:Bill Walls

{{Short description|American football player and coach (1912–1993)}}

{{Infobox NFL biography

| name = Bill Walls

| image = Walls-Bill-1942.jpg

| number = 24

| position = End

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1912|12|8}}

| birth_place = Lonoke, Arkansas, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1993|1|3|1912|12|8}}

| death_place = Dallas, Texas, U.S.

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 4

| weight_lb = 214

| high_school = North Little Rock
(North Little Rock, Arkansas)

| college = TCU

| undraftedyear = 1937

| pastteams =

New York Giants ({{NFL Year|1937|1939}}, {{NFL Year|1941|1943}})

| pastcoaching =

Denton HS (TX) (1940)
Head coach
Kilgore (1946)
Assistant coach
Kilgore (1947–1948)
Head coach
Corpus Christi (1949–1950)
Head coach
LSU (1953–1954)
Line coach
Colorado (1956–1958)
Assistant coach
Florida State (1959)
Assistant coach

| highlights =

NFL champion (1938)

| statlabel1 = Receptions

| statvalue1 = 35

| statlabel2 = Receiving yards

| statvalue2 = 596

| statlabel3 = Receiving touchdowns

| statvalue3 = 4

| pfr = WallWi20

}}

William Thomas Walls Jr. (December 8, 1912 – January 3, 1993) was an American football player and coach. He played professionally as an end for six seasons with the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He attended North Little Rock High School in North Little Rock, Arkansas, and played college football at Texas Christian University (TCU).

Walls was the head football coach at Kilgore College in Kilgore, Texas from 1947 to 1948. He resigned in 1949 to become the head football coach at University of Corpus Christi—now known as Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi.{{cite news |author= |title=Walls Resigns As KC Coach |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-kilgore-news-herald/149044846/ |newspaper=Kilgore News Herald |location=Kilgore, Texas |date=April 14, 1949 |page=1 |access-date=June 9, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}} }}

Biography

Walls was born December 8, 1912, in Lonoke, Arkansas. He grew up in Little Rock.

Walls enrolled at Texas Christian University (TCU) in Fort Worth, Texas in 1933, playing football for the freshman team.[https://www.newspapers.com/article/longview-news-journal-spring-football-tr/142497408/ "Spring Football Training to Start at TCU April 9,"] Longview [TX] News-Journal, April 4, 1934, p. 10. In the spring of 1934 he attended spring practice in preparation to try out for the varsity squad, a team in its first year under new head coach Leo R. "Dutch" Meyer. Walls made the team as an end.

The 6'4" Walls also played basketball for the Horned frogs, starting for the team in 1934.[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-waco-times-herald-tcu-horned-frogs-b/142497601/ "Frogs Barely Able to Defeat Trinity,"] Waco Times-Herald, Dec. 21, 1934, p. 13.

Walls was an undrafted free agent who made the squad with the New York Giants in 1937 and wound up playing six seasons for the team — 1937 to 1939 and 1941 to 1943.{{Cite web |title=Will Walls Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/W/WallWi20.htm |access-date=2023-03-20 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}}

Walls died January 3, 1993.