Willie Lanier

Maggie L. Walker High, Richmond (1963)
Football

Willie Lanier played high school football under Coach Fred “Cannonball” Cooper. Their 1962 Maggie L. Walker team won the Virginia Interscholastic Association’s football championship. Lanier graduated from Morgan State University in 1967 where he was a two time All-American linebacker and Most Valuable Player in the 1966 Tangerine Bowl. Picked in the second round of the American Football League’s 1967 draft, Lanier became a starter his first year with the Kansas City Chiefs. He was the first African American to play middle linebacker in professional football, the position described as the leader of the defense on the field. He retired in 1977 and is recognized as one of football’s greatest linebackers. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 2000. In 2019 he was recognized as one of the NFL’s “100 Greatest Football Players.” Mr. Lanier has had a long career in financial services and is now president and Chief Executive of the Lanier Group, LLC. His longstanding commitment to his community and education is demonstrated by his selection as NFL Man of the Year in 1972 and the establishment of an Endowed Lectureship in Business Ethics at Morgan State University in 2015.