Class of 2024: Patrick Willis – Completed what he came to do in NFL

Enshrinement Published on : 8/3/2024

By Barry Wilner
Special to the Pro Football Hall of Fame

PATRICK WILLIS played only eight pro seasons. His career was so dynamic that the 49ers linebacker made five All-Pro teams and the NFL Team of the Decade for the 2010s.

And he’s now a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

“‘Monday Night Football,’ October 13, 2014,” Willis said Saturday as he began his powerful enshrinement speech before an enthusiastic crowd that waited out a storm delay. “I still remember the last play of my NFL career, and what I heard inside me. I heard, `Job well done, my son, my faithful and loyal servant!’ In that moment, I realized I had completed what I had come to do, with the time the Lord had allotted me to play in the National Football League.

“It’s not necessarily how long you play, but how impactful you are.”

Willis had such a strong impact from the outset that he was voted the league’s Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2007, when he was the 11th overall draft pick. He also made his first of five All-Pro squads that season – unusual for first-year players.

But Willis was a rarity, a three-down defender who made plays all over the field. He made a massive 174 tackles as a rookie, a record leading to his being selected for the Pro Bowl, the only rookie defender in the game. Twice he led the league in solo and combined tackles. He would be chosen for the Pro Bowl in all but his final NFL season, when injuries limited him to six games – and led to an early retirement.

How good was Willis at dominating offenses? In 2011, he was the key to San Francisco not allowing a rushing touchdown for the first 15 weeks of the schedule. The next season, he helped the Niners to the Super Bowl and made 10 tackles in a tight defeat against Baltimore.

Willis joins the likes of JIM BROWN, GALE SAYERS, CALVIN JOHNSON and TERRELL DAVIS as Canton enshrinees despite leaving the playing field before age 30. But leaving it fulfilled.

“I have a friend who recently said to me, `Every single thing in life revolves only around two things: to choose to do something or to choose not to. When we

make whatever choice it is, we want to ask ourselves, “Does this choice empower or disempower me?”’

“When he shared this with me, I can honestly say, that to the very best of my ability, I always strive to not only do my best, but to also be my best. I never give up, never quit on myself.

“Through my example, I hope my story can be a template for you to achieve your greatness, to inspire and help you empower yourself to live the life that fulfills your God-given vision of success.”

His determination to do what few people can became evident early. A guidance counselor asked Willis, then an eighth-grader, what he planned to do in life.

“And I said I wanted to be a professional athlete and play in the NFL.”

The counselor’s immediate response was that “less than 1 percent of those who try to make it to the NFL succeed.” For which Willis had an answer at age 13:

“I confidently said, `I will be part of that 1 percent.’”

Now, he is part of an even more elite group, one of 378 people enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, including the late WALTER PAYTON, Willis’ “superhero.”

“I am elated to know that I will no longer be known not simply as Patrick Willis, but as Hall of Famer Patrick Willis,” he said. “I salute my high school, college and NFL brothers. Now, what a privilege it is to stand with my Hall of Fame brothers in the Hall of Football Immortality.

“If you want to reach the peak in your success, you cannot cheat the grind, for the grind knows what you put in.”

More on the Enshrinement of each class member

Class members are listed in order of their Enshrinement speeches:

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Selection to an NFL All-Decade Team is as impressive as it gets. So how about being chosen to two of them? Julius Peppers managed that, making the squads of the 2000s and 2010s, pretty much assuring him of a quick entry into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Class of 2024: Devin Hester – Enshrinement brings deeper respect to return game

When it comes to kick returners earning a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the challenge is almost as immense as the impact of a runback for a touchdown.