Mr. Bill Glass, a former Baylor All-American and NFL All-Pro defensive end came from this life to the open arms of his lifelong friend, his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on Sunday morning, December 5, 2021.

His declining health problems had recently led him to palliative care. Glass was 86 at the time of his death, but what an incredible, busy life this man lived – and most of his last private years were spent in Ellis County. His ministry and his involvement in the local communities where he worked and lived, created close links with the towns where he and his family have made their home. For years he raised his family in Duncanville until his 3 children graduated from high school. Then they moved to a large ranch on Shiloh Road in Midlothian. In his semi-retirement he had a house built at Waxahachie Lake and in his later years moved to a smaller house in North Waxahachie to be closer to his sister Linda Horn and husband Mike.

This exceptional man of God not only played football at the highest level, but he became a fiery evangelical minister, widely read author and sought-after motivational speaker (both in the secular and Christian world). Perhaps his crowning achievement was his successful 50-year prison ministry he was so proud of.

William Sheppeard Glass was born August 16, 1935 in Texarkana, Texas. The family moved to Corpus Christi when their boy was 5 years old. He was primarily raised by his mother Mary, Bill’s father having died of cancer as a young teenager. This profound loss would later impact his future ministry efforts and also shaped him into an influential “father figure” and mentor to many over the years.

Glass was particularly drawn to football and he particularly enjoyed spending time in the company of his high school coach who became a second father to him. Soccer became his sporting passion, but at the age of 14 a much greater passion consumed him, as he made his personal decision to follow Christ in his local Baptist church, and he did not. never deviated from his faith from that point on.

A Baylor bear through the heart

In 1953, Glass became a college student and football player for the Bears. He spent three years at Baylor University (1954-1956) and was a unanimous All-American goalie in 1956. (He was subsequently elected, in 1985, to the College Football Hall of Fame.)

During this time, Glass became involved with a rather new organization called the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), and this organization was rapidly developing a network of evangelical athletes in the field of sport, and he became a key player in the field of sports. growth of this new ministry.

It was during his college years that he noticed a freshman girl named Mavis Knapp from Harlingen. She was selected as one of Baylor’s “beauty queens” that year, but more importantly, she had been drawn to this football player because she had read a newspaper article about him playing. ‘teach a Sunday school class. Glass was completely in love with Mavis from their very first meeting, and six months later, they married in 1957. Together, they shared a happy marriage for over 60 years, until his sweetheart passed away in 2017. The couple had three children – two boys Billy and Bobby Glass (who later played football for Baylor just like their father) and their youngest was a daughter Mindy.

Glass becomes a professional athlete and plays football on Sundays

After being drafted in the first round by the Detroit Lions of the NFL in 1957, he felt that playing football on Lord’s Day (the Sabbath) could undermine his Christian testimony. Instead, he chose to play in the Canadian Football League (CFL), but a year later he changed his mind and accepted the Lions’ second offer to play in Detroit as part of the NFL. . Glass had sensed that his “legalistic” point of view had changed, and he finally decided to play football on Sunday.

In the 1960s and 1970s, born-again “professional” athletes were often shunned by the Christian world, as many believed that people playing professional sports would inspire players to become greedy for money and to seek fame and gratification. , and then there was still the dilemma of “working” on Sundays.

“I just couldn’t believe,” Glass wrote later, “that God was ready for all professional sports to go without a baton just because of the Sunday game days. So, to better equip himself to become a more intense witness to Christ, he enrolled in Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, and he faithfully spent six dead seasons taking classes before graduating in 1963.

Glass, however, proved his detractors wrong, as he continually grew his faith in the locker room and used his sports platform to spread his message of hope on soccer fields across America. From leading Bible study and prayer meetings at the team’s pre-game hotel, to becoming a spiritual mentor for many, Glass was the “real deal” when it came to his heart. ‘bring the lost and spread the gospel message wherever he went.

After several successful seasons in Detroit, Glass was traded to the Cleveland Browns in 1962, when he really amplified his faith and gained even more notoriety as the dominant All-Pro defensive end. He became a team leader who earned him great respect from all his teammates, even those who did not necessarily share his faith commitments.

Glass’s Impressive Stats as Brown

Glass was credited with 16½ sacks in the quarterback in 1965, when they weren’t recognized as an official statistic by the league. Glass finished with 87 ½ sacks, getting 77 ½ in his seven seasons with the Browns. After retiring at the end of the 1968 season, he hung up his boots for good, but was inducted into the Browns Legends program in 2007.

Passing by, Glass said, “It has been an honor to play for the team with Jim Brown. For me, he was the greatest running back of all time.

Professional athlete turns to full-time minister evangelist

After football, Glass saw himself as a Christian crusader and a witness to his Lord, much like the television covers that Billy Graham was famous for. So, Glass set out to travel across the United States and beyond, to welcome City-Wide Crusades to bring the lost back to Christ. He began to implement these orchestrated gatherings (or revivals) in outdoor venues (often on soccer fields or other venues), where thousands of people gathered to hear Christian music guests perform, and the evening ended with Glass offering a heartfelt invitation to the large crowds. It has touched thousands of people over the years.

This soul winner also had a huge heart for the oppressed and the imprisoned. He has often said that inmates are often easy targets to hit because they are alone, they feel excluded from life, they are a captive audience because they have nowhere to be, and they often transmit feeling too bad for God to care. in them. And that’s how Bill Glass would hit them right in the eye, with his message of truth, hope and inclusion.

In 1972, Glass began speaking in prison courts across the country. He has ministered in thousands of prisons across the United States, sharing his passion for evangelism. The ministry focuses on training volunteers to share their faith in Jesus Christ. In more than 50 years of ministry, more than 60,000 Christians have been trained to share the Good News, and more than 1.5 million men, women and young offenders have made the decision to follow Christ.

Memorial services will be held at the Waxahachie Bible Church located at 621 North Grand Avenue in Waxahachie at 11:00 am on December 18, 2021. A reception will follow the memorial service.

According to the Glass family, Bill’s biggest wish was for his ministry to continue for the next 100 years. Therefore, in lieu of flowers, memorial gifts can be made at: Bill Glass Behind the Walls Ministry, 1101 S. Cedar Ridge Drive, Duncanville, Texas 75137.