Willie Heston - Historical Honors and Recognition

Historical Honors and Recognition

In the first half of the 20th century, Heston was ranked as one of the greatest players in football history.

Knute Rockne named Heston as the greatest back of all time: "Willie Heston gets my vote as the greatest back of all time. Since those days many wonderful backs have flashed on the gridiron, including Red Grange and my own Four Horsemen of 1924, and my choice is still Heston."

International News Service sports editor Frank G. Menke proclaimed Heston "the greatest halfback that America ever produced" and explained:

"Heston was the irresistible force -- the human juggernaut. He hurled his compact, marvelous body into the most powerful human walls that were ever produced -- and split them asunder. Every team that played Michigan during the regime of Heston had orders to 'get Heston!' And none succeeded. Four men, six men, eight men, oftentimes threw themselves into the pathway of the charging Wolverine. And he crashed into -- and through -- those defenses as a bowling pin tips through the ten pins."

Fielding Yost argued that Heston was the greatest player of all-time. When some in the 1920s suggested that Red Grange may have surpassed Heston as the greatest back, Yost provided sports writer Grantland Rice with an eight-point argument as to why Heston was the greatest. Yost's points included the following:

"1. He was the fastest starting back that ever lived. Heston could beat Archie Hahn every time at fifty yards, and Hahn was good for 9 4-5, then world's champion.
2. Heston was the quickest back for a shift or a thrust or a sidestep I ever saw. He was like lightning.
3. Heston was the most powerful runner of them all. Weighing 185 pounds, he was compactly built and struck with such terrific force that few could stand up before him. ...
5. He was never hurt.
6. He was equally great at ripping open a line or shooting through a broken field.
7. He made 106 touchdowns in four years. This would be equal to 636 points today. ... He gained over 500 yards from scrimmage in any number of single contests."

In 1953, Heston was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. And in 1974, the Football Writers Association of America selected Heston as the halfback for the all-time team for the period 1869-1919 (football's first half century).