Career Achievements
William M. "Willie" Heston (September 9, 1878 – September 9, 1963) was an American football player and coach. He played running back at San Jose State University and the University of Michigan. Heston was the head football coach for Drake University in 1905 and North Carolina State University in 1906. After he retired from coaching, he practiced law and served as a judge in Michigan. Heston was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1954.
Heston followed coach Fielding Yost from the California State Normal School (now San Jose State University), where he played football from 1898–1900, to the University of Michigan in 1901. With Heston in the backfield, the Wolverines compiled a 43–0–1 record from 1901–04. Heston was named an All-American in 1903 and 1904.
Heston still holds the Michigan record for career touchdowns with 72, although records are only considered official from 1939 on. In 1902, he also set the record for rushing yards (170) in the inaugural Rose Bowl Game, a mark which stood for 59 years.
In an era when the typical score of a football game was 6–4, Heston's Wolverines maintained an astounding 53–1 average scoring margin over their opponents. Bigger, stronger and faster than any other collegiate player of his era, Heston dominated games like no other football player in history. According to "Stars of an Earlier Autumn," Heston averaged nearly nine yards per carry and rushed for 6,000 yards at Michigan.
Most polls of the greatest collegiate players of all time omit Heston for one simple reason: there is no game film or news reels of his exploits. However, when questioned which player was college football greatest of this era, both Walter Camp and Grantland Rice, the preeminent sports writers of their generation, agreed Heston was the best player either had ever witnessed.
Taken from Wikipedia