HOFer won 5 NFL titles with Packers, made first Super Bowl interception
LOS ANGELES — Willie Wood, the Hall of Fame defensive back who won five NFL championships with the Green Bay Packers under coach Vince Lombardi and made the first interception in Super Bowl history, died Monday. He was 83.
Mr. Wood died of natural causes in Washington, according to Robert Schmidt, his longtime friend and former teammate at Southern California. Mr. Wood had suffered from advanced dementia for several years.
After being undrafted out of Southern California, Mr. Wood sent postcards to several NFL teams seeking a tryout. The 5-foot10, 190-pounder signed as a free agent with the Packers and played safety for them from 1960-71.
“The Packers saw his heart while the others saw his size,” Jim Hill, who played for the Packers from 1972-74 and now is sports director for KCBS-TV in Los Angeles, told The Associated Press. “Vince had an eye like Joe Torre or Tom Lasorda. He could see talent where other people couldn’t.”
Mr. Wood had a key interception in the first Super Bowl, returning it 50 yards to set up a third quarter touchdown that sealed the Packers’ 35-10 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in 1967.
“Willie was Mr. Packer on defense along with Ray Nitschke,” Hill told the AP. “Willie set the tone and the pace for people who played safety — very smart, very articulate, a good tackler. Anything that was good about sports and football was Willie Wood.”
Mr. Wood had a 31-yard punt return in the second Super Bowl that stood as a record for 16 years. The Packers beat the Oakland Raiders 33-14 in the 1968 title game.
Mr. Wood was a nine-time All-NFL first or second team honoree, an Associated Press All-Pro from 1964-68, and played in eight Pro Bowls. He won five of the six NFL championship games he played in. In his career, he had 48 interceptions and had 1,391 yards on 187 punt returns. His 154 career starts was an NFL record for a safety.
He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1989 and the Packers Hall of Fame in 1977.
At USC, Mr. Wood played quarterback and defensive back from 1957-59. He was the first black quarterback in what is now the Pac-12 Conference. He came to USC after playing the 1956 season at Coalinga (California) Junior College, where he was a JC All-American
Mr. Wood went into coaching after his playing days. He became the first black head coach in the sport’s modern era with the World Football League’s Philadelphia Bell in 1975. He is regarded as one of D.C.’s greatest high school athletes after starring at Armstrong High.
Mr. Wood is survived by sons Willie Jr. and Andre; and daughter LaJuane. His wife, Sheila, died in 1988.