Willie Crafts†
Inducted 2003
Hometown: Brownsville
High School: Brownsville High School
College: Texas A&I University
Best Known for: Athlete-Football
One of a select handful of Valley exes to make the pros, Crafts was an aggressive 210-pound lineman from Brownsville High in 1957, who went on to play for Texas A&I University's first national title team in 1959.
After being named All-Lone Star Conference and Little All-America, Crafts was drafted by the NFL, though his best years came in the Canadian Football League. He had short stints with the Vikings and Broncos, and a longer run with the Edmonton Eskimos of the CFL.
He returned to the Valley to coach Port Isabel and Brownsville Porter in the 1970s, taking the Tarpons to the playoffs in 1974.
Crafts was selected to the Lone Star Conference All-Decade Team of the 1960s and was at one time a member of the Board of Trustees at Texas Southmost College. He is also in the Texas A&I Hall of Fame and on the school's 50-year team.