| No. 63 | |||||||||
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| Position | Linebacker | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1945-08-21)August 21, 1945 (age 80) Clover, Virginia, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||
| Weight | 245 lb (111 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Maggie L. Walker (Richmond, Virginia) | ||||||||
| College | Morgan State (1963–1966) | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1967: 2nd round, 50th overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Willie Edward Lanier (born August 21, 1945), is an American former professionalfootball player who was alinebacker for theKansas City Chiefs of theAmerican Football League (AFL) andNational Football League (NFL) from 1967 through 1977. He won postseason honors for eight consecutive years, making theAFL All-Star team in 1968 and 1969 before being selected to thePro Bowl from 1970 through 1975.
ASuper Bowl champion, Lanier won theNFL Man of the Year in 1972. He was selected to both the NFL's75th Anniversary All-Time and100th Anniversary All-Time Teams, and inducted into thePro Football Hall of Fame in 1986 and theCollege Football Hall of Fame in 2000.
Lanier was born on August 21, 1945, inClover,Halifax County,Virginia, the son of Robert Lanier, who was the biggest influence in his son's life. He grew up inRichmond, Virginia. He attended high school in Richmond, at theMaggie L. Walker High School, named after the first black female bank president in America. He was a star football player in high school, graduating in 1963.[1][2][3][4][5] In his senior year, Walker defeated archrivalArmstrong in their annualThanksgiving Day game 27–13, before 23,000 fans, to give Walker a 10–0 record.[6]
Walker was Richmond's largest African American high school, and also produced tennis starArthur Ashe andNBA playerBob Dandridge.[7] During the years Lanier played football at Walker, black and white high schools did not compete against each other, with black schools playing each other in theVirginia Interscholastic Association, and white schools playing in theVirginia High School League; the two only merging in 1970.[6]
According to a DNA analysis, he descended, mainly, fromJola people ofGuinea-Bissau.[8]
Lanier was offered a full scholarship toVirginia State University, but instead chose to attendMorgan State College (now Morgan State University) because (1) he wanted to escape segregation and (2) he saw more employment opportunity in business administration in the north. Lanier believed he would receive a quality education and support. He would go on to earn abachelor's degree inbusiness administration from Morgan State in 1967.[9][10][2]
Morgan State's football team was headed by future College Hall of Fame coachEarl Banks (1992), who emphasized academics and graduation to his players. The Bears played in theCentral Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA). Banks had not recruited Lanier. Rather, Lanier was awalk-on who made the team in 1963.[9][10][11][12] Lanier was originally anoffensive guard, blocking for future Hall of Fame running backLeroy Kelly,[13] and anose tackle. Banks later moved Lanier to middle linebacker.[7] In the 1965 season, he averaged 12unassisted tackles a game and scored touchdowns on a fumble recovery and interception.[14]
In 1965, the Bears defeated Florida A&M in theOrange Blossom Classic, which was the unofficial championship game forhistorically black colleges and universities. In 1966, Morgan State, led by Lanier as its most storied member, was invited to play in theTangerine Bowl (now the Citrus Bowl) against theWest Chester Rams ofPennsylvania. The Bears were on a 17-game winning streak going into the Tangerine Bowl, and merited inclusion on their quality of play. But this was a major social event, being the first time that a team from an historically black college was invited to play in the game incentral Florida; andOrlando, where the game was played, had never hosted an integrated high school or college football game. The game's hosts made sure the two teams were treated equally, and mingled with each other at events before the game.[11]
ABC covered the game onnetwork television, which Morgan State won 14–6. Lanier, playing both offense (guard) and defense, was the game's most valuable player.[15] One of Lanier's teammates,Bob Wade, would go on to play in the NFL and to become a legendary high school basketball coach at Baltimore'sDunbar High, and head coach of theUniversity of Maryland's basketball team, the first black head coach of a major sport at that school.[11] Other Bears teammates included future NFL playersMark Washington andRaymond Chester.[11]
During his playing career at Morgan State, the football team only lost two games.[10] Lanier was twice selected to the small-collegeLittle All-America Team.[1] Lanier was selected the CIAA Player of the Year for 1966 by the Touchdown Club in Washington, D.C.[16] He was inducted into the Morgan State Hall of Fame in 1982.[17] TheRichmond Times-Dispatch and the Touchdown Club of Richmond renamed the annual award for Virginia's best small college football player after Lanier.[1][18]
Lanier is a member ofThe Pigskin Club of Washington, D.C. National Intercollegiate All-American Football Players Honor Roll.[19]
On January 15, 1967, the Chiefs lostSuper Bowl I toVince Lombardi'sGreen Bay Packers by a 35–10 score, forcinghead coachHank Stram to look for defensive players in the upcoming draft. Stram picked the 6 ft 1 in 245 pound Lanier.[20] Lanier had been scouted by Frank Barnes for the Chiefs, and was selected in the second round of the 1967 draft with the 50th overall pick,[17] three picks after another linebacker,Jim Lynch of the high-profileNotre Dame Fighting Irish. Lynch had won theMaxwell Award for best college player and was a unanimous All-American.[3][21]
There are a number of descriptions as to how Lanier became the starting middle linebacker over Lynch. One is that he won the starting job against stiff opposition in his rookie season after the Chiefs' fourth game. Another, per Chiefs' ownerLamar Hunt, is that when Chiefs' coachHank Stram saw both players in training camp, he realized both rookies should be playing, with Lanier at middle linebacker and Lynch moving to outside linebacker.[3] In another explanation, Lynch had been chosen to play in the annualCollege All-Star Game, causing him to miss the first two weeks of Chiefs practice. By the time Lynch made it to camp, Lanier had already established himself as the team's middle linebacker.[citation needed]Despite losing out to Lanier at middle linebacker, Lynch started every game from 1968 to 1977, was twice an All AFL player, and was part of a linebacking trio with Lanier and future hall of famerBobby Bell, that would play together for years and be part of the ChiefsSuper Bowl IV championship team.[21]
Lanier joinedGarland Boyette of the AFL's Houston Oilers as the first black middle linebackers in professionalAmerican football history. Before them, black players were not made middle linebackers.[4]
In the midst of a solid first season in 1967, Lanier suffered an injury and missed the last four games of the year.[3] The following year, Lanier collected fourinterceptions, then matched that total in 1969[22] as he helped the Chiefs captureSuper Bowl IV with a 23–7 upset of theMinnesota Vikings. He was stellar in the Super Bowl, recording 8tackles (4 solo and 4 combined) and an interception.[23] He later commented on the increased motivation that Chiefs players felt because of wearing a ten-yearAFL patch to honor the league's final year, and ten-year history, stating "'It lit us up. We knew what it meant.'"[24] A total of six defensive players on the Chiefs Super Bowl IV championship team were selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame (Lanier, Bell,Buck Buchanan,Curly Culp,Emmitt Thomas andJohnny Robinson),[25][26] and Lanier, Bell and Buchanan would be named to theNFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.[27]
There were numerous great moments throughout Lanier's career, but none exemplifies his heart and desire as much as the Chiefs'goal line stand against theNew York Jets in the 1969 divisional playoff game. Trailing 6–3 in the fourth quarter, New York had a first-and-goal at the Chiefs' one-yard line after apass interference call on Kansas City. It was then that Lanier made an emotional appeal to the rest of the Chiefs defense, yelling: "They're not going to score...! They're not going to score!" The Chiefs shut down the Jets on three straight plays and held them to afield goal. Kansas City scored atouchdown on its next possession, winning the game, and winning a place in the Super Bowl.[28]
The Chiefs reached theNFL playoffs only one more time during Lanier's career, in 1971, winning theAFC Western Division title. OnChristmas Day, in the final contest atMunicipal Stadium, the Chiefs' season came to an end against theMiami Dolphins in a doubleovertime classic. The contest was the longest game in NFL history, clocking in at more than 82 minutes.[29]
In 1972, the Chiefs moved toArrowhead Stadium.[30] By 1974 the team's talent was depleted by age and injuries.[31][32] After the conclusion of that season, Stram was fired after 15 years at the helm.[33]
The linebacking trio of Lanier, Lynch and fellow Hall of FamerBobby Bell is recognized as one of the most talented in professional football history,[34] lasting until Bell's retirement in December 1974[35] and the arrival of new head coachPaul Wiggin in 1975.[32]
Lanier was traded in April 1978 to theBaltimore Colts, but announced his retirement as an active player three months later on July 20, 1978.[36]
Lanier had 27 career interceptions, two returned for touchdowns, and 18 fumble recoveries. His nickname was "Contact", given by teammate Jerry Mays,[37] because of the force with which Lanier hit opposing players. He later was nicknamed "Honey Bear" because of his bear-hug tackling style.[37] Lanier missed the last four games of his rookie year with an injury. Over the next 10 seasons he only missed one game.[3]
Lanier was All-Pro, All-AFL or All-AFC from 1968 through 1975. He was chosen for the last two AFL All-Star games at the end of the 1968 and 1969 seasons. He played in the first six AFC-NFC Pro Bowl games after the merger of the AFL and NFL, and was MVP in the 1971 game.[3] He was named AFC Player of the Year in 1971.[2] In 1972, he was namedNFL Man of the Year (now the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year).[2]
Lanier was selected to the Chiefs' Hall of Honor in 1985.[38] He was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986, with his enshrinement speech given by hall of fame Chiefs ownerLamar Hunt.[3] The Chiefs retired Lanier's number in August 1992.[39] He was selected to both the NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1994[1] and the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team in 2019.[27] He was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 1999.[40] Also in 1999, he was ranked number 42 onThe Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, which also included his defensive teammates, Bobby Bell, Buck Buchanan, and Emmitt Thomas (ranked 66-68).[41] He was ranked as the 80th greatest player of all time byThe Athletic in its 2021 list.[37]
As a player, Lanier had great respect for hall of fame offensive tackleBob Brown.[5]
| Interceptions | Fumbles | |||||||||||
| Season | Games | Int | Yds | Avg | TD | FumRec | Yds | TotScore | ||||
| 1967 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 1968 | 14 | 4 | 120 | 30 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||||
| 1969 | 14 | 4 | 70 | 17.5 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | ||||
| 1970 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 1971 | 14 | 2 | 38 | 19 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | ||||
| 1972 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 1.0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 1973 | 14 | 3 | 47 | 15.7 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 0 | ||||
| 1974 | 14 | 2 | 28 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 | ||||
| 1975 | 14 | 5 | 105 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| 1976 | 14 | 3 | 28 | 9.3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 1977 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 149 | 27 | 440 | 16.3 | 2 | 18 | 21 | 14 | ||||
Lanier played in eight consecutive AFL or NFL all-star games from 1968-75 (two AFL All-Star games in 1968-69, and six AFC-NFC Pro Bowl games, 1970-75).[3][22] In 1986, he achieved Pro Football Hall of Fame status.
Lanier has received the following awards and honors, among others;
During the off seasons, Lanier became licensed in real estate and securities.[5] In 1975, Lanier had been in the Executive Program at theUniversity of Virginia.[2]
After retiring, Lanier returned to school, taking graduate courses at theUniversity of Missouri–Kansas City to receive anMBA.[37] He eventually returned to Richmond, becoming a business executive. He became astockbroker, atFirst Union Securities, where he served as vice-chairman. He is the former CEO of TDS/US, the minority venture partner of TDS Logistics, which became Syncreon, against which Lanier wound up in litigation. He was also a president of First Wheat Securities in Richmond.[52][53][38] Lanier directs the Lanier Group LLC investment firm, and is active in charitable causes.[1][37]
In 2006, Lanier was interviewed for theNFL Network documentaryAmerica's Game: The Super Bowl Champions chronicling the1969 Kansas City Chiefs season.[citation needed]
In 1974, Lanier starred inThe Black Six as Tommy Bunka. The movie, which was directed byMatt Cimber (Matteo Ottaviano), was about racism in a southern town, with six black bikers (The Black Six) avenging the death of a friend. Lanier teamed with other 1970s players includingJoe Greene,Carl Eller,Gene Washington, andMercury Morris.[54]
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