Bill Willis was a Buckeye legend who helped the team win the 1942 national title and later went on to break the color barrier in what is now the National Football League.
Willis was notorious for his strength, and he exerted it on every opponent he faced – even if that opponent was a hapless tackling dummy.
During the Senior Tackle, a tradition in which seniors hit the tackling dummy one last time ahead of Ohio State's showdown with Michigan, Willis hit the dummy so hard that it tore the thing from its bearings.
The dummy was so dismembered after Willis' hit that assistant coaches Paul Bixler and Ernie Godfrey had to physically hold it for Jack Dugger's Senior Tackle.
After the tackling dummy event, Willis went on to play in the NFL until 1954, where he was a four-time All-Pro and won the NFL Championship with the Browns in 1950.
Jonathon Cooper will honor Willis this season in donning the No. 0 jersey Ohio State is calling the Block "O" jersey. I would not be surprised if Cooper has "killed" his fair share of tackling dummies as well.
