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Hardship and determination paved way to Hall of Fame for linebacker Patrick Willis
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- Hardship and determination paved way to Hall of Fame for linebacker Patrick Willis
CANTON— Dreams do come true. Some are lucky enough to realize when it is happening and have the foresight to appreciate it. Such was the case one moment early in the career of Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker 49ers -browns-joe-thomas/74064072007/">Patrick Willis .
During his enshrinement speech, Willis recalled a moment from his pro career that took him back to when he was a sixth-grader watching pro football videos in the school library after classes ended while waiting to play in games.
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"I started watching a Walter Payton autobiography," Willis said. "I saw so many players speak on that video. I was in awe. This was a real life superhero. He became my first role model. He came from a place similar to mine. He grew up like me, in a place with farm fields and woodlands.
Patrick Willis gives his remarks at the Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Canton.
"I saw Jerry Rice, Roger Craig and Mike Singletary talk about him. They all talked about this thing called work ethic. I thought, 'Wait. If that's what it takes to get there, I have that.' Fast forward to 2008. It's my second season in the NFL. I'm going out to midfield with the team captains at Candlestick Park. To the left of me was Jerry Rice. To the right of me was Roger Craig. Behind me was Mike Singletary. It was all three of the players in the autobiography on Walter Payton I watched back in sixth grade. It was a surreal moment for me."
His time growing up in Tennessee was a focus of the enshrinement speech for Willis. It was the lessons learned during that time that helped forge Willis into one of the greatest linebackers of his era.
Patrick Willis joins his sister and presenter Ernicka Willis to unveil his bust at the Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Canton.
"Some may not know this but I grew up in the rural south in a trailer at the end of a dirt road with no running water until I was 8 years old," Willis said. "We lived at the bottom of the hill. My grandparents lived at the top. Every day, my siblings and I carried empty five gallon buckets up the hill to get water and carried them back down. I remember carrying those buckets and telling myself, 'If I can make it from here all the way back home without stopping, I'll get stronger.' Physically it made me stronger but I was also building mental strength along the way."
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It was during a "Monday Night Football" game Willis watched on television in his grandparents' trailer that he realized what his destiny would be.
"Something happened," Willis said. "After kickoff, I had a vision of me running downfield to make tackle. I heard a voice within me say, 'You will do this. You are special. You have greatness in you.' I not only heard the voice inside me but I felt it in my solar plexus. I can't explain it but I felt the energy confirming my destiny. It came from the most high and it was pouring through me. I was 11 years old and my vision told me what I was going to be. My future was set. I was going to play in the NFL."
2024 Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinee Patrick Willis in The 2024 Canton Repository Grand Parade, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024.
It was a voice Willis would seemingly hear throughout his career, one that recognized when his time as a player was up.
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"Monday Night Football," Willis said. "Oct. 13, 2014. I still remember the last play of my career. I remember what I heard inside me. A voice said, 'This is a job well done my son and faithful, loyal servant.' I had completed what I had come to do in the time I had been allotted in the NFL."
The voice Willis heard was correct, a fact that could easily be recognized by the trademark gold jacket worn by a Pro Football Hall of Famer on the Canton stage. Adversity conquered. Glory eternally achieved.
Reach Cliff at cliff.hickman@cantonrep.com
On X: @chickmanREP
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Patrick Willis Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Speech
