The Wild Man' Willey's Mythical Wild Game

 by Nick Webster 

Every so often, you’d hear whispers of it -- an NFL player erupting for a monster game, piling up four or five sacks on a hapless quarterback. It’s the kind of performance that makes headlines. In 1990, Derrick Thomas turned heads with an astonishing seven sacks against Seattle, setting the official NFL single-game record since sacks became a stat in 1982. Seven! That’s the kind of number that cements a legacy.

But then you’d hear the old-timers chime in, their voices tinged with a mix of reverence and defiance. "Seven’s nice," they’d say, "but it’s not even close to Norm Willey." According to legend, Willey, a defensive lineman for the Philadelphia Eagles, had what might be the greatest day any pass rusher could dream of. On October 26, 1952, at the Polo Grounds, Willey is said to have brought down New York Giants quarterbacks Charlie Conerly and Fred Benners a jaw-dropping 17 times.

Seventeen sacks. In one game. Let that sink in. Trey Hendrickson led the league this year with 17.5, in 17-games.

The story gets murky, though. Some accounts peg Willey’s total at 15, others at 14, or even 12. Back then, they didn’t call it a "sack" -- the term wasn’t coined until the 1960s and didn’t become an official stat until 1982. But make no mistake: Willey was blowing past blockers and planting Conerly and Benners into the turf, play after play, in a way that would make modern highlight reels blush.

Official or not, the numbers defy belief. In today’s game, a single sack can swing momentum. Ten sacks in a season earns you Pro Bowl buzz. Seventeen in a single afternoon? That’s the stuff of myth, a record that feels untouchable -- even if the record books don’t fully acknowledge it.

But is it true? Did the player called "Wildman" really have a double-digit sack game?

Hold that thought. I'll get to that.

Potentially record-setting game or not, Willey was a very good player and people should know about him. He was a 13th-round draft choice by the Philadelphia Eagles in 1950 and played eight years for the Birds. He was first-team All-Pro twice (one of them consensus) and second-team All-Pro once.

He most played right defensive end in either a two-point or three-point stance and would sometimes line up in a cocked position. The scheme (which the Bears' 46 defense was patterned after) allowed him to run free -- and Wildman Willey did.

Norm Willey #63

Norm Willey #86

From my film study, I think he was a superior end to Hall-of-Famer Ed Sprinkle. He was a more consistent pass rusher and made more players, regardless if he had a dozen or more in a single game. That can give you an idea of how good he was. Sprinkle is on the Hall and maybe Willey should be.

Well, did he have a double-digit sack game? Let's end the suspense. No. He did not.

That is according to Paul Zimmerman, the longtime writer for Sports Illustrated. Zimmerman (Dr. Z) was at the game and not only was he at the game, he scored it, making notes on his game program, as he did for every game he attended.

So, what did his notes for that game say, what caused Dr. Z to say the total number of sacks was less than 17, or 15, 14 or 12?

et's take a look:

Above is the cover of the program and on a page with an ad for Chesterfield,s there are some hand-written notes by Zim.

First and foremost at the top the blue ink denotes his thoughts on the game:

" ... strictly a defensive battle -- Giants held to 93 yards on ground  Philadelphia played one of the best defensive games I ever saw -- Pihos, E, Sears, T, Willey - G-E, Kilroy, G, - & Mike Jarmoluk -- all great".

On the page that showed the projected starting lineups, Dr. Z made corrections, showing that printed lineups were not always reliable. The listed starters sometimes were not the ones who actually started.

Of interest is that the projected starter at right defensive end was Jack Zilly (also a fine defensive end in his day) and not Norm Willey. In fact, in the previous week's 49-7 drubbing at the hands of the Cleveland Browns Willey hadn't played a single snap on defense (yielding right defensive end to Zilly) and played most of the game at left guard. It is also noteworthy that Paul Zimmerman noted that Willey played some guard in the Giants game noting, "Willey - G-E" but it is impossible to know how much without the film.

Here is a closeup of the Eagles side of the rosters and lineups page. 

On the left side are the tackles a player made. The "B" denotes a good block. The "P" is a tackle on a passer. You can see four "Ps" for Pihos and eight for Willey. Those are the times Willey took a passer down with the ball. Tackle Vic Sears was credited with one takedown and Mike Jarmoluk another for a team total of 14.

Here is a stat page created by Zimmerman himself reviewing offensive stats and also special teams stats (he called misc.).

Note the zoomed-in comment by Z in blue ball-point from that day, "14 times thrown for losses on a pass . . . . a record?"

You may be asking if these are official, no, they are not. But as you can see they are thorough and as likely as accurate, if not more so, than what the official scorer may have done, if the gamebook existed.

So, I think he can be considered this as the best available evidence that Norm "Wildman" Willey tackled quarterbacks attempting to pass eight times. And though it is not 17, 15 or 12 it is still one of the best ever single game totals, in fact, the most ever recorded by a credible source.

And that is something worth noting.