One measure of a winner is the ability to come through under pressure. Fullback Ben Wilson passed the test multiple times.
He did it in college for the University of Southern California (USC), helping the Trojans win a national championship with big performances against UCLA and Notre Dame, and then in the Rose Bowl versus Wisconsin.
He did it in the pros, too, winning a job with the Green Bay Packers after being pushed aside by the Los Angeles Rams, helping Vince Lombardi’s team win a third consecutive NFL title.
Wilson also contributed to wins for the Rams and Packers against the St. Louis Cardinals in ways that went beyond the game statistics.
Known as Big Ben long before Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger got the nickname, Wilson valued education and understood the importance of preparing for a life outside of sports.
Big bruiser
Leaving his hometown of Houston, Wilson became a pre-med student at USC and played three years of varsity football as a fullback for head coach John McKay. Years later, reflecting on his senior season, Wilson told the Los Angeles Times, “Do you know I weighed 250 pounds in 1962? I was bigger than most college linemen and I overpowered them.”
UCLA linebacker Ronnie Hull told the newspaper, “He’s big as a house and as fleet as a deer.”
Wilson got off to a cautious start his senior season. He had undergone surgery in May 1962 to remove a bone chip in his right knee, an operation identical to one he had two years earlier on the other knee, according to the Los Angeles Times. He got better as the season progressed.
On Nov. 24, 1962, USC ran its record to 9-0 with a 14-3 triumph versus UCLA. Wilson scored the Trojans’ first touchdown and he set up the second, rumbling eight yards to UCLA’s 1-yard line before quarterback Pete Beathard carried for the score. Wilson, who averaged 4.6 yards on 10 carries, was awarded the game ball.
The next week, USC faced Notre Dame in the regular-season finale. In Wilson’s sophomore and junior seasons, Notre Dame had held USC scoreless and won handily both times.
It was a different story on Dec. 1, 1962. Playing before 81,676 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, USC prevailed, 25-0, and finished its regular-season schedule at 10-0. Wilson averaged 4.5 yards on 16 carries, rushed for two touchdowns and received a standing ovation.
Notre Dame’s Frank Budka fractured his right leg trying to bring down Wilson on one of his runs.
“We’ve faced some good fullbacks, but he’s the best by far,” Notre Dame quarterback Daryle Lamonica told the Los Angeles Times.
Wilson said to the newspaper, “This was my best game as a Trojan.”
For the second consecutive week, Wilson was awarded the game ball, but he gave it to tackle and co-captain Marv Marinovich. “I didn’t want to be selfish,” Wilson said to the Los Angeles Times.
On Jan. 1, 1963, with his father, mother, three sisters and a cousin from Houston in attendance, Wilson carried 17 times and scored a touchdown in USC’s 42-37 triumph against Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl at Pasadena, Calif. The Associated Press declared the 11-0 Trojans the national college football champions.
Different drill
Asked his plans for pro football after being drafted by the Rams, Wilson told the Los Angeles Times, “It all depends on whether the deal is enough. I’ve always wanted to be a doctor, but then I got interested in dentistry. The more I think about it, the more I like it. If I am accepted in dental school, and the pro deal isn’t good enough for me to set something aside, it would be useless to play.”
The Rams signed him to a two-year, no-cut contract at $20,000 a year and a $20,000 bonus spread over two years, the Los Angeles Times reported. “This gives me a chance to go to dental school,” Wilson told the newspaper.
As a rookie, Wilson was the Rams’ second-leading rusher in 1963, but after the season he told them he was leaving football and would enroll in the USC school of dentistry in the fall of 1964.
“I couldn’t find any school program where I could play football and continue my dental studies the rest of the year,” Wilson said to the Los Angeles Times. “I eventually want a position where I’m economically secure and at the same time getting personal satisfaction out of doing something for my fellow man. I’ve been accepted at USC and _ who knows? _ if I waited a few more years I might not be able to get in.”
The Rams tried to convince Wilson to stick with them, but when training camp opened he hadn’t changed his mind. “This idea of being a dentist is one I have nurtured for years,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “More than that, I feel like I want to do more for humanity than just entertain it.”
In August 1964, Wilson and Rams owner Dan Reeves found a solution. The University of Tennessee agreed to allow Wilson to play pro football and go to its dentistry school the rest of the year. Dean of admissions Eugene Tragesser told United Press International that Wilson had been accepted as the first black student at the University of Tennessee dental school and was expected to enroll in January 1965.
The Rams offered to pay the $7,500 annual tuition fee, the Los Angeles Evening Citizen News reported.
Wilson rejoined the Rams at training camp in late August 1964. “I’ve never seen a more intense worker,” Rams head coach Harland Svare said to the Los Angeles Times. “He’s got great desire, and he’s a great team man.”
(According to the Los Angeles newspaper, Wilson eventually had second thoughts about dentistry and chose to seek a master’s degree in business at USC.)
No longer wanted
Wilson was the Rams’ leading rusher in 1964. A year later, they went with a backfield by committee. In a 27-3 rout of the Cardinals on Dec. 5, 1965, the Rams used Dick Bass and Willie Brown “to soften up the Cardinals and then polished them off with the bull backs, Ben Wilson and Les Josephson,” the Los Angeles Times reported.
After George Allen replaced Harland Svare as head coach in 1966, Wilson reported to training camp about 15 pounds lighter at 219.
“I carried too much weight to move like an NFL back should,” Wilson said to the Los Angeles Times. “I was like a runaway locomotive once I got up a full head of steam. I was just too heavy to cut effectively. So I just moved in a straight line.”
In an August 1966 exhibition versus the Dallas Cowboys, Wilson rushed for 88 yards on 20 carries, but just before the regular season began he was placed on waivers. “It was quite a shock,” he told The Sporting News.
When Wilson went unclaimed, the Rams put him on their reserve list, or taxi squad, and he spent the entire 1966 season there without appearing in a game.
Wilson told the Green Bay Press-Gazette, “To be put on waivers is a humiliating thing at best _ very humiliating. When you are unable to make a connection with any club, it’s not the most ego-building thing that could happen to you.”
Playing to win
In July 1967, Wilson, 28, got a chance to extend his playing career when the Packers acquired him from the Rams for a draft choice. Jim Taylor, the fullback who led the Packers in rushing for seven consecutive seasons (1960-67), was sent to the New Orleans Saints. A second-year pro, Jim Grabowski, replaced him and the Packers wanted Wilson to be his backup.
Asked at training camp by the Green Bay Press-Gazette what it was like being coached by Vince Lombardi, Wilson replied, “He’s very tough, but he’s fair, and he’s dedicated to winning. I don’t think I’d want it any other way.”
Seeking their third straight NFL championship, the Packers entered the 1967 season with Grabowski and halfback Elijah Pitts as the starters, and Wilson and Donny Anderson as the reserves.
On Oct. 1, in the Packers’ romp over the Atlanta Falcons, Wilson got to play more than usual and did well, rushing for 82 yards and a touchdown.
Mostly, though, he served as a blocker on kickoff returns. In the seventh game of the season, Lombardi inserted rookie Travis Williams as the kick returner and he ran back three for 151 yards, including a touchdown, against the Cardinals. Game stats
Williams went on to return four kickoffs for touchdowns with the 1967 Packers. “They were wedge returns,” Lombardi told The Sporting News.
The blockers forming the wedge for Williams were, from left to right, linebacker Tommy Crutcher, guard Gale Gillingham, tackle Forrest Gregg and Wilson.
Job well done
In the Packers’ eighth game of the 1967 season, against the Baltimore Colts, both Jim Grabowski (knee) and Elijah Pitts (Achilles tendon) were injured. Wilson and Donny Anderson replaced them as the starting running backs.
The next week, facing the Cleveland Browns, Wilson had his first 100-yard rushing game as a pro. He followed that with 110 total yards (80 rushing and 30 receiving) versus the San Francisco 49ers and scored two touchdowns against the Minnesota Vikings.
Soon after, Wilson suffered foot and rib injuries. With Grabowski still sidelined, the Packers turned to a third-string fullback, Chuck Mercein.
Mercein was the fullback in the Packers’ playoff wins against the Rams and Cowboys (in the game dubbed the Ice Bowl).
Next up for the Packers was Super Bowl II in Miami against the Oakland Raiders. (The Raiders quarterback was the same Daryle Lamonica who started for Notre Dame in the game Wilson carried USC to victory.)
About 10 minutes before kickoff at the Super Bowl, Wilson was surprised to learn that he, not Mercein, would be the starting fullback.
He told the Green Bay Press-Gazette, “Coach Lombardi came over and said, ‘How do you feel?’ I said, ‘I feel fine.’ He looked at me kind of funny and walked away. A few minutes later, he came back and again asked me, ‘How do you feel?’ “
When Wilson assured the coach he felt fine, Lombardi said, “If you feel good, then we’ll start you.”
Though he sat out part of the fourth quarter after losing a contact lens, Wilson was the Packers’ leading rusher in the game, with 62 yards on 17 carries, and the Packers prevailed, 33-14.
Moving on
The Super Bowl turned out to be Wilson’s final game.
In March 1968, he had an operation to remove cartilage from his left knee, but there were complications and the knee did not respond.
Wilson reported to training camp (Phil Bengtson had replaced Lombardi as head coach) but told the Green Bay newspaper the knee had undergone “a fantastic amount of atrophy.”
The Packers took him off the roster before the start of the 1968 season.
Wilson went on to own five McDonald’s restaurants in Houston. According to his obituary, he enjoyed singing, fishing, crossword puzzles, card games, was extremely outgoing and never met a stranger.
RetroSimba 
1967 was the year the NFL went to a four-division, Eastern vs. Western Conference format (Century and Capitol in the East; Central and Coastal in the West). The winners of each of the four divisions were the playoff qualifiers. Green Bay won the Central title with a 9-4-1 record. Los Angeles and Baltimore each had 11-1-2 records in the Coastal Division. Los Angeles was the division winner because of a win and tie against the Colts, giving Baltimore an extra few weeks off that winter. The Packers also had the home advantage in the playoffs (Milwaukee against the Rams, Green Bay vs. the Dallas Cowboys). Different times. Lombardi’s team was getting old. Baltimore in the Western Conference made about as much sense as calling a league the Big Ten when it has 14 (with more on the way) teams.
Thanks for the good insights.
That 1967 Rams team had an offense led by Roman Gabriel at quarterback and included a cast of standout receivers in Bernie Casey, Jack Snow and Billy Truax. The defense featured the Fearsome Foursome of Deacon Jones, Merlin Olsen, Roger Brown and Lamar Lundy.
That 1967 Colts team had Johnny Unitas at quarterback and an emerging star in tight end John Mackey. The defensive secondary was outstanding, with Bobby Boyd, Lenny Lyles, Jerry Logan and rookie Rick Volk.
From what I’ve read so far about Ben Wilson he must have really been a great individual. Too bad he lost that contact lens. With the Packers having a comfortable lead in the 4th quarter they probably would have handed off to him to run out the clock. Ben Wilson just might have rushed for 100 yards in that Super Bowl. Give credit also to the legendary Vince Lombardi for picking him up during the off season and going with his instincts before the start of the game against Oakland.
In “When Pride Still Mattered,” his excellent biography of Vince Lombardi, author David Maraniss wrote, “It was once said by Henry Jordan, the defensive tackle, that ‘Lombardi treats us all alike. Like dogs!’ _ and though the phrase was a telling bit of gallows humor, it was not the truth. Lombardi studied each player on his team and constantly calibrated his use of love and hate, confidence and fear, until he found what worked. ‘There are other coaches who know more about X’s and O’s,’ Lombardi told Jack Koeppler, ‘but I’ve got the edge. I know more about football players than they do.’ “
This is a great tribute, Mark, and could quite possibly be the most in-depth statement on an otherwise obscure career. Great job!
Thanks, Gary. I would not have known Ben Wilson passed, nor would I have been inspired to write about him, if not for you sharing with me the kind note you got from his son. I appreciate it when blogger colleagues can help one another.
What a goal – “Doing something for his fellow man.” A remarkable person Ben Wilson. And to persevere in football and enjoy a 100 yard rushing game. That must have been so satisfying.
I was really inspired by the anecdote you included Mark, about Wilson being awarded the game ball and instead of accepting it, he handed it over to tackle and co-captain Marv Marinovich. “I didn’t want to be selfish,” Wilson said to the Los Angeles Times.
His sense of appreciation and gratitude reminds me of waiters and waitresses who give some of their tip money to bus boys and dishwashers. Linemen have to be the most underrated players in all of sports.
I like your analogy, Steve, of running backs to linemen with wait staff to kitchen help. Apropos. Come to think of it, all of us, regardless of profession or role, are dependent on others to succeed. Ben Wilson understood that. So do you.