Bowling Green State University Athletics
Villapiano Among Three To Be Inducted Into Reese’s Senior Bowl Hall Of Fame
March 12, 2018 | Football, Falcon Club, Hall of Fame
Mobile, Ala. – Bowling Green State University legend Phil Villiapiano will be one of three inductees into the Reese's Senior Bowl Hall of Fame March 22. He will join former Denver Broncos linebacker Al Wilson and former Dallas Cowboys tight end Jay Novacek in the 2018 class.
"It's always such an honor for the Reese's Senior Bowl to recognize our annual Hall of Fame inductees and this 2018 class represents an exceptional group," said Reese's Senior Bowl Executive Director Phil Savage.
The trio makes up the 30th class in the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame, presented by Spire, and pushes the total number of inductees to 117 – an exclusive club when you consider more than 5,000 players have donned a Senior Bowl uniform in its 69-year history.
Villapiano spent his Falcon career as a defensive end, wreaking havoc under coach Don Nehlen. A three-year starter for BGSU, Villapiano earned All-MAC first team selections in both 1969 and 1970. The 1970 season, his senior season, saw him chosen as the team MVP and MAC Defensive Player of the Year.
Villapiano had an outstanding Senior Bowl following his final season that quelled any doubts about his ability to play at the next level due to his size. He then went on to become a second round draft selection for the Oakland Raiders in the 1971 NFL Draft. He was named AFC Defensive Rookie of the Year and went on to play 13 seasons in the NFL, earning Pro Bowl recognition for times and being named an All-Pro twice. The speedy linebacker was a member of the Raiders' Super Bowl XI championship team.
In 1976, Villapiano was inducted to the BGSU Hall of Fame and the MAC followed suit in 1992.
"Late in my senior year, a lot of scouts were coming by but nothing was happening," Villapiano recalled. "I got a call from Doyt Perry and Don Nehlen that I had been invited to the Senior Bowl. They told me that this was my time and I looked at this opportunity as my ticket to the pros. I went down to the Senior Bowl with the Falcon mentality and played my butt off.
"Back in those days, we got very little exposure at Bowling Green and it was difficult to distinguish yourself from someone in the Big Ten or the SEC. So the Senior Bowl was truly my ticket into the NFL."
The three former Senior Bowlers will be inducted March 22 at The Steeple in downtown Mobile, Ala., and join a prestigious group that includes Joe Namath, Walter Payton, Dan Marino, Bo Jackson and Brett Favre.
"It's always such an honor for the Reese's Senior Bowl to recognize our annual Hall of Fame inductees and this 2018 class represents an exceptional group," said Reese's Senior Bowl Executive Director Phil Savage.
The trio makes up the 30th class in the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame, presented by Spire, and pushes the total number of inductees to 117 – an exclusive club when you consider more than 5,000 players have donned a Senior Bowl uniform in its 69-year history.
Villapiano spent his Falcon career as a defensive end, wreaking havoc under coach Don Nehlen. A three-year starter for BGSU, Villapiano earned All-MAC first team selections in both 1969 and 1970. The 1970 season, his senior season, saw him chosen as the team MVP and MAC Defensive Player of the Year.
Villapiano had an outstanding Senior Bowl following his final season that quelled any doubts about his ability to play at the next level due to his size. He then went on to become a second round draft selection for the Oakland Raiders in the 1971 NFL Draft. He was named AFC Defensive Rookie of the Year and went on to play 13 seasons in the NFL, earning Pro Bowl recognition for times and being named an All-Pro twice. The speedy linebacker was a member of the Raiders' Super Bowl XI championship team.
In 1976, Villapiano was inducted to the BGSU Hall of Fame and the MAC followed suit in 1992.
"Late in my senior year, a lot of scouts were coming by but nothing was happening," Villapiano recalled. "I got a call from Doyt Perry and Don Nehlen that I had been invited to the Senior Bowl. They told me that this was my time and I looked at this opportunity as my ticket to the pros. I went down to the Senior Bowl with the Falcon mentality and played my butt off.
"Back in those days, we got very little exposure at Bowling Green and it was difficult to distinguish yourself from someone in the Big Ten or the SEC. So the Senior Bowl was truly my ticket into the NFL."
The three former Senior Bowlers will be inducted March 22 at The Steeple in downtown Mobile, Ala., and join a prestigious group that includes Joe Namath, Walter Payton, Dan Marino, Bo Jackson and Brett Favre.
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