Aug
Calgary: Willis gets strength from mother
Courtesy Calgary Herald:
At six-foot-two, 265 pounds, Odell Willis rockets out of his stance and blows past the average offensive tackle in less time than it takes to say Calgary Stampeders.
The West Georgia product runs the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds. His vertical jump — the most accurate barometer of explosiveness in a football player — registers 36 inches.
Still, the 24–year-old considers his athletic prowess average at best — at least compared to the physical challenges faced and tackled daily by his mother.
A kindergarten teacher for 27 years, Patricia Willis lives in a body that has betrayed her.
“My mama came down with multiple sclerosis in the mid-’90s,” Willis said Wednesday, lounging on a leather couch after practice at McMahon Stadium.
“The disease broke her down. My mom, she could walk from county to county. It was nothing for her to walk marathons and stuff.”
These days, Patricia moves around with the aid of a walker or wheelchair.
“She’s allergic to heat,” Willis said. “If she’s anywhere near heat, it drains her of energy. She walks 20 yards and she’s just drained.”
Patricia lives in Choctaw County, Ala., where the heat is hard, if not impossible, to escape.
She retired five years ago after collapsing in the hallway at school.
“The kids came and tried to pick me up,” Patricia said Wednesday, her 53rd birthday.
“At that point, I said it was time for me to go. These kids couldn’t pick me up, so it was time for me to go home.”
Willis finds himself far from home as a first-year standout on the Calgary defensive line.
In just five games, he already has six sacks.
“I’m so proud of him,” Patricia said, haltingly. “So, so proud.”
Her son, however, is not impressed.
“I’m not satisfied,” said Willis, who has to shake a bad habit of stepping offside. “Not one bit. I could have more sacks. That’s my fault for not being prepared for the situation.
“I want to be a player who gives great effort. I want to be a player who is coachable and is willing to do what is asked of him.”
The effort part could be genetic. Odell Willis Sr. dropped dead of a massive heart attack in his mid-30s. Willis was only four at the time.
“All I remember about him is his hard work,” Willis said.
“He worked in the mill. He worked for the satellite company putting up satellites. And he was a pretty good mechanic around the state of Alabama. We still have a lot of trophies and memorabilia from car shows and that kind of stuff.”
Although the 2009 CFL season is young, Willis is already making a name for himself north of the border.
“He’s one hell of an athlete,” said defensive tackle Mike Labinjo. “I mean that spin move that he does — I can’t do it. He does it so quick and so fast. He causes offensive linemen a lot of problems.”
As such, football insiders can’t help but wonder if Willis is the next coming of Cameron Wake — although such comparisons probably deserve a procedure flag.
Wake won the CFL’s most outstanding rookie award in 2007 and the outstanding defensive player award for the past two years.
In 2008, many believed he deserved the hardware for outstanding player on either side of the ball.
Wake’s dominance captured the imagination of the Miami Dolphins, who gave him a $1-million US signing bonus to defect to the NFL.
“I heard about him when I got here,” Willis said. “I never played against him or saw him on film. I just heard he was a great player.
“I wish the best for him, but I just want to be Odell Willis.”
Willis considers himself an international representative for his college, West Georgia; home state, Alabama; high school, Choctaw County; and the Black Belt counties.
The chatty defender grew up in the Black Belt, a swath of cotton-growing land in the central part of the state known for its dark, mineral-rich soil.
The area is also known for sky-high unemployment, poverty and crime rates.
“I’m just a small country boy,” he said. “And I’ve been able to do something with myself.
“My cousin, he has a pasture behind his house and a horse stable. Leading up to every holiday, we were out in the field picking vegetables. Then we had to go out to the pig pen — the hog pen.
“We’d kill the hog and clean it. It was like a natural feast. You never really had to go to the store for much except for the things that you really need. Other than that, we pretty much manufactured our food ourselves.”
At the end of the day, Willis credits his mom for manufacturing a professional football player out of an average country kid.
“I used to think you needed both parents to make things work,” he said. “Growing up, I didn’t always have everything I wanted. But I always had everything I needed.
“I always got her a Mother’s Day gift and Father’s Day gift. From the time I was four until now, it’s always been just her and me. She’s my best friend.
“Man, she’s superwoman.”
