Ole Miss legend Patrick Willis inducted into Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2024
Patrick Willis, long ago, left Ole Miss as, inarguably, one of the greatest football Rebels in school history. The elite of the elite.
Now Willis belongs to the sport’s most exclusive club, period.
Willis, on Thursday, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a member of its Class of 2024. The inductees were announced during NFL Honors and in advance of LVIII on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. CT.
Willis becomes just the third former Rebel enshrined in Canton, Ohio. He joins Bruiser Kinard (1970) and Gene Hickerson (2007).
“I once heard somebody say it’s not so much how long you live, but it’s how effective you live while you’re alive,” Willis said, in a previous interview with the Dan Le Batard Show. Willis and Kinard are the only Rebels that are members of both the Pro Football and College Football Halls of Fame.
“That’s how I think of myself when I think about the game. Given the time that I had, I just tried to be effective and tried to make it count with what time I had.”
Willis was an all-American linebacker as a Rebel.
He won both the Butkus Award and Lambert Trophy as a senior. Willis registered at least 100 tackles in six of his eight seasons.
He starred for Ole Miss from 2003 to 2006. No Rebel has been named to more All-American teams (13) in a single season, and he twice led the SEC in tackles. Willis was a first-team All-American in 2005 and 2006 and a two-time SEC Defensive Player of the Year.
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He’s sixth in Ole Miss history in career tackles (355) and tied for sixth in career tackles for loss (33). Willis was the recipient of the 2006 Conerly Trophy, which is handed out annually to Mississippi’s best college football player. Willis, that same year, was also the recipient of Ole Miss’ Chucky Mullins Courage Award. He was inducted into the Ole Miss Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.
Willis was the No. 11 overall selection of the San Francisco 49ers in the 2007 NFL Draft.
He won NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.
Willis was a seven-time Pro Bowler, as well as a five-time All-Pro. He finished his NFL career with 950 combined tackles (732 solo, 218 assists), 20.5 sacks, 16 forced fumbles, five fumbles recovered, eight interceptions and two defensive touchdowns.
“This wasn’t something I just woke up one day and had an injury and decided I’m through,” Willis told Le Batard of his decision to retire. “I’d been dealing with this. I told myself when my feet go out, that’s going to be the tell of when it’s time for me.
“It was just taking a whole lot mentally and physically for me just be able to get up and play at that level. The game meant too much. I could have stayed around and done this and that, but that’s not how I’m built. That’s not how I’m wired.”
Willis is joined in the 2024 class by Dwight Freeney, Devin Hester, Andre Johnson, Julius Peppers, Randy Gradishar (senior) and Steve McMichael (senior). He finally made it in after missing out during each of the previous five selection processes.
