Bill Gregory
| No. 77 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Defensive tackle / Defensive end | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | December 14, 1949 Galveston, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 255 lb (116 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Lincoln (TX) La Marque | ||||||||
| College: | Wisconsin | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1971 / Round: 3 / Pick: 77 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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| Player stats at NFL.com · PFR | |||||||||
William Penn Gregory, Jr. (born December 14, 1949) is a former American football defensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks. He played college football at the University of Wisconsin.
Early years[edit]
Gregory attended Lincoln High School where he practiced football, basketball and track. He enrolled at the University of Wisconsin, where he was named the starter at defensive tackle as a sophomore and finished second on the team in tackles with 75 (48 solo).
In 1969, he was named a team captain. He led the team in tackles with 102 (58 solo), receiving honorable mention All-Big Ten and second-team Big Ten All-Academic honors.
In 1970, he was moved to defensive end, posting 53 solo tackles and 55 assists, receiving All-Big Ten and third-team All-American honors.[1]
In 2007, he was inducted into the University of Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame.[2]
Professional career[edit]
Dallas Cowboys[edit]
Gregory was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the third round (77th overall pick) of the 1971 NFL Draft. He served mainly as a backup defensive tackle and defensive end, to some of the Cowboys greatest defensive players: Bob Lilly, Jethro Pugh, George Andrie, Larry Cole, Randy White, Harvey Martin and Ed "Too Tall" Jones.
He was a part-time starter at right defensive tackle in 1975 (6 starts) and 1976 (6 starts) behind Cole following Lilly's retirement.
In 1977, he suffered a knee injury in the preseason game against the Houston Oilers, which slowed him in the early part of the season, but he ended up starting the final 2 games for an injured Pugh and playing as a substitute in Super Bowl XII.
On August 28, 1978, he was traded along with a third round draft choice to the Seattle Seahawks, in exchange for a third (#76-Doug Cosbie) and a sixth round (#155-Tim Lavender) draft choice.[3] The Seahawks traded the third round draft choice they received to the San Francisco 49ers, which they used to select future hall of famer Joe Montana.
Seattle Seahawks[edit]
In 1978, the Seattle Seahawks named him the starter at right defensive end and went on to register a then franchise record 9 sacks and also 65 tackles.[4][5] The next year, he finished with 6.5 sacks and 64 tackles. On August 17, 1981, he was waived after playing for the Seahawks in 46 games (43 starts).[6] Gregory's replacement at right end, Jacob Green, would go on to become the Seahawks' all-time leader in sacks.
Personal life[edit]
After leaving football, Gregory worked for IBM until his retirement.
References[edit]
- ^ "2007 Wisconsin Hall of Fame Induction Friday". Retrieved February 19, 2023.
- ^ "Athletic Department Hall Of Fame". Retrieved February 19, 2023.
- ^ "Seattle Gets Dallas Tackle". Retrieved February 19, 2023.
- ^ "Seahawks Come Of Age". Retrieved February 19, 2023.
- ^ "1978: Sims for six". Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
- ^ "Seahawks cut vet Gregory". Retrieved February 19, 2023.