Willie Pless (born February 21, 1964) is a former

Canadian football Canadian football, or simply football, is a Sports in Canada, sport in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete on a field long and wide, attempting to advance a Ball (gridiron football), pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposi ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL). He played for the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions playe ...

, Edmonton Eskimos, and

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 19 ...

, winning the 1993 Grey Cup with the Eskimos. He was inducted into the

Canadian Football Hall of Fame The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about the CFL, ...

in 2005.

College career

Pless played his college football at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

. As a Jayhawk starter for only three years (1983–1985) he amassed an amazing 633 tackles. This is not recognized as a record, as the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

officially counted tackles starting in 2000, but the present leader ( Rod Davis) has only 526. Being 5 feet 10 inches tall, 210 pounds, Pless was not drafted by the NFL. He would later (in 1990) try out for the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

and

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

, but otherwise, his entire 14 year, 250 game, career was played in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Willie was an All Big Eight Academic first team and was elected as the all-time best linebacker in the history of Big Eight after it became the Big Twelve.

Professional career

Willie Pless may be the best defensive player ever to play in the CFL.CFLpedia Entry
He played for 4 teams:

for 4 years (1986–1989), B.C. Lions for 1990, Edmonton Eskimos for (1991–1998) and finally the

(1999). He holds the league record for most tackles (1,241). He also had 84 quarterback sacks, 39 interceptions, 39 fumble recoveries, played in 18 playoff games and three Grey Cups, winning one championship (the

81st Grey Cup The 81st Grey Cup was the 1993 Canadian Football League championship game played between the Edmonton Eskimos and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, Alberta. The Eskimos defeated the Blue Bombers 33–23 to win the Grey Cup. ...

game). He won the CFL's Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award five times and was an all star 11 times.

Honours and awards

* CFL outstanding defensive player: 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997 * West Division outstanding defensive player: 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997 * East Division outstanding rookie: 1986 * CFL All-Star: 1986, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998. * West Division All-Star: 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 * North Division All-Star: 1995 * B.C. Lions outstanding player: 1990 * Edmonton Eskimos outstanding player: 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996 * Toronto Argonauts outstanding defensive player: 1986, 1988 * B.C. Lions outstanding defensive player: 1990 * Edmonton Eskimos outstanding defensive player: 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997 * Saskatchewan Roughriders outstanding defensive player: 1999 * Toronto Argonauts outstanding rookie: 1986 * Grey Cup participation: 1987, 1993, 1996 * Grey Cup victories: 1993 He is a member of the

Sports Hall of Fame and was inducted into the

in 2005. In November, 2006, Willie Pless was voted one of the CFL's Top 50 players (#16) of the league's modern era by Canadian sports network

The Sports Network The Sports Network (TSN) is a Canadian English language discretionary sports specialty channel owned by the Sports Network Inc., a subsidiary of CTV Specialty Television, which is also a joint venture of Bell Media (70%), also owned by BCE ...

/TSN.

Personal life

Pless has settled in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

and runs a personal trainer business.Whatever happened to Willie Pless

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pless, Willie 1964 births Living people Players of Canadian football from Alabama BC Lions players Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees Canadian Football League Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award winners Canadian football linebackers Edmonton Elks players Kansas Jayhawks football players Players of American football from Anniston, Alabama Saskatchewan Roughriders players Toronto Argonauts players University of Kansas alumni Canadian Football League Rookie of the Year Award winners