he was inducted into theVirginia Sports Hall of Fame and was honored as an ACC Football Legend in 2013.[8]