Derrick Willies

Derrick Willies (born October 17, 1994) is an American football wide receiver who is currently a free agent. He played college football at Texas Tech and played professionally for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL).

Derrick Willies
refer to caption
Willies with the Cleveland Browns in 2018
Personal information
Born: (1994-10-17) October 17, 1994
Banning, California, U.S.
Height:6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight:207 lb (94 kg)
Career information
High school:Rock Island
(Rock Island, Illinois)
College:Texas Tech
Position:Wide receiver
Undrafted:2018
Career history
Career NFL statistics
Receptions:3
Receiving yards:61
Receiving touchdowns:0
Player stats at NFL.com

Early years

Willies attended and played high school football and ran track at Burlington High School in Iowa before transferring Rock Island High School during his junior year and was named all-state at both schools. In track, Willies won the Illinois Class 3A state championship in the 110-meter hurdles.[1]

College career

Willies began his college career at the University of Iowa. After sitting out his first year, Willies had 4 catches for 71 yards and a touchdown as a redshirt freshman before leaving the team in late October.[2] Willies transferred to Trinity Valley Community College where he was a first-team Junior College Athletic Association All-American and subsequently transferred to Texas Tech.[3] Willies caught 36 passes for 592 yards and five touchdowns over two seasons with the Red Raiders.[4]

Professional career

Cleveland Browns

Willies was signed by the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent on May 4, 2018.[5] Willies made the Browns 53-man roster and made his NFL debut on September 9, 2018, during the team's season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers.[6] On October 7 against the Baltimore Ravens, Willies caught his first career NFL pass, a 13-yard reception, and had a pivotal 39-yard reception in overtime to set up the Browns' game-winning field goal.[7][8] After fracturing his collarbone during practice on October 12, Willies was placed on injured reserve on October 13, 2018.[9]

On August 31, 2019, Willies was waived by the Browns and was signed to the practice squad the next day.[10][11] His practice squad contract with the team expired on January 6, 2020,[12] and he was not invited to training camp by any team.

Willies was re-signed to the Browns' practice squad on November 17, 2020.[13] He was elevated to the active roster on December 26 for the team's week 16 game against the New York Jets, and reverted to the practice squad after the game.[14]

Willies was signed to a reserve/futures contract by the Browns on January 18, 2021.[15] The Browns placed Willies on the reserve/retired list on July 30, 2021.[16] He was waived from the reserve/retired list on February 17, 2022.[17]

Tampa Bay Bandits

Willies was selected in the 14th round of the 2022 USFL draft by the Tampa Bay Bandits.[18] He was transferred to the team's inactive roster on April 22, 2022.[19] He was moved to the inactive roster again on May 11.[20] He was moved back to the active roster on May 20.[21]

NFL statistics
Regular season statistics
Year Team Games Receiving Fumbles
GPGSTgtRecPctYdsTD1DFumLost
2018CLE 505360%610210
2020 CLE 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Career605360%610210

References
  1. Batterson, Steve (May 6, 2018). "RI grad Willies gets a shot with Browns". Dispatch-Argus-QCOnline. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
  2. Morehouse, Marc (October 27, 2018). "Willies announces transfer on Instagram". The Gazette. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  3. Caplan, Jeff (March 28, 2016). "Transfer receiver Derrick Willies is giving Texas Tech high hopes". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  4. Levins, Matt (April 30, 2018). "Willies signs with Cleveland". The Hawk Eye. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  5. "Browns sign 13 undrafted free agents". ClevelandBrowns.com. May 4, 2018. Archived from the original on May 5, 2018.
  6. "Pittsburgh Steelers at Cleveland Browns – September 9th, 2018-Snap counts". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
  7. "Ravens vs. Browns:Play-by-Play". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  8. McDonald, Charles (October 7, 2018). "The Browns finally won a Sunday game, but not without plenty of drama". SB Nation. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  9. "Browns sign WR Breshad Perriman, place Derrick Willies on IR, make other roster moves". ClevelandBrowns.com. October 13, 2018.
  10. "Browns cut roster to 53 players". ClevelandBrowns.com. August 31, 2019.
  11. "Browns announce nine additions to practice squad". ClevelandBrowns.com. September 1, 2019.
  12. @HBalzer721 (January 7, 2020). "Browns practice-squad contracts expired Monday: DB Tigie Sankoh; WR Derrick Willies" (Tweet). Retrieved January 9, 2020 – via Twitter.
  13. Smith, Pete (November 17, 2020). "Browns Sign WR Derrick Willies to Practice Squad". SI.com. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  14. "Browns place 5 on COVID-19 list". ClevelandBrowns.com. December 26, 2020.
  15. "Browns sign 14 players". ClevelandBrowns.com. January 18, 2021.
  16. "Browns place WR Derrick Willies on Reserve/Retired list". WEWS. July 30, 2021. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
  17. Mueller, Jared (February 17, 2022). "Browns waive WR Derrick Willies along with other smaller NFL moves". Browns Wire. USA Today. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  18. Camenker, Jacob (February 23, 2022). "USFL rosters 2022: Complete draft results, team-by-team picks for new football league". The Sporting News. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  19. @USFLBandits (April 22, 2022). "Roster Updates" (Tweet). Retrieved April 23, 2022 – via Twitter.
  20. @USFLBandits (May 11, 2022). "Transferred to inactive roster" (Tweet). Retrieved May 12, 2022 – via Twitter.
  21. @USFLBandits (May 20, 2022). "Roster Updates" (Tweet). Retrieved May 24, 2022 – via Twitter.
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