Patrick Willis (born January 25, 1985 in Smyrna, Tennessee) is an American football linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League. He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers 11th overall in the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at Mississippi.
During Willis' senior season at Ole Miss, he won the 2006 Butkus Award. A year later during his rookie season with the 49ers, Willis led the NFL in tackles, earned All-Pro a...
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Patrick Willis (born January 25, 1985 in Smyrna, Tennessee) is an American football linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League. He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers 11th overall in the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at Mississippi.
During Willis' senior season at Ole Miss, he won the 2006 Butkus Award. A year later during his rookie season with the 49ers, Willis led the NFL in tackles, earned All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors and was named the 2007 AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.
Willis' parents split when he was 4. At age 10, he occasionally worked in a cotton field to provide financial support for his family. By the time Willis attended Hollow Rock-Bruceton Central High School in Bruceton, Tennessee, his sister, Ernicka went to a guidance counselor to report physical abuse from her father. The school superintendent contacted Tennessee child services, and the four children went to live with Chris and Julie Finley. Chris taught math and was...
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