William M. Yearby (July 24, 1944 – December 20, 2010) was an

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

player. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

as a

defensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line (D ...

at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

from 1963 to 1965 and was selected as an All-American in 1964 and 1965. He played professional football for 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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

of 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, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...

(AFL) in 1966.

Early years

Yearby was born in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

, in 1944. He moved to

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

as a child and attended Detroit's Eastern High School, where he was the Class A state champion in the

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

in 1962.

University of Michigan

Yearby enrolled at the

in 1962 and played college football for the

Michigan Wolverines football The Michigan Wolverines football team represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the List of NCAA football teams by wins, most all-time wins in college football ...

team from 1963 to 1965. He was a member of the

1964 Michigan Wolverines football team The 1964 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1964 Big Ten Conference football season. In their sixth year under head coach Bump Elliott, the Wolverines compiled a 9–1 record, won the Big Ten Confe ...

that won the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

championship, played in the 1965 Rose Bowl, and was ranked #4 in the final AP Poll. He was selected by the

Central Press Association The Central Press Association was American print syndication, newspaper syndication company based in Cleveland, Ohio. It was in business from 1910 to 1971. Originally independent, it was a subsidiary of King Features Syndicate from 1930 onwards. ...

, ''

Football News ''The Football News'', founded in 1939, was a weekly tabloid newspaper covering collegiate and professional football. The publication was designated by the NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organizati ...

'', and

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 new ...

as a first-team defensive tackle on the

1964 College Football All-America Team The 1964 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1964. The six selectors recognized by the NCAA as "off ...

. As a senior, he was selected as a consensus All-American, and he was also named the Most Valuable Player on the 1965 Michigan Wolverines football team.

Professional football

Yearby was selected in the first round of the 1966 AFL Draft by the

. In December 1965, ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine described Yearby as "a vicious tackier, always on target, always gets his man — and not 5 yds. downfield, like most college kids." The following week, ''Time'' noted that "Jets Owner Sonny Werblin signed Michigan's 230-lb. Tackle Bill Yearby to a contract at $1,000 per pound." Yearby played only one season, 1966, for the Jets. The Jets' web site notes that Yearby "missed valuable training camp practice because of All-Star game and injury suffered in pre-season game," and that coaches at Michigan said he was "extremely quick" and could have been a starter on the Michigan basketball team. A terrific athlete, Yearby was projected to play

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

for the Jets. In 1966, a bad knee limited him to spot appearances as a fill-in

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 ...

and special-teamer. In 1967, Yearby's knee was still not right, and he was farmed out to the Bridgeport Knights of the Atlantic Coast Conference, who were the Jets'

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

affiliate. While playing

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 ...

for the Knights, Yearby hurt his knee again, and his pro football career was over.

Later years

Yearby died in 2010 at age 66.

References

External links