(Photo: KRON4)
When building a football team, you must draft a cornerstone piece on the offensive side of the football, an Offensive Tackle that can guide the line for a decade at least and a cornerstone piece on the defensive side of the ball. Often times on social media, I often see a question relating to sports, “who would you consider the blue bloods of a sport”? This got me to thinking about the blue bloods in the NFL and one of the first teams that immediately came up were the San Francisco 49ers. Look at all the legendary names who have played for this franchise. Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott, Terrell Owens and guess what all of those men have in common? They are recipients of the legendary gold jacket in Canton, Ohio. Just a few years back, Bryant Young got his knock to the hall. This Summer, Patrick Willis will join all those names I listed as he will be enshrined in Canton. He’s finally a Hall of Famer!
Patrick is the best Middle Linebacker of his era and that goes without saying after watching him for all of those years. He was always anchoring those San Francisco defenses in the middle and became the unquestioned leader of those units. Whenever I watched him, I always noticed the physical force he was. Patrick played with a mean streak and was always moving downhill to get to the football. Wherever that football was, number 52 was either right there or in the vicinity of the ball. Patrick was the type of defender that made an offensive player think twice about coming over the middle of the field because he would greet you and throw himself into the recipient of the ball with a bruising hit. I’ve seen many great tacklers over the years and Patrick is one of the best that I’ve seen without question in that department. He was so quick to pursue the ball and would trap you with his closing speed. Patrick was extremely instinctive and that’s a key trait to have when you’re a Middle Linebacker. He would use those smarts and most importantly, his strengths against you. Again, he had the quickness to either get home to the Quarterback or make a tackle along with having the strength to rip through blockers and make his mark. The one part of his game where he didn’t get enough credit was how he played in coverage. He would drop back with his eyes on the Quarterback and either knock the football down or intercept it. Patrick did whatever he could to make the best possible play for his defense.
I remember when Mike Singletary was the Head Coach of the 49ers, he made a comment that I’ve remembered for years now. Mike stated that he’s been able to coach two great Linebackers. One that already proved to be the best and one who will prove to be. He was referring to Ray Lewis and Patrick Willis. Even Ray stated he loved the way Patrick played the game and how he played with fire. When two of the best to play Middle Linebacker are giving you praise, you’ve done something right. Patrick was the closest thing I’ve seen to Ray in our game. Although his career was short, he won Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2007 and finished his career with 950 tackles. You all should know the rule by now! You better have game if you have two first names!
