Willard Russell Letlow (October 5, 1913 – October 12, 1987) was an

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 wit ...

guard and

tackle Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking ...

who played professionally for 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) North division. It is the th ...

of 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 ma ...

(NFL). Letlow played his college career at the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The ...

. Prior to the

1936 NFL Draft The 1936 National Football League Draft was the 1st draft of National Football League (NFL). It took place on February 8, 1936, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The draft was instituted in an effort to end bidding wars am ...

, college players were free agents that could sign with an NFL team; Letlow had signed with the

Chicago Cardinals The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons. Roots ...

prior to the draft. Subsequently, he was chosen by the

as their first-round draft pick in the inaugural

. After being drafted by Green Bay, he was released by the Cardinals. In Letlow's rookie season, the Packers won their fourth NFL Championship (and first

championship game In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

). Letlow played for the Packers from 1936 to 42, and again in 1946. He was selected as an All-Pro for four straight seasons from 1937 to 1940. He played in 71 career games while starting in 30 of them. He was named to the All-Star game, the predecessor to the Pro Bowl in 1938 and 1939. He went into the Navy in 1943, being named to the All-Service team in 1934 and 1944. He returned to the Packers for one more season in 1946. Letlow was inducted into the

Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combin ...

in 1972. Letlow is one of ten players that were named to the National Football League 1930s All-Decade Team that have not been inducted into the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coac ...

References

1913 births 1987 deaths American football guards American football tackles Camp Peary Pirates football players Green Bay Packers players San Francisco Dons football players Sportspeople from Tulare County, California United States Navy personnel of World War II People from Dinuba, California People from Taft, California Players of American football from California {{offensive-lineman-1910s-stub