1. William Martin Heston was an American football player and coach.
47 Facts About Willie Heston
1. 2.
Willie Heston played halfback at San Jose State University and the University of Michigan.
3.
Willie Heston was the head football coach for Drake University in 1905 and North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, now North Carolina State University, in 1906.
4.
Willie Heston was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1954.
5.
Willie Heston was selected by the Football Writers Association of America as the halfback for its all-time team for the first 50 years of the sport.
6.
Willie Heston's father, John William Heston, was a tenant farmer near Galesburg.
7.
At age four, Willie Heston moved with his family to a river-bottom farm in Rippey, Iowa.
8.
Willie Heston reportedly had two near-death experiences while living in Iowa, the first after contracting "whooping cough" and the second when he fell into the Raccoon River and had to be rescued by his sister.
9.
At age nine, Willie Heston moved with his family to a ranch in southwestern Kansas, where Willie Heston was taken out of school to help the family raise money herding cattle.
10.
In 1894, Willie Heston moved with his family to a farm in Grant's Pass, Oregon.
11.
The local high school principal, Professor Champ Price, met Willie Heston and suggested that he attend high school.
12.
Willie Heston attended Grants Pass High School starting in 1895, and it was there that his athletic ability as a runner was discovered.
13.
Willie Heston graduated from high school in 1898 as the co-valedictorian of his class.
14.
In 1898, Willie Heston enrolled at San Jose State Normal School in San Jose, California, with plans to become a school teacher.
15.
Willie Heston was introduced to football while attending San Jose State.
16.
Willie Heston received his teaching degree from San Jose State and accepted a teaching job in Oregon in 1901.
17.
Willie Heston initially declined, but subsequently agreed and joined Yost at the University of Michigan in late summer of 1901.
18.
Willie Heston later wrote that his first touchdown at Michigan was his greatest thrill in football.
19.
Willie Heston's first game for Michigan was a September 1901 match against Albion College.
20.
Willie Heston snuck through the line, grabbed the ball as the quarterback was trying to throw it to a back, and ran the ball back 30 yards for his first Michigan touchdown.
21.
Willie Heston held the record for most rushing yards in a Rose Bowl game for 59 years.
22.
Willie Heston had what observers considered an uncanny ability to pivot and switch direction at full speed.
23.
Willie Heston played in the era when players remained in the game on both offense and defense.
24.
Willie Heston was a quick thinker, who anticipated opponents' plays.
25.
Willie Heston was always in the vicinity of the ball and never appeared to tire.
26.
Willie Heston has been acknowledged as the first to play at what later was designated as the tailback position on offense.
27.
In 1936, Arch Ward credited Willie Heston with leading to one of the "noteworthy transitions" in football history.
28.
In late 1904 or 1905, Willie Heston reportedly sought to establish a bidding contest for his services among the professional football teams.
29.
Willie Heston reportedly sent a telegram to the Massillon team advising that Akron had offered him $500 to play for them in a Thanksgiving Day game, and asking how much Massillon would be willing to pay.
30.
When Massillon learned the next day that Willie Heston had sent a similar telegram to the Akron club, both clubs refused to do business with him.
31.
The Canton Bulldogs offered him $500 a game in August 1905, but Willie Heston instead accepted a coaching position at Drake University for the 1905 season.
32.
In 1906, Willie Heston signed to play for the Canton Bulldogs, reportedly for $600 and expenses.
33.
Willie Heston next organized a team called "Willie Heston's All-Stars" to play a game against the Massillon Tigers at Chicago's Comiskey Park on Thanksgiving Day 1906.
34.
Early in the game, Willie Heston broke a bone in his leg, ending his professional football career.
35.
Willie Heston received his law degree from the University of Michigan in 1904.
36.
Willie Heston served as an assistant prosecuting attorney for Wayne County from 1911 to 1916.
37.
Willie Heston became a judge on the Detroit Recorders criminal court bench in 1916 and continued in that capacity through 1923.
38.
Willie Heston had two sons, John Heston and William M Heston Jr.
39.
Willie Heston ran a half-mile every morning until he was age 75, and remained vigorous and active into his eighties.
40.
Willie Heston suffered from a kidney ailment while staying at his summer home in Lake Manistee, Michigan, and had been hospitalized for four weeks at a hospital in Traverse City.
41.
The pallbearers at Willie Heston's funeral were former Michigan Wolverines football All-Americans Ernie Vick, Jack Blott, Bennie Oosterbaan, Francis Wistert, Harry Newman and Otto Pommerening.
42.
Willie Heston was the fastest starting back that ever lived.
43.
Willie Heston was the quickest back for a shift or a thrust or a sidestep I ever saw.
44.
Willie Heston was equally great at ripping open a line or shooting through a broken field.
45.
Willie Heston gained over 500 yards from scrimmage in any number of single contests.
46.
In 1953, Willie Heston was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
47.
Willie Heston was chosen as one of four backs for the pre-1920 squad.