William Grant Laskey (February 10, 1943 – May 6, 2022) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who was a

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 ...

. He 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

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

and professionally for ten years in the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

(AFL) and

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) from 1965 to 1974.

Early life

Laskey was born in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor ...

, on February 10, 1943. He attended Milan High School in

Milan, Michigan Milan ( ) is a city in Monroe and Washtenaw counties in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 6,079 at the 2020 census. The community was settled as early as 1831. Milan incorporated as a village in 1885 and much later as a city in ...

, where he played football, basketball, and track and field. He broke the school's record in

hurdling Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

and registered a

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

of more than . After graduating in 1961, he studied at the

and played

for the

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except women's water polo, which competes in the NCAA inter-divisio ...

from 1962 to 1964. He played as an offensive

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...

, and caught nine passes for 118 yards and one touchdown during the 1963 and 1964 seasons.

Professional career

Laskey signed with the

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

in 1965, and changed positions to

. He played in 14 games (1 start) during his rookie season and was selected to the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

that same year, with the Bills winning the 1965 AFL Championship Game. He joined the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

the following year and finished sixth in the league in fumbles recovered (3) during the 1967 season. He won his second AFL championship that year, before playing in

Super Bowl II The second AFL-NFL World Championship Game (known retroactively as Super Bowl II) was an American football game played on January 14, 1968, at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. The National Football League (NFL)'s defending champion Green Bay P ...

, in which the Raiders lost 33–14 to the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

. Laskey ended up playing 53 games (22 starts) in five seasons with the franchise, tallying 4 interceptions for 66 yards and recovering 5 fumbles. Laskey went on to play for the

Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...

from 1971 to 1972, before finishing his NFL career with the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

in 1973–1974. He was selected by the

Newspaper Enterprise Association The Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) is an editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1902. The oldest syndicate still in operation, the NEA was originally a secondary news ...

(NEA) as a second-team All-AFL player in 1967. Over the course of a ten-year NFL career, Laskey appeared in 119 games, 45 as a starter, and had seven interceptions and eight fumble recoveries.

Personal life

Laskey was married to Dona until his death. Bill had three children with his first wife who passed at an early age from breast cancer: Lance, Beau, and Margaux. Laskey died on May 6, 2022, in

Leland, Michigan Leland is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census it had a population of 377. It was the county seat of Leelanau County, Mi ...

. He was 79, and suffered from an unspecified long illness prior to his death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laskey, Bill 1943 births 2022 deaths American Football League All-Star players American Football League players American football linebackers Baltimore Colts players Buffalo Bills players Denver Broncos players Michigan Wolverines football players Oakland Raiders players Players of American football from Ann Arbor, Michigan