Willie Heston
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| Sport(s) | Football |
|---|---|
| Biographical details | |
| Born |
September 9, 1878 Galesburg, Illinois |
| Died | September 9, 1963 (aged 85) Traverse City, Michigan |
| Playing career | |
| 1898–1900 | San Jose State |
| 1901–1904 | Michigan |
| 1906 | Canton Bulldogs |
| Position(s) | Halfback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1905 | Drake |
| 1906 | North Carolina A&M |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 7–5–4 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Awards | |
| All-American (1903, 1904) Camp All-time All-America team Yost All-time All-America team |
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College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 1954 (profile) |
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William Martin "Willie" Heston (September 9, 1878 – September 9, 1963) was an American football player and coach. He played halfback at San Jose State University and the University of Michigan. Heston was the head football coach for Drake University in 1905 and North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, now North Carolina State University, in 1906. After he retired from coaching, he practiced law and served as a state court judge in Michigan. Heston was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1954. He was selected by the Football Writers Association of America as the halfback for its all-time team for the first 50 years of the sport. University of Michigan coach Fielding H. Yost rated him as the greatest player of all-time.
Heston was born in Galesburg, Illinois in 1878. His father, John William Heston, was a tenant farmer near Galesburg. At age four, Heston moved with his family to a river-bottom farm in Rippey, Iowa. Heston reportedly had two near-death experiences while living in Iowa, the first after contracting "whooping cough" and the second when he fell into the Raccoon River and had to be rescued by his sister.
At age nine, Heston moved with his family to a ranch in southwestern Kansas, where Heston was taken out of school to help the family raise money herding cattle. In 1894, Heston moved with his family to a farm in Grant's Pass, Oregon. As a teenager, he worked digging a ditch to supply water to a mine and chopping down and selling firewood.
The local high school principal, Professor Champ Price, met Heston and suggested that he attend high school. Heston attended Grants Pass High School starting in 1895, and it was there that his athletic ability as a runner was discovered. He graduated from high school in 1898 as the co-valedictorian of his class.
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