2024 Hall of Fame: Patrick Willis stood out even among 49ers greats and NFL’s all-time defenders

One of the greatest San Francisco 49ers, and greatest defensive players in NFL history, will finally receive his gold jacket.

After being nominated for the Pro Football Hall of Fame five straight years, former 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis will be enshrined in Canton. Despite the wait, a closer look at his career accolades suggests that it was only a matter of time before he heard his name called for the prestigious honor.

Willis was a seven-time Pro Bowler. He was named All-Pro first time five times in his eight years in the NFL. The star linebacker also made the NFL’s All-Decade Team for the 2010s. When it was all said and done, Willis knew that eventually the time would come when he would get that special knock on his door.

“Really just a full circle moment,” Willis told NBC Sports. “The only thing that I could think about when I got the knock was ‘it’s happening.’ I said for so long if it’s supposed to happen, whenever it does, it will. And this is the time now.”

Willis was selected by the San Francisco 49ers with the 11th overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft. The Ole Miss product started in all 16 games during his rookie season and recorded 174 tackles and four sacks. Those numbers were not only good enough to win Willis the Defensive Rookie of the Year award, but they also proved he was already one of the league’s best defensive players and as a result got a Pro Bowl nod and a spot on the All-Pro first team.

Former 49ers fullback Michael Robinson, who played three seasons together with Willis, said that even as a rookie he knew that Willis was different from the pack.

“The guy was always the last guy in the building,” Robinson told NBC Sports Bay Area’s Laura Britt on Radio Row in Las Vegas ahead of Super Bowl LVIII. “You would see [former 49ers quarterback] Alex Smith leave before Patrick Willis. He lived in the building. He lived in the weight room. He always tried to be the first one on his nutrition. And I thought, him being that young, I was like, ‘Wow he’s thinking about nutrition? He was just in college!’ I was in my second year and I hadn’t even thought about nutrition.”

Willis became the first 49ers player since safety Ronnie Lott to be selected to the Pro Bowl in each of his first four seasons. Willis went on to become the first 49ers player to be a Pro Bowler in his first seven seasons, which is saying something for that franchise. He joins a star-studded list that includes Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor, Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald and Chiefs linebacker Derrick Thomas as the only defensive players since the 1970 merger to reach the Pro Bowl in their first seven years in the NFL.

Willis also became the first Niners player to be selected as an All-Pro first- or second-teamer in each of his first six seasons.

The linebacker was one of the most versatile players at the position due to his strength at nearly 240 pounds while also having mobility on the field. As a result, the 49ers were able to use Willis in a variety of different ways, including pass coverage in both man-to-man and zone against both running backs and tight ends.

“When Patrick Willis puts hands on you, you go down,” Robinson said. “Trust me. I practiced against him and I played against him. You go down.”

“I remember doing one-on-one pass pro against him as a rookie in 2007 and he’s putting all of us running backs, me, Frank Gore, all of us on our tails,” Robinson said on NFL Network. “He was that explosive from his hips.”

Overall, Willis started in all 112 games he played. He registered 1,225 tackles, 20.5 sacks, eight interceptions (two returned for touchdowns), 16 forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries and 53 passes defended.

In his playoff career, including a trip to Super Bowl XLVII against the Baltimore Ravens, Willis registered 84 tackles, two sacks, one interception, one fumble recovery and two passes defended.

Now, his achievements will be immortalized in Canton.