Willie Frank Zapalac, Jr. (Bill) (born September 1, 1948) is a former

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 with ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

and

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 formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

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).

College football

Zapalac attended the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

and played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the Longhorns. Zapalac was a 3-time academic all-conference and twice was named Academic All American in 1969 and 1970. In 1970, he was elected as one of the four captains and was named to the National Football Foundation Academic All American team. Zapalac started 33 straight games while playing 3 different positions on Texas teams that had a combined record of 30-2-1. He graduated from the school of

Architectural Engineering Architectural engineers apply and theoretical knowledge to the engineering design of buildings and building systems. The goal is to engineer high performance buildings that are sustainable, economically viable and ensure the safety health. Archi ...

with Honors. In 2011, he was inducted in the University of Texas Hall of Honor.

Professional Athletic career

Zapalac was a 4th round selection (84th overall pick) in the

1971 NFL Draft The 1971 National Football League draft was held January 28–29, 1971, at the Belmont Plaza Hotel in New York City, New York. The Boston Patriots, who did not officially change their name to New England Patriots until after the draft, used th ...

by the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

. He played for three years with the Jets (1971–1973).

Professional career

Since retiring from football, Bill has worked in the construction industry since 1974. For the past 27 years he has been president of Zapalac/Reed Construction in Austin, Texas. Zapalac/Reed has constructed over 25 million square feet of commercial buildings.

References

External links

New York Jets page
1948 births Living people American football defensive ends American football linebackers New York Jets players Texas Longhorns football players People from Bellville, Texas Players of American football from Texas {{linebacker-1940s-stub