By: Giselle Martinez

Professional football player and coach Willie Wood, passed away on Feb. 3, 2020 after 83-years-old. Wood's football career began in college playing football and ended with him being a coach. After Wood graduated in 1956 from Armstrong High School, he went to Southern California and played football. His freshman year was played at Coalinga Junior College.

In 1957, Wood transferred to the University of Southern California, Los Angeles and played for the Trojans under first-year head coach Don Clark. He became the first African American quarterback in the history of the Pacific Coast Conference and its successor AAWU, now known as the Pac-12 Conference. In 1958, he was sidelined because of a shoulder injury, and in 1959 he missed several games because his right shoulder separated.

When the 1960 NFL draft came, Wood was not selected by any team. Instead he had to write a letter to the head coach of the Green Bay Packers, Vince Lombardi, and requested a tryout. He was then signed as a rookie free agent in 1960. He started as a quarterback, but after requesting to switch to defense he was recasted as a free safety. Wood was a safety for the Green Bay Packers for 11 years, from 1960-1971 and starred in all seasons until his retirement.

In a nine year stretch from 1962-1971, Wood won All-NFL honors. He participated in the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl eight times and played six times in the NFL, winning them all except in 1960. In Super Bowl I Wood, Green Bay Packers’ safety, snatched a wobbly pass thrown by the Kansas City Chiefs’ quarterback, Len Dawson, and zigzagged to the Chiefs’ end zone, earning a touchdown.

Wood’s interception is one of the most famous plays in Super Bowl history. In Super Bowl II, he returned five punts for 35 yards, including a 31-yard return that stood as the record for longest punt return in a Super Bowl until Darrell Green's 34-yard return in Super Bowl XVIII. In 1962, he won the NFL interception title and the league punt return championship.

Wood finished his 12 NFL seasons with 48 interceptions, which he returned for 699 yards and 2 touchdowns, gained 1,391 yards and scored 2 touchdowns on 187 punt returns. He holds the record for the most consecutive starts by a safety in NFL history. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1989, and the Packers Hall of Fame in 1977.

After retiring, Wood went on to become the defensive backs coach for the San Diego Chargers in the beginning of 1972. In 1975, he became the defensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Bell of the World Football League (WFL).

He became the first African-American head coach in professional football of the contemporary era. In 1979, Wood become an assistant coach for the Toronto Argonauts in the Canadian Football League, working under Forrest Gregg. After Gregg left, Wood took position of head coach and became the first black head coach in the CFL. He was fired in 1981 after achieving a start of 0-10.

In 2007, Wood was entered into an assisted living center in his hometown, Washington for physical distress, debilitating neck, hip and knee operations. He was later diagnosed with dementia, which took away many of his cognitive functions.

In 2016, New York Times writer Bill Pennington, interviewed Wood about his famous interception, that occurred in Super Bowl I. Wood had no recollection of him playing in the first Super Bowl on Jan. 15, 1967 or ever being on an NFL roster.

Wood also had no memory of him being entered into the hall of fame when asked by Dee Dee Daniels, an assistant living coordinator at the center where Wood lived. Pennington reported that Wood spent most of his time in a wheelchair and liked to wear a green Packers cap on most days as he sat in his sunny room listening to jazz and 1950s doo-wop. Sometimes he would wordlessly point at the logo as if he knew what it meant but had no actual specifics.

A Football Legend: Willie Wood