44 Facts About Willis Glassgow

Willis Allen "Bill" Glassgow graduated from Shenandoah Iowa high school.

Willis Glassgow played halfback for the University of Iowa from 1927 to 1929, was selected as a first-team All-American in 1929, and received the 1929 Chicago Tribune Silver Football as the best football player in the Big Ten Conference.

Willis Glassgow played two seasons of professional football in the National Football League for the Portsmouth Spartans in 1930 and the Chicago Cardinals in 1931.

Willis Glassgow practiced law in Iowa from 1933 to 1959, including two terms as the Page County Attorney and three terms as the Linn County Attorney.

Willis Glassgow was the son of Franklin and Nellie Glassgow and lived on a farm west of Wheeling for the first ten years of his life.

Willis Glassgow moved with his family to Shenandoah, Iowa, in 1916 and attended Shenandoah High School where he was selected as Iowa's all-state quarterback as a sophomore in 1922.

Willis Glassgow was the captain of Shenandoah's 1923 football team.

Willis Glassgow was the starting shortstop and leading hitter of the 1927 Iowa baseball team that tied for the Big Ten Conference championship.

Willis Glassgow gained his greatest acclaim playing at the halfback position for Iowa's football team from 1927 to 1929.

Willis Glassgow was the football team's leading ground gainer three straight years, a record that has not been equaled.

Willis Glassgow ran into a tackler so hard the poor Minnesota fellow got up and lined up in our backfield on the next play.

Willis Glassgow's punting helped keep Minnesota from scoring in the first three quarters.

Willis Glassgow placed fourth in the voting for the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy as the most valuable player in the Big Ten Conference in 1928 and was elected by his teammates as the captain of the 1929 Iowa Hawkeyes football team.

Willis Glassgow was apparently immune to injury, and despite the fact that he was the target of every defense the Hawkeyes encountered, he almost never called for time out.

On October 5,1929, Willis Glassgow scored the first touchdown in Iowa's new football stadium, now known as Kinnick Stadium, on a 31-yard run.

Willis Glassgow scored the first touchdown in the official dedication game against the University of Illinois.

Willis Glassgow wore a protective face mask in the 1929 Illinois game to protect a broken cheek bone suffered in an earlier game.

Willis Glassgow ran off the tackles, he ripped into the line and he passed.

Willis Glassgow literally carried almost the entire Purdue team with him at times.

Willis Glassgow was named the outstanding back in the country by The New York Sun and received the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy as the most valuable player in the Big Ten Conference.

Willis Glassgow was honored by being selected to play for the East team in the 1930 East-West Shrine Game.

In four years of football at Iowa, Willis Glassgow was credited with running for 1,424 yards on 364 attempts for an average of four yards per attempt.

Willis Glassgow scored a total of 80 points for the Hawkeyes on 10 touchdowns 17 extra points, and one field goal.

Willis Glassgow successfully converted 17 out of 22 extra point kicks.

Willis Glassgow graduated from Iowa with a bachelor of arts degree in 1930.

Willis Glassgow attended spring training with the Cardinals but was released to the minor leagues at the end of March 1929.

Willis Glassgow played in 1930 for the Cardinals' Western League club in St Joseph, Missouri and for the team in Moline, Illinois.

Willis Glassgow was a teammate of Dizzy Dean at St Joseph in 1930.

Willis Glassgow started all 12 games for the 1930 Spartans.

Willis Glassgow played professional football in 1931 for the Chicago Cardinals- later to become St Louis and then Arizona Cardinals.

Willis Glassgow attended law school at the University of Iowa College of Law while playing professional football, using the money he earned in the NFL to pay for his legal education.

Willis Glassgow was in his final year of law school at the time and sought the extra remuneration to pay his expenses.

Willis Glassgow applied to the conference for reinstatement of his amateur status, but the application was denied.

Willis Glassgow received his law degree in 1933 and began practicing law in Shenandoah, Iowa.

Willis Glassgow was elected as the Page County Attorney in November 1934 and served two terms in the office from 1935 to 1939.

In 1939, Willis Glassgow moved his law practice to Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Willis Glassgow was thrice elected as a Republican to the position of Linn County Attorney in 1950,1952 and 1954.

In 1957, Willis Glassgow left the county attorney's office to enter into private practice.

Willis Glassgow returned to the county attorney's office in February 1959 as Assistant Linn County Attorney.

Willis Glassgow married Hansetta McHugh in August 1931 at Princeton, Illinois.

Willis Glassgow died of leukemia in November 1959 at age 52.

Willis Glassgow was survived by his wife, Hansetta, two children, Willis Glassgow, Jr.

Willis Glassgow was a member of St John's Episcopal Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the Elks Club, the Cedar Rapids Country Club, the Tri-Centum Lodge of the Antient Free and Accepted Masons, the Iowa Consistory, the El Kahir Shrine, the Pickwick Club and the American, Iowa and Linn County Bar Associations.

In 1973, Willis Glassgow was inducted into The Des Moines Register's Iowa Sports Hall of Fame.