Willie Daniel
| No. 44, 46 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Cornerback | ||
| Personal information | |||
| Born: | November 10, 1937 New Albany, Mississippi | ||
| Died: | June 29, 2015 (aged 77) Starkville, Mississippi | ||
| Height: | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||
| Weight: | 190 lb (86 kg) | ||
| Career information | |||
| High school: | Starkville (MS) | ||
| College: | Mississippi State | ||
| Undrafted: | 1961 | ||
| Career history | |||
| Career NFL statistics | |||
| |||
William Paul Daniel (November 10, 1937 – June 29, 2015) was an American football defensive back who played nine seasons in the NFL.
Career
[edit]Daniel was born in New Albany, Mississippi. He played high school football at Macon High School[1] and in college at Mississippi State.[2] He went undrafted in the 1961 NFL draft but was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he played for six seasons and made 11 interceptions and one touchdown. In 1967, he was signed to the Los Angeles Rams, playing for three seasons and making three interceptions.[3] In 1969, a knee injury forced him to retire from football.[2]
Post-football career
[edit]Following retirement, Daniel returned to Starkville and began an insurance company. In 1970, he opened an athletic club, which led to the formation of the Mississippi Racquetball Association in 1975. He also coached junior football and baseball teams. In 1986, he was elected into the Mississippi State Sports Hall of Fame.[2]
Personal life and health
[edit]In 1959, Daniel married Ruth Nash. They had three children. Within the last decade of his life, Daniel suffered from dementia attributed to the numerous concussions he received during his football career. He became a part of a Boston University research project for football head injuries. He donated a portion of his brain and spinal cord for the project in hopes of developing procedures and equipment to make the sport safer for athletes.
Daniel died on June 29, 2015, aged 77.[2] He was diagnosed after death with stage 4 CTE.[4] He was one of at least 345 NFL players to be diagnosed after death with this disease, which is caused by repeated hits to the head.[5][6]
References
[edit]- ^ "Ruth Daniel on Husband/Former Steeler Defensive Back Willie Daniel, 1961-1966". Archived from the original on November 6, 2018. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
- ^ a b c d Obituary
- ^ Stats at NFL.com
- ^ Cleveland, Rick (August 4, 2017). "CTE victim Willie Daniel's friends, doctors want to save football and its players". Mississippi Today. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
- ^ "The driving force behind Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE)". Concussion Legacy Foundation. Archived from the original on July 2, 2023. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
- ^ Ken Belson and Benjamin Mueller (June 20, 2023). "Collective Force of Head Hits, Not Just the Number of Them, Increases Odds of C.T.E. The largest study of chronic traumatic encephalopathy to date found that the cumulative force of head hits absorbed by players in their careers is the best predictor of future brain disease". The New York Times. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
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