Bill Dudley
Encyclopedia
William McGarvey "Bullet Bill" Dudley (December 24, 1921 – February 4, 2010) was a professional American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 player in the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

 for the Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...

, Detroit Lions
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...

, and Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...

. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...

 in 1966.

Early life

Dudley was born in Bluefield, Virginia
Bluefield, Virginia
Bluefield is a town in Tazewell County, Virginia, along the Bluestone River. The population was 5,078 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Bluefield WV-VA micropolitan area which has a population of 107,578...

 and attended Graham High School
Graham High School (Bluefield, Virginia)
Graham High School is a public high school located in Bluefield, Virginia across the state line from Bluefield, West Virginia in Tazewell County, Virginia, as a part of Tazewell County Public Schools....

. He made the football team
High school football
High school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....

 his junior year, and in 1938 he kicked a 35-yard field goal
Field goal (football)
A field goal in American football and Canadian football is a goal that may be scored during general play . Field goals may be scored by a placekick or the now practically extinct drop kick.The drop kick fell out of favor in 1934 when the shape of the ball was changed...

 in the season's finale and helped Graham beat favored Princeton High School
Princeton High School (West Virginia)
Princeton High School is located in Princeton, West Virginia and is the largest high school in Mercer County, enrolling over 1000 students. Princeton High School is located at 1321 Stafford Drive in Princeton, with its entrance marked by a sign donated by the graduating class of 1981, the last...

, 10–7.

College career

At the age of 16, Dudley was awarded an athletic scholarship
Athletic scholarship
An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport...

 by the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...

 football team
Virginia Cavaliers football
Virginia Cavaliers football is a college football program that competes in the NCAA Division I-FBS and the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference...

 by coach Frank Murray
Frank Murray
Frank J. Murray was an American football and basketball coach. He is one of the few head football coaches to have non-consecutive tenure at the same college or university. Murray was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983.-Marquette:Murray was the 13th head football at the...

. As a result, He received a $500 grant, out of which he paid for room, board, and books. Although he was originally slated as a punter and placekicker
Placekicker
Placekicker, or simply kicker , is the title of the player in American and Canadian football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals, extra points...

, Dudley eventually came to play the halfback
Halfback (American football)
A halfback, sometimes referred to as a tailback, is an offensive position in American football, which lines up in the backfield and generally is responsible for carrying the ball on run plays. Historically, from the 1870s through the 1950s, the halfback position was both an offensive and defensive...

 position. In his sophomore year, he began as the fifth back on the depth chart but, due to a teammate's injury, played several games.

By his third year, Dudley started every game and was the Southern Conference
Southern Conference
The Southern Conference is a Division I college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision . Member institutions are located in the states of Alabama, Georgia, North...

's leader in total offensive yards. He was also successful in his senior year, particularly during a game against the University of North Carolina. In that game, Dudley scored all three touchdowns for Virginia and kicked four extra point
Extra Point
Extra Point is a twice-daily, two-minute segment on ESPN Radio that covers generic sports-related topical news and opinion. The AM edition airs Monday through Saturday at various times between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. ET, and the PM edition airs Monday through Friday between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. ET...

s. That season, he became the first Virginia player to earn All-America
All-America
An All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...

 honors and was awarded the Maxwell Award
Maxwell Award
The Maxwell Award is presented annually to the collegiate American football player judged by a panel of sportscasters, sportswriters, and National Collegiate Athletic Association head coaches and the membership of the Maxwell Football Club to be the best football player in the United States. The...

 for best college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 player of the year. He was also named the best college player of the year by the Washington D.C. Touchdown Club
Washington D.C. Touchdown Club
The Washington D.C. Touchdown Club was started in 1935 with a passion for charity and sports. In the ensuing years the Club has benefited many local charities as well as providing scholarships to deserving student/athletes....

. Dudley also led the nation in four categories: touchdowns with 18; points scored with 134; rushing average with 6.2 yards a play; and touchdowns responsible for with 29. After the season, he played in the East-West Shrine Game
East-West Shrine Game
The East–West Shrine Game is an annual post-season college football all-star game played each January since 1925. The game is sponsored by the fraternal group Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and the net proceeds are earmarked to some of the Shrine's charitable works, most notably the Shriners...

, where he intercepted four passes and threw for his team's touchdown in a 6–6 tie. He also played in the College All-Star Game
College All-Star Game
The Chicago Charities College All-Star Game was a preseason American football game played annually from 1934 to 1976 between the National Football League champions and a team of star college seniors from the previous year...

 in Chicago.

NFL rookie season (1942)

Dudley was drafted
NFL Draft
The National Football League Draft is an annual event in which the National Football League teams select eligible college football players and it is their most common source of player recruitment. The basic design of the draft is each team is given a position in the drafting order in reverse order...

 in the 1942 NFL Draft
1942 NFL Draft
The 1942 National Football League Draft was held on December 22, 1941.-Player selections:-Round one:-Round two:-Round three:-Round four:-Round five:-Round six:-Round seven:-Round eight:-Round nine:-Round ten:-Round eleven:...

 with the first overall pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...

. During the 1942
1942 NFL season
The 1942 NFL season was the 23rd regular season of the National Football League. Before the season, many players left for service in World War II, thus depleting the rosters of all the teams....

 season, he led the league in rushing with 696 yards on 162 carries and was then named to the All-Pro
All-Pro
All-Pro is a term mostly used in the NFL for the best players of each position during that season. It began as polls of sportswriters in the early 1920s...

 team. He also completed 35 of 94 passes for 438 yards and two touchdowns, punted 18 times for a 32.0 average, returned 20 punts for 271 yards (14.0 avg), and ran back 11 kickoffs for 298 yards (27.0 avg), scoring once. In the first game of his professional career, Dudley ran for a 55-yard touchdown and in his second game scored on a kickoff return.

Military service (1943–45)

In 1942, the U. S. armed services began drafting
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...

 all eligible young men to fight in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Dudley originally enlisted and was sworn into the Naval Air Corps
United States Naval Aviator
A United States Naval Aviator is a qualified pilot in the United States Navy, Marine Corps or Coast Guard.-Naming Conventions:Most Naval Aviators are Unrestricted Line Officers; however, a small number of Limited Duty Officers and Chief Warrant Officers are also trained as Naval Aviators.Until 1981...

, however they found out he needed to have his parents' consent, since he wasn't twenty-one. Dudley then enlisted in U. S. Army Air Corps
United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...

 in September 1942, but there was an influx of recruits and Dudley was told he would have to wait three months before he began training. This delay made it possible for him to finish his rookie season with the Steelers.

Dudley went through basic training
Recruit training
Recruit training, more commonly known as Basic Training and colloquially called Boot Camp, is the initial indoctrination and instruction given to new military personnel, enlisted and officer...

 in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 and then attended flight school
Flight training
Flight training is a course of study used when learning to pilot an aircraft. The overall purpose of primary and intermediate flight training is the acquisition and honing of basic airmanship skills....

 in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

. He then joined the Army's
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...

 football team
Army Black Knights football
The Army Black Knights football program represents the United States Military Academy. Army was recognized as the national champions in 1944, 1945 and 1946....

. In 1944, Dudley helped his team to a 12–0 record and was named the Most Valuable Player
Most Valuable Player
In sports, a Most Valuable Player award is an honor typically bestowed upon the best performing player or players on a specific team, in an entire league, or for a particular contest or series of contests...

. At the end of the war, Dudley was shipped to the Pacific and flew two supply missions. He was then sent to Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

 where the Army selected him to play in three more football games against All-Star teams.

Return to the NFL (1945–53)

Dudley returned to Pittsburgh that fall and rejoined the Steelers's team for the last four games of the 1945 season
1945 NFL season
The 1945 NFL season was the 26th regular season of the National Football League. The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Chicago Cardinals resumed their traditional operations....

. In a game against the Chicago Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

, he ran for two touchdowns and kicked for two additional points and became the Steelers' leading scorer for that season. He also rushed for 204 yards and returned three kickoffs for 65 yards.

In 1946
1946 NFL season
The 1946 NFL season was the 27th regular season of the National Football League. Before the season, Elmer Layden resigned as NFL Commissioner and Bert Bell, co-founder of the Philadelphia Eagles, replaced him...

, the Steelers hired a new coach Jock Sutherland
Jock Sutherland
Dr. John Bain "Jock" Sutherland, D.D.S., was an American football coach. He coached college football at Lafayette College and the University of Pittsburgh and professional football for the Brooklyn Dodgers and Pittsburgh Steelers...

 and Dudley scored 48 points, which contributed to the Steelers' 5-5-1 record. During that season, he became the league leader in rushing (604 yards), interceptions (10 total which he returned for 242 yards) and punt returns (27 total for 385 yards). In doing this, Dudley became the only NFL player to lead in four unique statistical categories. He was named All-Pro
All-Pro
All-Pro is a term mostly used in the NFL for the best players of each position during that season. It began as polls of sportswriters in the early 1920s...

 and was awarded the NFL's Most Valuable Player Award. Dudley became the first (and as of 2007, only) person to win MVP awards in college, service, and professional levels.

Dudley was traded to the Detroit Lions
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...

 after 1946, where he was offered three-year contract and $20,000 a season. He was elected captain of his team all three years, 1947–1949. During his first year with the Lions, the team finished last. On October 19, 1947 against the Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

, Dudley returned a punt for an 84-yard touchdown. During 1947
1947 NFL season
The 1947 NFL season was the 28th regular season of the National Football League. The league expanded the regular season by one game from eleven games per team to twelve, a number that remained constant until the 1961 season....

, he scored 13 touchdowns; seven on pass receptions, four on runs from scrimmage, one on a punt return, one on kickoff return and throwing two. In his last season with the Lions, he led Detroit in scoring for the third year in a row.

At the end of the 1949 season
1949 NFL season
The 1949 NFL season was the 30th regular season of the National Football League. Prior to the season, Boston Yanks owner Ted Collins asked the league to fold his team due to financial woes, and give him a new one in New York City...

, Lions coach Bo McMillin
Bo McMillin
Alvin Nugent "Bo" McMillin was an American football player and coach, who served at both the collegiate and professional levels. He played college football at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, where was a three-time All-American at quarterback, and led the Centre Praying Colonels to a...

 traded Dudley to the Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...

, where he played for three seasons, during which he led the team in scoring every year. On December 3, 1950 Dudley fielded a 60 yard punt kicked by Steelers' player Joe Geri
Joe Geri
Joe Geri was a former American Football quarterback-running back who played four seasons for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Chicago Cardinals from 1949 to 1952 in the National Football League. He was a two time Pro Bowler in 1950 and 1951...

. He ran over 30 yards before he reached his hands out of bounds, while keeping both feet in bounds, and caught the punt at the Redskin’s four yard line, and then ran it for a 96-yard touchdown. Dudley took a break during the 1952 season
1952 NFL season
The 1952 NFL season was the 33rd regular season of the National Football League. Prior to the season, New York Yanks owner Ted Collins sold his team back to the NFL...

 but returned in 1953
1953 NFL season
The 1953 NFL season was the 34th regular season of the National Football League. The names of the American and National conferences were changed to the Eastern and Western conferences....

. He retired at the end of the season due to knee injuries and an overall physical deterioration.

Dudley was named first- or second-team All-NFL six times in his career and was named to three Pro Bowl
Pro Bowl
In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...

s. During his nine pro seasons, Dudley gained 3,057 yards on 765 rushing attempts, a 4.0 average, and scored 20 touchdowns; caught 123 passes for 1,383 yards and 18 touchdowns; returned 124 punts for 1,515 yards and three touchdowns; ran back 78 kickoffs for 1,743 yards and one touchdown; intercepted 23 passes and returned them for 459 yards and two touchdowns; and punted 191 times for a 38.2-yard average. He added 121 extra points and 33 field goals to his 44 touchdowns for a total of 484 points. Dudley led his team in scoring during every one of his nine NFL seasons.

Dudley is the only player ever with a rushing touchdown, touchdown reception, punt return for touchdown, kickoff return for touchdown, interception return for touchdown, fumble return for a touchdown, and a touchdown pass. He also had a touchdown via lateral and kicked PATs and field goals.

After football

After retiring, Dudley was a scout for the Steelers and the Lions. In 1951, he then entered the insurance business in Lynchburg, Virginia
Lynchburg, Virginia
Lynchburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 75,568 as of 2010. Located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains along the banks of the James River, Lynchburg is known as the "City of Seven Hills" or "The Hill City." Lynchburg was the only major city in...

 with his brother Jim.

Honors

Dudley was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...

 in 1956, the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...

 in 1966, and the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame
Virginia Sports Hall of Fame
The Virginia Sports Hall of Fame and Museum is a sports hall of fame located in Portsmouth, Virginia. Founded in 1972, it moved to its current location in 2005...

 in 1972. The Downtown Club of Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...

 has sponsored the Bill Dudley Award since 1990, awarded each year to the state's top college football player. Dudley is an unlockable free agent running back in the videogame Madden NFL 08
Madden NFL 08
Madden NFL 08 is the 2008 edition of the American football video game series published by EA Sports and developed by EA Tiburon. It is the 19th installment in the Madden NFL video game franchise. It features Titans star quarterback Vince Young on the cover. San Diego Chargers defensive end Luis...

.

Death

Dudley suffered a massive stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...

 on January 30, 2010. He died in his home in Lynchburg, Virginia on February 4, 2010.

Further reading

  • Whittingham, Richard (2002). What a Game They Played: An Inside Look at the Golden Era of Pro Football. Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press, Inc. ISBN 978-0-80329-8194

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK