Derrick Willies
{{Short description|American football player (born 1994)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{infobox NFL biography
| name = Derrick Willies
| image = Derrick Willies (43568038384) (cropped).jpg
| caption = Willies with the Cleveland Browns in 2018
| current_team =
| number = 16, 84
| position = Wide receiver
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1994|10|17|mf=y}}
| birth_place = Banning, California, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 4
| weight_lbs = 207
| high_school = Rock Island
(Rock Island, Illinois)
| college = Texas Tech
| undraftedyear = 2018
| pastteams =
- Cleveland Browns ({{NFL Year|2018}}–{{NFL Year|2020}})
- Tampa Bay Bandits ({{USFL Year|2022}})
| status =
| highlights =
| statlabel1 = Receptions
| statvalue1 = 3
| statlabel2 = Receiving yards
| statvalue2 = 61
}}
Derrick Willies (born October 17, 1994) is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football at Texas Tech and played professionally for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL).
Early life
Willies attended and played high school football and ran track at Burlington High School in Iowa before transferring Rock Island High School during his junior year and was named all-state at both schools. In track, Willies won the Illinois Class 3A state championship in the 110-meter hurdles.{{Cite news |last=Batterson |first=Steve |date=May 6, 2018 |title=RI grad Willies gets a shot with Browns |language=en |work=Dispatch-Argus-QCOnline |url=https://qconline.com/sports/high_school_sports/ri-grad-willies-gets-a-shot-with-browns/article_e51e5aff-6981-5a36-86d9-44dd07fb053c.html |access-date=October 30, 2018}}
College career
Willies began his college career at the University of Iowa. After sitting out his first year, Willies had 4 catches for 71 yards and a touchdown as a redshirt freshman before leaving the team in late October.{{Cite web |last=Morehouse |first=Marc |date=October 27, 2018 |title=Willies announces transfer on Instagram |url=https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/willies-announces-transfer-on-instagram-20141027 |access-date=October 7, 2018 |website=The Gazette}} Willies transferred to Trinity Valley Community College where he was a first-team Junior College Athletic Association All-American and subsequently transferred to Texas Tech.{{Cite web |last=Caplan |first=Jeff |date=March 28, 2016 |title=Transfer receiver Derrick Willies is giving Texas Tech high hopes |url=https://www.star-telegram.com/sports/college/college-confidential-blog/article68615497.html |access-date=October 7, 2018 |website=Fort Worth Star-Telegram}} Willies caught 36 passes for 592 yards and five touchdowns over two seasons with the Red Raiders.{{Cite web |last=Levins |first=Matt |date=April 30, 2018 |title=Willies signs with Cleveland |url=http://www.thehawkeye.com/sports/20180430/willies-signs-with-cleveland |access-date=October 7, 2018 |website=The Hawk Eye}}
Professional career
=Cleveland Browns=
Willies was signed by the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent on May 4, 2018.{{Cite web |date=May 4, 2018 |title=Browns sign 13 undrafted free agents |url=https://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news/article-5/Browns-sign-13-undrafted-free-agents/259259d3-1dd8-4deb-92d5-7195ababd8f3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180505003512/https://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news/article-5/Browns-sign-13-undrafted-free-agents/259259d3-1dd8-4deb-92d5-7195ababd8f3 |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 5, 2018 |website=ClevelandBrowns.com}} Willies made the Browns 53-man roster and made his NFL debut on September 9, 2018, during the team's season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers.{{Cite web |title=Pittsburgh Steelers at Cleveland Browns – September 9th, 2018-Snap counts |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/201809090cle.htm#all_vis_snap_counts |access-date=October 8, 2018 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com}} On October 7 against the Baltimore Ravens, Willies caught his first career NFL pass, a 13-yard reception, and had a pivotal 39-yard reception in overtime to set up the Browns' game-winning field goal.{{Cite web |title=Ravens vs. Browns:Play-by-Play |url=http://www.espn.com/nfl/playbyplay?gameId=401030770 |access-date=October 7, 2018 |work=ESPN.com}}{{Cite web |last=McDonald |first=Charles |date=October 7, 2018 |title=The Browns finally won a Sunday game, but not without plenty of drama |url=https://www.sbnation.com/2018/10/7/17948798/browns-vs-ravens-ot-win-game-winning-kick-baker-mayfield |access-date=October 3, 2019 |website=SB Nation}} After fracturing his collarbone during practice on October 12, Willies was placed on injured reserve on October 13, 2018.{{Cite web |date=October 13, 2018 |title=Browns sign WR Breshad Perriman, place Derrick Willies on IR, make other roster moves |url=https://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news/browns-sign-wr-breshad-perriman-place-derrick-willies-on-ir-make-other-roster-mo |website=ClevelandBrowns.com}}
On August 31, 2019, Willies was waived by the Browns and was signed to the practice squad the next day.{{Cite web |date=August 31, 2019 |title=Browns cut roster to 53 players |url=https://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news/browns-cut-roster-to-53-players |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=ClevelandBrowns.com}}{{Cite web |date=September 1, 2019 |title=Browns announce nine additions to practice squad |url=https://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news/browns-announce-nine-additions-to-practice-squad |website=ClevelandBrowns.com |access-date=September 4, 2019 |archive-date=September 3, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190903181813/https://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news/browns-announce-nine-additions-to-practice-squad |url-status=dead }} His practice squad contract with the team expired on January 6, 2020,{{Cite tweet |number=1214637421939318784 |user=HBalzer721 |title=Browns practice-squad contracts expired Monday: DB Tigie Sankoh; WR Derrick Willies. |date=January 7, 2020 |access-date=January 9, 2020}} and he was not invited to training camp by any team.
Willies was re-signed to the Browns' practice squad on November 17, 2020.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.si.com/nfl/browns/news/browns-sign-derrick-willies-practice-squad|title=Browns Sign WR Derrick Willies to Practice Squad|first=Pete|last=Smith|magazine=SI.com|date=November 17, 2020|access-date=November 17, 2020}} He was elevated to the active roster on December 26 for the team's week 16 game against the New York Jets, and reverted to the practice squad after the game.{{Cite news |date=December 26, 2020 |title=Browns place 5 on COVID-19 list |url=https://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news/browns-place-5-on-covid-19-list |access-date=2025-01-24 |publisher=ClevelandBrowns.com}}
Willies was signed to a reserve/futures contract by the Browns on January 18, 2021.{{Cite news |date=January 18, 2021 |title=Browns sign 14 players |url=https://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news/browns-sign-14-players |access-date=2025-01-24 |publisher=ClevelandBrowns.com}} The Browns placed Willies on the reserve/retired list on July 30, 2021.{{Cite web|date=2021-07-30|title=Browns place WR Derrick Willies on Reserve/Retired list|url=https://www.news5cleveland.com/sports/browns/browns-place-wr-derrick-willies-on-reserve-retired-list|access-date=2021-07-31|website=WEWS|language=en}} He was waived from the reserve/retired list on February 17, 2022.{{cite web|url=https://brownswire.usatoday.com/2022/02/17/browns-waive-wr-derrick-willies-along-with-other-smaller-nfl-moves/|title=Browns waive WR Derrick Willies along with other smaller NFL moves|first=Jared|last=Mueller|website=Browns Wire|publisher=USA Today|date=February 17, 2022|access-date=February 23, 2022}}
=Tampa Bay Bandits=
Willies was selected in the 14th round of the 2022 USFL draft by the Tampa Bay Bandits.{{cite news |last1=Camenker |first1=Jacob |title=USFL rosters 2022: Complete draft results, team-by-team picks for new football league |url=https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/usfl-draft-2022-picks-results-rosters/kfjtmrpdeztksutjassswllz |access-date=March 5, 2022 |work=The Sporting News |date=February 23, 2022}} He was transferred to the team's inactive roster on April 22, 2022.{{cite tweet |user=USFLBandits |title=Roster Updates |number=1517713235314503680 |date=April 22, 2022 |access-date=April 23, 2022}} He was moved to the inactive roster again on May 11.{{cite tweet |user=USFLBandits |title=Transferred to inactive roster |number=1524567396027027458 |date=May 11, 2022 |access-date=May 12, 2022}} He was moved back to the active roster on May 20.{{cite tweet |user=USFLBandits |title=Roster Updates |number=1527560729628270593 |date=May 20, 2022 |access-date=May 24, 2022}}
NFL statistics
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+Regular season statistics ! rowspan="2"| Year ! rowspan="2"| Team ! colspan="2"| Games ! colspan="6" | Receiving ! colspan="2"| Fumbles | |||||||||
| GP | GS | Tgt | Rec | Pct | Yds | TD | 1D | Fum | Lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018|| CLE
| 5 || 0 || 5 || 3 || 60% || 61 || 0 || 2 || 1 || 0 | |||||||||
| 2020
!CLE |1 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 |0 | |||||||||
| colspan="2" | Career || 6 || 0 || 5 || 3 || 60% || 61 || 0 || 2 || 1 || 0 |
References
{{reflist|}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- [https://www.clevelandbrowns.com/team/players-roster/derrick-willies/ Cleveland Browns bio]
- [https://www.tvccsports.com/sports/fball/2015-16/bios/willies_derrick_yvc3 Trinity Valley Community College Cardinals bio]
- [https://texastech.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=3312 Texas Tech Red Raiders bio]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willies, Derrick}}
Category:American football wide receivers
Category:Cleveland Browns players
Category:Iowa Hawkeyes football players
Category:Sportspeople from Rock Island, Illinois
Category:Players of American football from San Bernardino, California
Category:Texas Tech Red Raiders football players