William David Quinlan (June 19, 1932 – November 10, 2015) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...

who played in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

, Green Bay Packers,

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

, Detroit Lions, and the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

. He also played in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL) for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Quinlan played college football at Michigan State University and was drafted in the third round of the 1956 NFL Draft.

Early life

Quinlan was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts and attended Lawrence High School, where he lettered in football,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

, and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

. After graduating high school in 1951, Quinlan attended

Staunton Military Academy Staunton Military Academy was a private all-male military school located in Staunton, Virginia. Founded in 1884, the academy closed in 1976. The school was highly regarded for its academic and military programs, and many notable American politica ...

in 1952 and was inducted into their Hall of Fame.

College career

Quinlan attended and played college football at Michigan State University.

Professional career

After graduating from Michigan State, Quinlan played for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the

in 1954. He was then drafted in the third round (37th overall) of the 1956 NFL Draft by the

. He joined the Browns in 1957 after serving in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

in 1956. He was traded to the Green Bay Packers in 1959, along with

Lew Carpenter Lewis Glen Carpenter (January 12, 1932 – November 14, 2010) was an American football player and coach. He played college football for the University of Arkansas and professionally for ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL) as a ...

, in return for

Billy Howton William Harris Howton (born July 3, 1930) is a former American football player, an end in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons with the Green Bay Packers, Cleveland Browns, and expansion Dallas Cowboys. As a rookie, Howton caught t ...

. In 1963, The Packers traded Quinlan and defensive back John Symank to the New York Giants for a high draft pick. The Giants immediately traded Quinlan to the

in exchange for

Gene Gossage.

Personal life

Quinlan's father died when he was four years old, and his mother raised seven children. Quinlan died on November 10, 2015 in Methuen, Massachusetts. He lived in Lawrence, Massachusetts with his wife, Betty, and had previously survived cancer. Bill Quinlan is survived by his wife Betty and their four children, Bill Quinlan Jr. and his wife Angela, Melinda and her husband Michael Tulley, Sean Quinlan, and Mary Ellen and her husband Steve Joncas. He is also survived by his grandchildren Melissa, Lauren and her Husband Jason Messina, and Michael Tulley, Shannon and Kailee Joncas, and Ryan and Sophia Quinlan. Bill Quinlan also has two great-grandchildren, Brianna and Ava.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quinlan, Bill 1932 births 2015 deaths American football defensive ends Cleveland Browns players Detroit Lions players Green Bay Packers players Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Michigan State Spartans football players Philadelphia Eagles players Washington Redskins players Sportspeople from Lawrence, Massachusetts Players of American football from Massachusetts Lawrence High School (Massachusetts) alumni