LAS VEGAS – Say hello to Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Patrick Willis.
That appropriate introduction finally can be made. Thursday night’s big reveal at the NFL Honors included Willis, a 49ers linebacker from 2007-14, as part of this summer’s enshrinement class to football’s hallowed Hall in Canton, Ohio.
Willis, 39, broke through in his fifth year of eligibility, having been a finalist each of the past three years.
@PatrickWillis52 | #NFLHonors | @ProFootballHOF pic.twitter.com/heNVJfZ6Iq
— NFL (@NFL) February 9, 2024
Toe injuries prompted him to retire in 2015, and while a 7 ½-year career may seem short to some, Willis separated himself from his peers and proved elite in that tenure. That is how Willis stated his case last May, when he was being inducted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame at a San Francisco ceremony.
“I always heard (NFL) football was for Not For Long,” Willis said then. “Whether it ended tomorrow or four years from now, I wanted to be able to evaluate and stop and say, ‘Look at this time. I was giving it everything I had.’
“That’s what I was graded on. Not what could have been, what he should have done,” Willis added. “Take what you see and do what you will with it.”
The Pro Football Hall of Fame’s 50-person selection committee elected Willis for the Aug. 3 enshrinement.
Willis’ jolting hits, quick feet and ball-hawking instincts earned him perennial Pro Bowl honors his first seven seasons, as well as an AP First-Team All-Pro five times. He was the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2007 after being drafted 11th overall out of Mississippi.
He totaled 950 tackles, 20 ½ sacks, 16 forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries and eight interceptions in 112 games, which are tied with Ken Norton Jr. for most appearances by a 49ers’ linebackers.
Willis joined the 49ers under coach Mike Nolan and personnel czar Scot McCloughan, but his greatest mentor proved to be Mike Singletary, who eventually got promoted to replace Nolan.
Singletary, a Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker with the Chicago Bears, has long championed Willis’ game-changing ability. When Willis got inducted to the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame, Singletary presented him and did so by expressing his dismay that Willis was not elected to Canton on the first ballot.
The 49ers inducted Willis into their Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. Hall of Fame in 2022. Willis is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame (2019), and the Ole Miss Sports Hall of Fame (2015). He overcame a rough childhood in Bruceton, Tennessee en route to football fame.
Six games into the 2014 season, Willis required toe surgery to effectively end his career, with his official retirement announcement coming the following spring among a wave of other 49ers’ exits.
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“If I had it my way, who knows how it could have ended out if I kept playing,” Willis said last May. “I hadn’t spoken on it a whole lot but my other toe was just as bad. At some point, you had to make that decision.”
Although 27 other players in Pro Football Hall of Fame played for the 49ers, Willis is only the sixth to play his entire career with the 49ers.
Current 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan was coaching at Washington under his father, Mike, when Willis’ 11 tackles helped key a 27-6 road win in 2013. Asked what he remembered of Willis, Shanahan replied: “They had a hell of a defense and he was the best guy out there.”
The 49ers’ ownership group commended Willis through a statement:
“Congratulations to Patrick Willis on his well-deserved honor of being elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Willis has cemented his legacy as one of the greatest linebackers in NFL history. He set a standard of excellence and provided exemplary leadership for his teammates. His grit and passion for the game anchored our defense and elevated everyone around him. We join the 49ers Faithful in celebrating Willis as a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2024.”
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