The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hall of Fame defensive back Willie Wood dies at age 83
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.
Wood died of natural causes in Washington, according to Robert Schmidt, his longtime friend and former USC teammate. Wood had suffered from advanced dementia for several years.
After being undrafted, 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.”
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.
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.
“The Green Bay Packers family lost a legend,” Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy said. “Willie’s success story, rising from an undrafted rookie free agent to the
Pro Football Hall of Fame, is an inspiration to generations of football fans.”
Wood was a nine-time All-NFL first- or second-team honoree, an Associated Press All-Pro from 196468, 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 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. He was named to the NFL 1960s All-Decade team and was one of two safeties chosen on the Super Bowl Silver Anniversary Team in 1990.
Although they didn’t play at the same time in Green Bay, Hill was friendly with Wood. “I would always tell him, ‘Nobody could replace you,’ and he would smile and downplay his role,” Hill said. Wood, however, was no pushover on or off the field. “If somebody made fun of his height, they didn’t do it in front of him,” Hill said. “He was one tough (guy).”
At USC, Wood played quarterback and defensive back from 1957-59. He was the first black QB in what is now the Pac-12 Conference. He later became the first black head coach in the sport’s modern era with the World Football League’s Philadelphia Bell in 1975. He also was the first black head coach in the Canadian Football League with the Toronto Argonauts in 1980 and ’81. He also had stints as an assistant coach with the San Diego Chargers and Argonauts.