Wil The Thrill: The Untold Story of Wilbert Montgomery by Edward J. Robinson (review)

In Wil The Thrill, Edward J. Robinson documents the athletic career of Wilbert Montgomery, one of football’s most unheralded collegiate and professional gridiron greats. Robinson avers that Montgomery’s physical prowess on the playing field was as influential to improving race relations in west Texas as Major League Baseball icon Jackie Robinson. More specifically, the narrative of one of America’s unsung athletes, as Robinson writes, “Encompasses the complex intersection of race, sports, and religion” (p. 7). Structured chronologically, Robinson highlights the challenges and successes, the twists and turns, and the ups and downs of Montgomery’s athletic journey. The book is organized into three parts, each locating Montgomery at a specific stage in his athletic career. It contains nine chapters, 15 illustrations, and five appendices and begins with a prologue that gives an overview of Montgomery’s contributions to collegiate and professional football as well as race relations and concludes by highlighting his contributions to Abilene Christian College (now Abilene Christian University), the Abilene (TX) community, the Philadelphia Eagles, and the National Football League in the epilogue.

Robinson situates Montgomery’s experiences at Greenville High School, Abilene Christian, and with the Philadelphia Eagles within the larger context of U.S. race relations. As he points out, the early 1970s represented a major turning point in college football history as desegregation and the post-Civil Rights era gave rise to some of the most dazzling Black running backs the sport has ever seen. With legends Jim Brown, Ernie Davis, Gale Sayers, and O. J. Simpson bursting onto the national scene in the late 1950s and 1960s at Northern, Midwestern, and Western universities, the notoriety and fanfare evaded Black ball carriers at Southern institutions. This would soon change when Sam “Bam” Cunningham and the University of Southern California Trojans pounded the all-White University of Alabama Crimson Tide in Birmingham, Alabama, before a nationally televised audience in 1970.

With USC featuring an all-Black backfield with quarterback Jimmy Jones, tailback Clarence Davis, and Cunningham at fullback, their athletic abilities proved unstoppable, therefore ushering in—although incrementally—a new wave of Black runners at Southern colleges and universities. It is here where Robinson narrates the untold story of Montgomery and illuminates his athletic feats, both at Abilene Christian and with the Philadelphia Eagles. Robinson places Montgomery’s gridiron heroics alongside those of Terry Metcalf, Archie Griffin, Walter Payton, Tony Dorsett, Earl Campbell, and Billy Sims, to name a few.

Wil the Thrill is an exciting account of a young man from Greenville, Mississippi, a small town along the Mississippi Delta. Born to Roosevelt and Gladys Montgomery in Cleveland, Mississippi, the Montgomery family resisted the temptation to migrate north for better economic opportunities. What’s more, racial hostility and the heinous murders of Emmet Till and Medgar Evans did not force them to relent. Instead, they chose to remain in the Magnolia State and fight against racial oppression and social injustice. Their weapon of choice was not a picket sign, but the nimble feet of Wilbert Montgomery. Without the daily interaction and support from his father, the younger Montgomery was nurtured by his mother and grandparents, where he learned from them the importance of education.

It would be the support of his family and coaches that helped shape Montgomery’s identity and character. His grandfather, Andrew Williams, was his rock. Williams, who had tried his hand at boxing, taught Montgomery and his six brothers how to defend themselves. From this, Montgomery developed a strong work ethic. He used this characteristic in other areas of his life as well. For example, as a teen, Montgomery worked as a bricklayer where he developed a strong sense of responsibility and self-reliance. Montgomery’s high school football coach, Gary Dempsey, also played a pivotal role in his life. Coach Dempsey, who often used the phrase “Don’t tell me, show me,” instilled in him the importance of leading...