Norm Willey

{{Short description|American football player (1927–2011)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}

{{Infobox NFL biography

| image = Norm Willey - 1954 Bowman.jpg

| caption = Willey on a 1954 Bowman football card

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1927|8|22|mf=yes}}

| birth_place = Hastings, West Virginia, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2011|8|18|1927|8|22|mf=yes}}

| death_place = Newark, Delaware, U.S.

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 2

| weight_lbs = 224

| position = Defensive end

| college = Marshall

| draftyear = 1950

| draftround = 13

| draftpick = 170

| pastteams =

• Philadelphia Eagles ({{NFL Year|1950}}–{{NFL Year|1957}})

| pfr = WillNo00

| highlights =

• Pro Bowl (1954, 1955)

}}

Norman Earle Willey (August 22, 1927 – August 18, 2011) was an American professional football defensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL) for the Philadelphia Eagles. He went to two Pro Bowls during his eight-year career and was credited with an unofficial 17 sacks in one game which would be an NFL record today.[https://books.google.com/books?id=yV7lvstPuqgC&pg=PA213 The Eagles Encyclopedia] Willey played college football at Marshall University and was selected in the thirteenth round of the 1950 NFL draft. Willey went on after his NFL career to teach physical education and coach football at Pennsville Memorial High School in Pennsville Township, New Jersey; the Norm Willey Boot trophy is awarded annually to the winner of annual football game between Pennsville and Penns Grove High School.Pawling, Chris. [http://www.nj.com/gloucester-sports/index.ssf/2011/08/norm_willey_passes_with_great.html "Norm Willey passes with great reputation left behind"], The Star-Ledger, August 20, 2011. Accessed November 25, 2012. "Willey had the annual Thanksgiving Day trophy — the Norm Willey Boot, which is given to the winner of the Pennsville-Penns Grove football game — named after him.... When Willey ended his career as an Eagle, he went back to his hometown Eagles of Pennsville High School and acted as assistant coach of the football team."

In 2003, he was elected into the Marshall University Athletics Hall of Fame for his career in football and basketball.{{Cite web |url=http://herdzone.cstv.com/hallfame/mars-hallfame.html |title=Marshall Athletics Hall of Fame |access-date=2010-12-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929114518/http://herdzone.cstv.com/hallfame/mars-hallfame.html |archive-date=2011-09-29 |url-status=dead }}

Wiley died on August 18, 2011, aged 83, only four days short of his 84th birthday.{{cite web|last=@EaglesInsider|title=#Eagles are saddened...|url=https://twitter.com/EaglesInsider/status/104906563436810241|publisher=Twitter|accessdate=20 August 2011}}

In remembrance of Willey, the Pennsville Memorial High School football team represented his initials on each of their helmets during the 2011 season.