P-Willy, Still in Style: All-time Ole Miss football great named to 2023 SEC Football Legends Class
Patrick Willis is one of the more celebrated players, let alone linebackers, in both Ole Miss and NFL history.
And the post-playing-career accolades have only continued to pour in following his surprising retirement announcement eight years ago.
Willis walked away in his prime and after eight seasons with the San Francisco 49ers. But his legacy endures, as was again proven on Thursday. Willis was selected as one of 14 members of the 2023 SEC Legends Class. The group will be honored at the SEC Football “Weekend of Champions” December 1-2 in Atlanta.
Among the planned festivities for Willis and his fellow inductees is the annual SEC Legends Celebration (December 1) at the College Football Hall of Fame. They’ll also be recognized before the SEC Football Championship Game on Saturday, December 2.
Willis is one of 10 Ole Miss Rebels inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame either as a player or a coach. He was part of the 2019 class.
“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.
“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 is an all-time Ole Miss great and four-year letter-winner for the Rebels from 2003-06.
He was a consensus All-American as a senior. He also won the Butkus Award and Lambert Trophy that year as the nation’s best linebacker. Willis twice led the SEC in tackles.
Willis had the most single-season, first-team All-American selections by a Rebel (13) in program history. He was a first team All-American in both 2005 and 2006, and he was also a two-time SEC Defensive Player of the Year.
Willis was a team captain as a senior and ranks sixth all-time at Ole Miss in career tackles (355). He’s tied for sixth in career tackles for loss (33). He was the recipient of the 2006 Conerly Trophy as the best college football player in the state of Mississippi. Willis was the 2006 recipient of the Ole Miss Chucky Mullins Courage Award as well.
Willis was a 2015 inductee into the Ole Miss Sports Hall of Fame. He was named to Sports Illustrated’s All-Decade Team of the 2000s and was the No. 11 overall selection of the 2007 NFL Draft and won NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. Willis was named to the Pro Bowl in all but one of his seasons (7) with the 49ers. He was voted All-Pro five times.
Willis finished his NFL career with 950 combined tackles (732 solo, 218 assists).
He added 20.5 sacks, 16 forced fumbles, five fumbles recovered, eight interceptions and two defensive touchdowns. He retired due to nagging foot injuries.
“This wasn’t something I just woke up one day and had an injury and decided I’m through,” Willis told Le Batard. “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.”
