University of San Francisco Athletics

Willard Russell Letlow was born on October 5, 1913, in Dinuba, CA and played football, baseball and track for Taft Union High School. He played college football with the Dons at USF from 1934-1935. At 6’ 0” 214 lbs., Letlow played tackle at USF, but played left guard in the pros.
 
Prior to the inception of the first NFL Draft in 1936, college players had free agency and could sign with any NFL team. Letlow had signed with the Chicago Cardinals prior to the draft, but caught the eye of Packers Head Coach Curly Lambeau when he was scouting the 1936 East-West Shrine Game. Lambeau sent a wire to the Green Bay Press-Gazette naming the players who most impressed him, and Letlow was one of them. Letlow said in a 1977 interview, that when Lambeau told him at a San Francisco hotel that he intended to draft him, Letlow replied that he’d already signed with the Chicago Cardinals. Lambeau assured him that wouldn’t hold up, and “sure enough, later I got a telegram from Milan Creighton of the Cardinals."
 
He has the distinction of being the first-ever draft pick by the Packers, chosen in 1936 by the Green Bay Packers seventh overall. He was considered dependable, hard-nosed, and fast for a lineman. Lambeau said of him: “There were outstanding examples of courage on the eastern trip. Russ Letlow, who has played at guard all season, was a standout. So sick he could hardly sit on the bench at Washington, he entered the contest and played a whirlwind game until completely exhausted (Packers.com).”
 
Letlow played for the Packers from 1936 to 1942, and was All-Pro four times from 1937 to 1940. In his first season, the Packers won their fourth NFL Championship against the Boston Redskins in New York, a win they repeated in 1939 against the New York Giants, at Milwaukee. He was chosen for the 1938 and 1939 All-Star Games, and was named to the 1930’s All-Decade Team. The Packers won the NFL Western Division Championships in 1936, 1938, and in 1939. 
 
He was drafted into the United States Navy in 1943, and played Armed Forces football at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station in 1943, and at Camp Peary Naval Training Station in 1944. He was selected for the All-Service team in 1943 and in 1944. After his military service, Letlow returned to the Packers for a final season in 1946. He played a total of 71 games, and started in 30 of them as a guard, at a time when players often played both offense and defense. He also played tackle, and received kickoffs. 
 
Letlow was inducted into the USF Hall of Fame in 1959, the Kern County Hall of Fame in 1970, the Green Bay Hall of Fame in 1972, and the Taft High School Hall of Fame in 2011.