Bill Daley (American Football) - University of Michigan

University of Michigan

After the 1942 season, Daley enlisted in the United States Navy. Because of his college background, Daley was selected to attend a midshipman academy at Columbia University in New York City. He was ordered to report to the University of Michigan because it had a V-12 Navy College Training Program. He stayed in Ann Arbor for only six months while waiting for an opening in the program at Columbia. While in Ann Arbor, recruits were required to remain in good physical shape and were given two choices: either participate in Navy fitness classes or work out with the Michigan football team. Michigan's football coach Fritz Crisler took advantage of the opportunity and convinced Daley to play for his football team, as Daldy had one year of eligibility remaining.

He played for Michigan in 1943 where he was the nation's fourth best groundgainer despite playing in only six games. Daley's speed and power helped the Wolverines tie Purdue for the Big Ten Conference title. Daley averaged 6.8 yards per carry and scored nine touchdowns. He carried the ball 120 times, rushed for 817 yards and added another 119 yards on six punt returns. In addition to his six touchdowns, he kicked three extra points, for a total of 57 points scored. His best game came on October 2, 1943 at Evanston, Illinois, as Michigan beat Northwestern, 21-7 win. In that game, Daley gained 216 yards and scored two touchdowns in 26 carries.

In his final college football game, he helped the Wolverines win back the Little Brown Jug that he had helped the Gophers secure from 1940-1942. He holds the distinction of being the only player to win Little Brown Jug games playing for both Minnesota and Michigan. Asked at the time about having the opportunity to battle for the Little Brown Jug from the other side of the fence, Daley denied having qualms about playing his former teammates: "It will have to be just another game. I look at it just as though it were an intrasquad scrimmage. There won't be any qualms about how hard I hit my teammates or how hard they hit me." He did note, though, that he wanted his last college football game to be memorable: "If this is going to be my last game, I'd really like it to be one I can remember."

Daley later recalled the significance of the Little Brown Jug in the years he played: "We were always told to never lose this game. Winning the Little Brown Jug was very important to us. Fortunately I was able to go 4-0 in Little Brown Jug games while playing for both teams." Daley recalled that it was strange playing against his former Gopher teammates in the 1943 Jug game: "It was strange as I was playing against my teammates and friends, but I think it was the idea of winning the Little Brown Jug that motivated me. We beat Minnesota 49-6 and the Jug came to Michigan. It was a wild story." The Michigan victory snapped a nine-game losing streak to the Gophers.

In addition to Daley, the 1943 Michigan team also benefited from the arrival of another wartime transfer, Pro Football Hall of Famer Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch from Wisconsin. The press referred to Daley and Hirsch as "a pair of 'lend-lease' satellites."

He was named an All-American by the Associated Press and Collier's/Grantland Rice, and he finished seventh in the Heisman Trophy voting. When Daley was named an All-American along with Otto Graham in the backfield, one reporter referred to Daley as "Minnesota's gift to Michigan by way of the Navy V-12 class." The article noted that Daley was a speedster who could run 100 yards in 10 seconds. He gained 817 yards in just six games before being moved elsewhere by the Navy.

Though he never planned to play for Michigan, Daley looked back on the opportunity as a stroke of luck. "I was a lucky guy. I got to play for two great schools, but playing at Michigan was one of the greatest thrills I could have had. When I was at Michigan, I was the happiest guy in the world." Asked what it means to have played an important part in the football traditions at both Minnesota and Michigan, Daley said: "It means a lot to me. Both programs have been so wonderful to me long after I played. I am a member of both Hall of Fames and that is very special."

Daley said his one disappointment about his college football career was that he never played on a team that beat Notre Dame. In 1943, Michigan lost to Notre Dame, 35-12. Despite 135 yards on 24 carries by Daley (the most yards gained on Notre Dame by any back in 1943), Michigan suffered its only loss to Notre Dame. Said Daley, "I wanted to beat them so bad, and I played one of the best games of my life, but it wasn't to be."

In 1983, A Century of All Americans chose Daley as one of the All Time Football Fullbacks. In 2005, Daley was selected as one of the 100 greatest Michigan football players of all time by the "Motown Sports Revival," ranking 63rdt on the all-time team.