Heston, Willie

Willie Heston, byname of William Martin Heston, (born Sept. 9, 1878, Galesburg, Ill., U.S.—died Sept. 9, 1963, Traverse City, Mich.), U.S. collegiate halfback who played with Fielding Yost’s University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) teams that from 1901 through 1904 scored 2,326 points in 44 games to their opponents’ 40 points.

Heston graduated from Grant’s Pass (Oregon) High School and played football at San Jose (Calif.) State Normal College, where Yost was an assistant coach before going to Michigan in 1901. Heston led Michigan to two national championships (1901–02) and to a victory in the first Rose Bowl game (1902), in which Michigan set a rushing yardage record that survived until 1959. In that game Heston himself gained 170 yards on 18 carries. Heston was the first Michigan player chosen (1903–04) by Walter Camp on his All-America team. In his four years there Heston scored 93 touchdowns for Michigan. He was known for his speed and an efficient stiffarm, and in four seasons at Michigan he rushed for a total of 2,339 yd, earning a spot in the College Football Hall of Fame.

In his first game as a professional for the Canton Bulldogs in 1905, he suffered a broken leg that ended his playing career. Later he was a prosecuting attorney and a judge in Wayne County (Detroit), Mich.