A scared rookie facing the most intimidating coach in professional sports, a young man in a very different part of the country than where he grew up, wondering if he would ever make it.
That was center Bill Curry in the summer of 1965 in Green Bay, Wisconsin, a 14-hour drive from his hometown of Atlanta and a million miles away from all he knew – before future Packers Hall of Fame defensive end Willie Davis intervened.
“I was a white guy from College Park, Georgia. I was the last draft choice. We had 20 rounds in those days, and Lombardi had taken me 20th and last,” Curry told WTMJ’s Erik Bilstad after the announcement of Davis’ death.
“I had never been in a huddle with an African-American person, and I thought, with all those big African-American guys, they would try to intimidate me or hurt me somehow and keep me from making the team.”
As Curry put it, he could not have been more wrong.
“Led by Willie Davis, who was our defensive captain, those guys embraced me, not only treated me like an equal, but spent time with me, cared about me,” said Curry.
“Willie in particular took me aside and encouraged me when things looked dark, and essentially not only gave me a chance to play in the National Football League for 10 years, but changed my life, changed my attitudes, changed my capacity for judgment, prejudice and such.”
Curry stepped into a culture in Green Bay where Coach Vince Lombardi was decades ahead of his time in terms of social justice issues, never tolerating racism or prejudice. He molded Davis into a leader on and off the field, and Curry felt that leadership in a critical encounter in his career and life.
As Bill described it:
“I was walking out of the dorm one night. I was alien, strange. I was supposed to block Ray Nitschke every day. That was hilarious. Nobody blocked Ray Nitschke, least of all an itty-bitty center in his rookie year.
“This voice came out of the darkness. It said, ‘Bill,’ and it sounded like God to me, so I said, ‘Yeah,’ and it was Willie Davis. I thought ‘Oh, no, he’s going to tell me to get lost.’
“That’s not what he said at all. He said, ‘I’d like to speak with you. I’ve been watching you practice. I like your effort. You’ve got a chance to make our team. I’m going to help you.’ I was completely taken aback. I said, ‘You’re going to help me?’
“He said, ‘Yep. When Nitschke’s tearing your head off,’ which he did,’ and Lombardi’s screaming profanity,’ which he did, ‘you come find me and I’ll get you through it.’
“Sure enough, Lombardi would go on one of his tirades, and I thought I was going to wither into the earth, and I’d find No. 87 on the defensive field…not only did he give me the impetus and inspiration to play in the National Football League for a long time, but he changed all of my attitudes about racism and Jim Crow laws in the South.”
“I’m eternally grateful.”
Curry won two Super Bowls, one with Green Bay in 1966, another with Baltimore in 1970. He later coached at his alma mater of Georgia Tech, Alabama, Kentucky and Georgia State.
Years later, Curry asked Davis why he took that step for the rookie center back in 1965.
It took a while to get an answer.
“One time I flew to Los Angeles. I was coaching at Georgia Tech. I took him out to lunch and I started pumping him,” Curry said.
” ‘Willie, why would you spend time with a skinny white kid, an undersized offensive center and encourage a kid like me?’
“Do you know what he said? ‘I don’t know.’ He didn’t like being probed about that stuff. It turns out that the reason he didn’t answer the question was that he did it for everybody.”
“We were sitting in a leadership institute in Vail, Colorado. We were talking into the wee hours of the night.
” ‘I hesitated to tell you this because I thought it would sound like bragging, but I spent that time with you because of my Christian faith. There it is, but don’t run around saying it too many times.’ I agreed to his terms.”
Curry wasn’t unique in experiencing that personal presence from Davis. But that presence, in itself, was unique. And special.
“He was just unique, unique in all the world. We’re going to miss him. The world’s not the same when you lose a great human being who cared for people no matter what they looked like, where they came from, what they were going to contribute, just because it was the right thing to do.”