William Thomas Stanfill (January 13, 1947 – November 10, 2016) was a

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 ...

for the

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

of the American Football League and then the NFL after the AFL-NFL merger of 1970. He was a member of Miami's two Super Bowl-winning teams.

High school career

Stanfill attended Cairo High School in

Cairo, Georgia Cairo () is a city in Grady County, Georgia, Grady County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 10,179. The city is the county seat of Grady County. History C ...

, where he was a three-sport star 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

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

. In football, as a senior, he was named the Class AA Lineman of the Year after leading his team to three Region Championships. In basketball, as a senior, he led his team to the state championship and was named the state tournament MVP. In track and field, he added three state discus and one shot put AA titles.

College career

Stanfill played defensive tackle for the Georgia Bulldogs from 1966 through 1968. He was awarded the

Outland Trophy The Outland Trophy is awarded to the best college football interior lineman in the United States as adjudged by the Football Writers Association of America. It is named after John H. Outland. One of only a few players ever to be named an All-Am ...

in 1968 and was named an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n the same year. He received a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

degree from the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

in 1971. Stanfill was voted All-SEC in 1966, 1967 and 1968 and was the SEC Lineman of The Year in 1968. In addition, he was an Academic All-America that same season. During his three seasons at Georgia, the Bulldogs had a 26-6-2 record along with two

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

titles: one in 1966 (co-champions) and the other in 1968. During that time the Bulldogs also appeared in three bowl games: the

Cotton Bowl Classic The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game that has been held annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its namesake stadium i ...

in 1966, the

Liberty Bowl The Liberty Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in late December or early January since 1959. For its first five years, it was played at Philadelphia Municipal Stadium in Philadelphia before being held at Atlantic City ...

in 1967 and the Sugar Bowl in 1968. Georgia beat SMU in the Cotton Bowl Classic, lost to

North Carolina State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The unive ...

in the Liberty and lost to the

Arkansas Razorbacks The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville. The University of Arkansas student body voted to change the name of the school mascot (ori ...

in the Sugar. Georgia's venerable coach

Vince Dooley Vincent Joseph Dooley (September 4, 1932 – October 28, 2022) was an American college football coach. He was the head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs from 1964 to 1988, as well as the University of Georgia's (UGA) athletic director from 1979 to ...

said of Stanfill, "He was everything you'd want in a defensive tackle. He combined speed, size, range, quickness and competitiveness to make him one of the greatest linemen to ever play the game

In a 1968 51-0 thumping of the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

, Coach Dooley allowed Stanfill to finish the game at quarterback. The game was in a driving rainstorm and caused some hard feelings on the part of the Gator team. According to Litkenhou

the 8-1-2 Bulldogs were National Champions that season. However, most other polls and formulas awarded the football national championship to

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

. Selected to the 50th Anniversary All-SEC team (1933–1982). Also selected the SEC Quarter-Century team (1950–74) and All-SEC 25-year team (1961–1985) and 1960s All-SEC team. In 1984 was voted a member of the Georgia Sports Hall of Fam

and was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1998.

Professional career

Stanfill played for the Miami Dolphins from 1969-1976. As the NFL did not officially maintain sack records until 1982, he unofficially led the Dolphins in sacks in 1969 with eight (Still an unofficial team rookie mark that was tied by Lorenzo Bromell in 1998), picked off two passes and returned both for touchdowns. Voted to the 1969 AFL All-Star game. He went to the AFC-NFC Pro Bowl from 1971 through 1974) In 1970, Stanfill started on the 10-4 Dolphins and again unofficially led the team with sacks, this time with six. The Dolphins, although improving, lost in the playoffs. The following season Stanfill was an All-AFC choice and was unofficially third on the team with 6½ sacks. The Dolphins advanced to the Super Bowl, losing 24-3 to the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

. Stanfill was unofficially second on the 17-0 Super Bowl winning Dolphins team with 10 sacks (behind left defensive end Vern Den Herder's 10½) and was voted All-Pro by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

. He was a consensus All-AFC selection that unofficially led the Dolphins in sacks in 1973 with 18½ and was a consensus All-Pro and All-AFC selection as the 12-2 Dolphins won their second straight Super Bowl. His unofficial 1973 sack total still stands as the team record, although All-Pro Jason Taylor tied that mark in 200

On October 7, 1973, Stanfill set the unofficial single-game sack record versus the New York Jets. Two weeks later, teammate Den Herder tied that mark against the Buffalo Bills. In 1974, Stanfill unofficially led the Dolphins defense in sacks with 10 and was voted a second-team All-Pro by the NEA and

Pro Football Writers Association The Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA), sometimes known as Pro Football Writers Association, is an organization that purports to be " heofficial voice of pro football writers, promoting and fighting for access to NFL personnel to best serve ...

and was an All-AFC selection for the fourth straight season. In November, versus the Buffalo Bills, Stanfill tied his own (and Den Herder's) unofficial game record for sacks, again recording five. Injuries hampered Stanfill in 1975 and 1976- both knee and neck injured limited his playing time and marked the end to Stanfill's post-season honors. Still, he unofficially recorded 6½ sacks in 1975 and four in 1976. The mark in 1976 did, however, tie him for the team lead on a 6-8 Dolphins tea

In all, Stanfill unofficially totaled 69½ career sacks, which was the team record until broken by Jason Taylor, who now has 131 career sacks with the club (139.5 overall). He also is unofficially tied for fourth in the Dolphins' playoff record for sacks with four (tied with Bob Baumhower). Stanfill was mentioned by Football Hall of Famer Nick Buoniconti in his induction speech as being an unsung player on the early 1970s Dolphin teams and as being worthy of consideration for the Hall of Fame. In 2007, Stanfill was voted to the All-Time Miami Dolphins team

On November 18, 2010, two defensive stars on Miami's 1972 undefeated team - S Jake Scott and DE Bill Stanfill - were inducted into the

Miami Dolphins Honor Roll The Miami Dolphins Honor Roll is a ring around the second tier at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, which honors former players, coaches, contributors, and officials who have made significant contributions to the Miami Dolphins franchis ...

. In 2021, the Professional Football Researchers Association named Stanfill to the PFRA Hall of Very Good Class of 2021

Later life and death

Stanfill lived in

Albany, Georgia Albany ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Georgia. Located on the Flint River, it is the seat of Dougherty County, and is the sole incorporated city in that county. Located in southwest Georgia, it is the principal city of the Albany, Georgia m ...

as a real estate broke

He was featured in a ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...

'' article that detailed the injuries to former NFL players, which also included Hall of Fame quarterback Johnny Unitas, Earl Campbell, Joe Jacoby, Curt Marsh,

Harry Carson Harry Donald Carson (born November 26, 1953) is a former American football middle linebacker who played his entire professional career for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). Carson was inducted into the College Football Ha ...

and others. ''SI'' reported that Stanfill had three surgeries, from August 1993 to January 1996, to fuse four vertebrae in his spine, a problem that started when he jammed his neck during an exhibition game in 1975. According to Stanfill, the surgeries on his spine caused a neck pain so severe he could not tip his head back, had little use of his left thumb, and experienced considerable loss of hand and arm strength. He also had surgery to repair a hip condition that was cutting blood flow to the hip bone. On November 10, 2016, Stanfill died at age 69 of complications resulting from a fall. He was found to have had

chronic traumatic encephalopathy Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated trauma to the head. The encephalopathy symptoms can include behavioral problems, mood problems, and problems with thinking. The disease often gets worse ...

, or C.T.E., the degenerative brain disease associated with repeated head trauma.

References

Sources