“Everybody wanted to win the last game for Larry. Support local journalism. Wilson finished the ’66 season with 10 interceptions and was named to his first of five successive All-Pro teams. The next day, the Buffalo Bills, the AFL team that had drafted Wilson, matched that salary offer, but declined to pay anything up front. “I just knew Larry Wilson was going to get an interception,” Bill Nelson said. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. When Wilson’s playing career ended after the 1972 season, he took a job in the team’s front office and worked in a variety of roles until retiring in 2003. Trailing 17-0 in the second quarter, Wilson intercepted a Frank Ryan pass and returned it 96 yards for a touchdown. A few years ago, Wilson laughed at how the legend of the cast had grown. Wilson had broken the middle fingers on each hand in a previous game during the 1965 season. Thanks for your comments Lyle! For Larry, it was always about everyone else and what he could do for them. He was an assistant Director of Operations and Pro-Personnel Director in St. Louis. After 43 years with the organization, Wilson retired in 2003 after the Cardinals finally got their new stadium in Glendale. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. “He was someone who truly lived his faith and demonstrated it daily in the kindness he showed every single person he met. However, the Buffalo Bills also selected Wilson in the first round of the upstart AFL draft. The Cardinals won 24-23 to finish 4-9-1 for the second consecutive year. “I came awful close to signing with Buffalo,” Wilson told the St. Louis Post Dispatch. I think that’s the greatest thing — getting some place that you can call your own, finally.”. Pingback: Larry Wilson on NFL Today | THE BIG RED ZONE, Pingback: Big Red Tough Guy: Dan Dierdorf | THE BIG RED ZONE. The way I think about the Bears, even though I wasn’t with the Cardinals in their Chicago years, is that the Bears are always among the best teams in the league.”, “He’s unreal,” Jim Bakken said after the game. When Giants quarterback Y.A. Wilson's memorabilia has not gone unnoticed either. When the Cardinals moved to Arizona in 1988, Wilson became vice president and general manager, positions he held until 1993. He once played a game with casts on both hands and intercepted a pass. “He changed my career right quick. GREAT article on the ULTIMATE and CONSUMMATE football player, Larry Wilson…not to mention NICE GUY! His signature became the safety blitz. At the time, safeties and cornerbacks typically lined up against wide receivers or deep in the backfield. The New York press was buzzing and Wildcat Wilson was on his way to becoming a star. Even in grade school he would want to go out to play sports in the snow. He was slightly built and a ferocious hitter. I almost cried when he was hurt and the fans started chanting ‘Wilson Wilson, Wilson.’ It was really moving.”, Wilson’s teammate Bob Rowe, who played a strong game on defense, agreed with Arneson and added, “It may sound corny, but I personally dedicated this game to Larry. If he was fierce on the field, Wilson was easygoing and humble off it. “If I’d known you were this small,” Tittle told him, “I’d never have been that scared of you.”. During his last visit to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio — for the 2016 induction ceremony — Wilson and the other Hall of Famers in attendance lined up in their gold jackets. To most, he was this ferocious and fierce football player who some described as pound for pound the toughest player of his generation. Subscribe to azcentral.com today. It was November 7, 1965 at old Busch Stadium. Wilson was prepared to sign with the Bills until Cardinals Vice President Bill Bidwill paid him a visit in Salt Lake City. Wilson had been treated for cancer, the team said in announcing his death. But he wasn’t finished. He finished his career, which spanned 169 games with the Cardinals, with 52 interceptions and had 800 career interception yards and the single-game record for interception return yardage (152) and the long interception return (96). They called the safety blitz the “Wildcat.”, “It turned out to be a lot of fun,” Wilson said. He was drafted by the Chicago Cardinals, played for the St. Louis Cardinals, and was General Manager of the Arizona Cardinals. “I just didn’t want,” he said, “to be a target for all those pigeons.”, Larry Wilson, Who Made Safety an N.F.L. But the Cardinals’ defense, with Wilson at its core, was ranked in the top half of the league for seven of his 13 seasons. Only 6-feet and 190 pounds, Wilson was fearless and tough. Wilson would earn his first Pro Bowl appearance in 1962 and scored his first touchdown when he returned an Eddie LeBaron interception 57 yards in a 28-24 win over the Cowboys. Larry played his last game on a frozen Busch Stadium turf on December 17, 1972 against the Philadelphia Eagles. The Cards scored on the next play and won the game 21-17. He was one of six safeties named to the N.F.L.’s all-time team, chosen to honor the league’s 100th anniversary in 2019. And especially in the times we live, that’s something that that we could use more of today.”. Larry had broken both of his hands on two separate plays against the New York Giants. Wilson symbolized the NFL of the 1960s. He will always be Mr. Cardinal. The Big Red unleashed “Wildcat” in the 1961 season opener against the Giants at Yankee Stadum. He almost didn’t. The true story? Larry Wilson, who is credited with innovating the safety blitz and once intercepted a pass with two broken hands, died Thursday at the age of 82. Tittle, the Hall of Fame quarterback who was on the receiving end of more than a few of Wilson’s safety blitzes. With the Bears again threatening in the closing minutes, he picked off another Bukich pass to seal the 24-17 victory. Wilson’s red number-8 Cardinals jersey was sent to the Pro Football Hall of Fame after the game. “Larry Wilson is not able to do the things that he did three or four years ago,” Wilson said during the 1972 season. The Cardinals offered no bonus, but a $9500 salary that was contingent on him making the team. He matched an NFL record by intercepting passes in seven consecutive games including a spectacular one-handed grab that he returned 91 yards for a touchdown against the Eagles at Franklin Field. Our prayers, thoughts condolences are with the loved ones of the … Among those people was a veteran defensive back named Jimmy Hill, an African-American who befriended a skinny white guy who was raised in Rigby, Idaho and played at Utah. He played for 13 seasons, made the Pro Bowl eight times and was all-NFL six times. He led the Skyline Conference in scoring in 1959 and earned an invitation to the East-West Shrine game. In 1973, a year after he retired, friends wanted to erect a statue of Wilson in St. Louis. “It’s all right,” he said. Money was raised, but Wilson said he’d prefer that it be spent on the St. Louis Children’s Hospital. He was named a first-team All-Pro five times and selected to eight Pro Bowls. “I hadn’t been around too many Black guys,” Wilson said. Not only is he a member of the NFLs 1960s Team of the Decade, he is also a member of the NFLs 75th anniversary team and was recently named to the NFL 100th All-time Anniversary Team. Microsoft may earn an Affiliate Commission if you purchase something through recommended links in this article. “It’s not right for the Cardinals to have me out there anymore. He hit offensive players with ferocity and fearlessness, and in the process helped revolutionize the game. “It save me thousands of dollars. Drulis called it the “Wildcat” and it would change NFL defenses forever. A game-worn Larry Wilson jersey was auctioned for nearly $4800. He served as interim head coach for the final three games of the 1979 season. “Of course, today they blitz everyone.”. Larry picked off three Rudy Bukich passes. “We’ve always dressed in a baseball locker room, or somebody else’s locker room. He was elevated from pro personnel director to the general manager at the end of the 1988 season, the team’s first in Arizona. “Was I up for this one?” the smiling Wilson told the Post Dispatch after the game. Wilson later became the first official General Manager of the Cardinals shortly after the team moved to Arizona in 1988. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/18/sports/football/larry-wilson-dead.html Larry continued to grow as a player and had another Pro Bowl season in 1963. Larry spent most of his post-playing career as an executive with the Cardinals. “Besides my father, Larry Wilson was the most influential male figure in my life,” Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill said in a statement. 8, in action against the Cleveland Browns in an undated photo. His number 8 jersey was retired by the team, and Wilson is in the ring of honor at State Farm Stadium. "While he will be recognized for his toughness and excellence on the field and his many contributions to the Cardinals organization, we will also remember Larry as loyal, humble and kind to everyone he met. The Big Red were scheduled to play their last exhibition game in San Francisco and then open the season in Los Angeles the following week. Wilson suffered a cracked rib early in the contest when he dragged down a young Eagles receiver Harold Carmichael from behind. Wilson, who played halfback and cornerback at the University of Utah, was converted into a free safety. Larry “Wildcat” Wilson is known as Mr. Cardinal. Owens. Turning to Brown, he said, “Well, this is the closest I ever got to you.”.
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