Willie Davis
His broadcast career spanned over 30 years, following a 12-year National Football League Hall of Fame career with the Cleveland Browns and Green Bay Packers and coinciding with a 27-year stint in the beer and wine distribution business. His early exposure to broadcasting was as a color commentator on NFL telecasts on the NBC network. He then took the step to ownership and management in 1976 with the purchase of the small bankrupt KACE-FM in Inglewood, California. He followed turnaround success there with the purchase of WAWA, West Allis, and then WLUM-FM and WMCS-AM, in Milwaukee and stations in Houston, Texas and Seattle, Washington.
His presence in Milwaukee was marked by a long term commitment to the African- American community in southeastern Wisconsin and as an independent local voice for the whole community. Community service was his hallmark and he served on numerous national and local Boards and Commissions. He received Honorary Doctorate Degrees from Grambling University, Marquette University and the Milwaukee School of Engineering. He was honored as the NAACP Man of the Year in 1978, the NFL Man of the Year in 1987 and with the March of Dimes Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004.
Willie Davis passed away on April 15, 2020.
Mr Davis was not born here, he didn’t go to college here, and he wasn’t drafted by the Packers. But he was a giant in the state of Wisconsin as a champion and Hall of Famer, and as a radio station owner. RIP sir, and a tip of the cap to your remarkable life.
Back in 1981 I was working for a company delivering computer supplies and one day I had a delivery at WLUM on Bluemound Rd in West Allis, WI. As I approached the building I had already known that Willie Davis owned it. I was about to reach for the door and low and behold Willie Davis was stepping out. I was in awe and gasped and he smiled and said hello. I couldn’t say hello back because i never thought I’d meet a man I thought of as a hero. When I caught my breath and said hello back to him I said Willie? He said yes and shook my hand and walked away. That brief moment in time, I will never forget. He was so kind and I was intimidated by his size, the man was huge. No wonder he played football. I caught that last glimpses of his career as a child so when I met him for that brief moment i knew he was a legend. I’m sure people who know him feel that way and reading about him through the years only galvanized my belief that he is an American Legend and American hero. The world will be one less a special person with his passing. My condolences to all of his family, friends and those who worked for him and with him.
A great man…we need more like him