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Derrick Willies
refer to caption
Willies with the Cleveland Browns in 2018
No. 16, 84
Position:Wide receiver
Personal information
Born: (1994-10-17) October 17, 1994 (age 30)
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
Undrafted:2018
Career history
Career NFL statistics
Receptions:3
Receiving yards:61
Stats at Pro Football Reference Edit this at Wikidata

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

Early life

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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

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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

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Cleveland Browns

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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

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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

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Regular season statistics
Year Team Games Receiving Fumbles
GP GS Tgt Rec Pct Yds TD 1D Fum Lost
2018 CLE 5 0 5 3 60% 61 0 2 1 0
2020 CLE 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Career 6 0 5 3 60% 61 0 2 1 0

References

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  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. Archived from the original on September 3, 2019. Retrieved September 4, 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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