Willie Lanier

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Willie Lanier
Date of birth	August 21, 1945 (age 61)
Place of birth	Clover, Virginia
Position(s)	Middle linebacker
College	Morgan State
AFL Draft	1967 / Round 2
Career Highlights
Pro Bowls	1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975
Awards	1971 Pro Bowl MVP
Honors	NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team
Retired #s	Kansas City Chiefs #63
Stats
Statistics	Pro Football Reference CBS.com DatabaseFootball
Team(s)
1967-1977	Kansas City Chiefs
College Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame, 1986

Willie Edward Lanier (born August 21, 1945, in Clover, Halifax County, Virginia) is a former American football middle-linebacker who played for the Kansas City Chiefs from 1967 through 1977. He won postseason honors for eight consecutive years, making the American Football League All-Star team in 1968 and 1969 before being selected to the Pro Bowl from 1970 through 1975. He was inducted into Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986.

1 Early life
2 College Football
3 Professional career
- 3.1 "Contact"
4 Honors
5 After the NFL
6 Filmography
7 See also
8 External links

[edit] Early life

Lanier was born in Clover and attended Maggie L. Walker High School in Richmond, Virginia.

[edit] College Football

Willie Lanier played college football in Morgan State University where he was twice selected to the small-college College Football All-America Team and was also chosen MVP of the Tangerine Bowl.

[edit] Professional career

On January 15, 1967, the Chiefs lost Super Bowl I to Vince Lombardi's Green Bay Packers by a 35-10 score, forcing head coach Hank Stram to look for defensive players in the upcoming draft. Stram picked Lanier in the second round, after the team had selected another linebacker, Jim Lynch of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Lynch had been chosen to play in the annual College All-Star game, forcing him to miss the first two weeks of Chiefs ' practice. By the time Lynch made it to camp, Lanier had already established himself as the team's middle linebacker. In the midst of a solid first season, Lanier suffered an injury and missed the last four games of the year

The following year, Lanier collected four interceptions, then matched that total in 1969 as he helped the Chiefs capture Super Bowl IV with a 23-7 upset of the Minnesota Vikings. Lanier was stellar in the Super Bowl, recording 7 tackles and an interception.

AFL-10 patch

The Chiefs would reach the NFL playoffs only one more time during Lanier's career, in 1971, winning the AFC Western Division title. On Christmas Day, in the final contest at Municipal Stadium, the Chiefs' season came to an end against the Miami Dolphins in a double overtime classic. The contest was the longest game in NFL history, clocking in at more than 82 minutes.

In 1972, the Chiefs moved to Arrowhead Stadium, but the change would not serve the team well, since by 1974, the team's talent had been depleted by age and injuries. After the conclusion of that season, Stram was fired after 15 years at the helm.

The linebacking trio of Lanier, Lynch and fellow Hall of Famer Bobby Bell is recognized as one of the most talented in professional football history, lasting until the arrival of new head coach Paul Wiggin in 1975.

Lanier was traded in April 1978 to the Baltimore Colts, but retired just three months later as training camp was set to get underway.

[edit] "Contact"

Lanier was known as Contact, a name coined by Chiefs' teammate Jerry Mays in 1967. As Lanier remembered: "Since I unfortunately followed the style of tackling that we were taught at that time - that was to use your head first of hitting players in the middle of their body. It was done in a rather aggressive manner".

But Lanier's uncontrolled tackling resulted in Chiefs' equipment manager Bobby Yarborough outfitting Lanier's helmet with extra padding. The padding was not on the inside of the helmet to protect Lanier but rather, as some photos of him in uniform show, on the outside of the helmet to protect the player he was tackling.

While renowned for his hitting ability, Lanier was also fast, agile and disciplined, finishing his career with 27 interceptions and 15 fumble recoveries.

		Interceptions				Fumbles
Season	Games	Int	Yds	Avg	TD	FumRec	Yds	TotScore
1967	10	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
1968	14	4	120	30	1	0	0	6
1969	14	4	70	17.5	0	1	5	0
1970	14	2	2	1	0	2	0	0
1971	14	2	38	19	0	3	3	0
1972	13	2	2	1.0	0	2	0	0
1973	14	3	47	15.7	1	3	10	0
1974	14	2	28	14	0	2	3	6
1975	14	5	105	21	0	0	0	2
1976	14	3	28	9.3	0	2	0	0
1977	14	0	0	0.0	0	2	0	0
Total	149	27	440	16.3	2	18	21	14

	Punt Return				Kick Returns
Season	PR	Yds	Avg	TD	KR	Yds	Avg	TD
1967	0	0	0	0	1	1	1.0	0

[edit] Honors

Willie Lanier received All-Pro (All-AFL or All-AFC) mentioning every year, snagging from 1968 to 1975 (last two AFL and first six AFC 's). In 1986 he achieved Pro Football Hall of Fame status.

1968. Elected to All-AFL (AFL-Star)'s Pro Bowl Game.
1969. Elected to All-AFL (AFL-Star)'s Pro Bowl Game.
1970. Elected to AFC-NFC NFL 's Pro Bowl Game.
1971. Elected to AFC-NFC NFL 's Pro Bowl Game. Defensive MVP of the league (co-winner).
1972. Elected to AFC-NFC NFL 's Pro Bowl Game (MVP-defense of the match). NFL 's Walter Payton Man of the Year Award (charitable work as player-citizen).
1973. Elected to AFC-NFC NFL 's Pro Bowl Game.
1974. Elected to AFC-NFC NFL 's Pro Bowl Game.
1975. Elected to AFC-NFC NFL 's Pro Bowl Game.
1985. Chiefs ' Hall of Fame.
1986. Second Chiefs ' player inducted into Pro Football Hall of Fame by the National Football League for the class of this year, at Canton, Ohio.
1994. NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team.
In 1999, he was ranked number 42 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, the highest-ranking Chief.

[edit] After the NFL

After Lanier's retirement, the Chiefs retired both Lanier's and Bell's numbers.

Lanier returned to school, taking graduate courses at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He then returned to Virginia as a stockbroker, at First Union Securities, where he now serves as vice-chairman.

In 2006, Lanier was interviewed for the NFL Network documentary America's Game: The Super Bowl Champions chronicling the 1969 Kansas City Chiefs season.

[edit] Filmography

1974. The Black Six. As Tommy Bunka. Directed by Matt Cimber (Matteo Ottaviano). Drama about racism in a southern town, with six black bikers (The Black Six) avenging the death of a friend. Lanier teamed with other greatest stars of the 1970s (Joe Greene, Carl Eller, Gene Washington, Mercury Morris).
2000. Super Bowl XXXIV (TV). As coin-tosser.