By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation

Bill Glass Sr. admits that he took his evangelical ministry behind prison walls "kicking and screaming."

The former Baylor All-American and Pro Bowl defensive end with the Cleveland Browns wasn't sure if he could "fit in with street kids and gangsters in prison." But, what he found is that "some of the neediest people in the world are those that serve time in prison."

"The truth is, there have been many, many people that have been involved in all kinds of prison experiences and criminal experiences," said Glass, who becomes the sixth Baylor Hall of Famer added to the Wall of Honor. "They're all hungry and all needy, very open. Their lives have been torn away in every conceivable way."

Glass' success rate with his Behind the Walls ministry certainly bears that out. He has used more than 400,000 volunteers in his prison ministry and led over one million men, women and juvenile offenders in decisions to follow Christ.

"We have discovered that when you take a team in on a voluntary basis, and they are responded to by people that are needy, you've got everything going for you in your direction and you can hardly miss," he said.

Many doors have been opened for Glass' ministry because of a football career that began as a prep player in Corpus Christi, Texas, and continued as an All-American offensive guard at Baylor in 1956.

His senior year, Glass was part of a 9-2 team that upset second-ranked Tennessee, 13-7, in the Sugar Bowl.

Things got off to a good start in the game when Glass kicked off for the Bears and sent it into the end zone bleachers, "about 10 yards further than I ever had kicked it before in my life."

"It was just a remarkable experience," he said. "It was just one of those weird things where the wind was just right and I got under the ball just right. . . . I just happen to remember that as being a great time. And then we went on to beat Tennessee, and that was an even better time. We had a great day."

Drafted in the first round with the 12th pick overall by the Detroit Lions in 1957, Glass instead played one year in the Canadian Football League with Saskatchewan. After four years in Detroit, he was sent to Cleveland in 1962 in a trade that also brought running back Howard "Hopalong" Cassady to the Browns.

During his seven years with the Browns, Glass was a four-time Pro Bowl pick and part of the 1964 NFL Championship team that defeated the favored Baltimore Colts, 27-0. Glass had 1 ½ sacks for a defense that held the Colts and Hall of Fame quarterback Johnny Unitas to 181 yards total.

That was the city of Cleveland's last championship in any of the major sports until the Cavaliers overcame a 3-1 deficit to beat the Golden State Warriors in this year's NBA Championship.

"Every year I'd go back to Cleveland, and they would talk about how there hasn't been a team in Cleveland that's won a championship," Glass said. "Of course, that was broken, and thankfully so. But it was really a great experience to be a part of that team 50 years ago."

Particularly with concussions and ACL injuries so prevalent nowadays, Glass said he was "blessed because I was never really hurt."

"I was sort of the aggressor and not the receiver of the body blows," he said. "I'm very pleased that I never had a concussion or really any major injuries. God was good to me."

As one of the heroes of that '64 Browns' championship team, Glass was asked to share his testimony at a nationally televised Billy Graham citywide crusade in Denver, Colo., and continued to do occasional speaking engagements before starting his own ministry in 1969.

"I always thought the Lord wanted me to work in some sort of Christian service, not necessarily as a pastor, but more as a lay evangelist," said Glass, who went to the Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth during the offseasons before retiring from football at the end of the '68 season. "I was never really ordained or even licensed. I always functioned as a layman, but led to ministry all these years."

Already inducted into the College Football, Texas Sports and Baylor Halls of Fame, the 81-year-old Glass now joins Gale Galloway, Clyde Hart, Jack Lummus, Dutch Schroeder and Jim Turner as the only Baylor Hall of Famers also included on the Wall of Honor.

"I'm just honored to be a part of the Wall of Honor," Glass said. "It seems like I've been over-honored, but I appreciate it very much."

Jay Allison also will be added to the Wall of Honor. The 2016 Hall of Fame class includes football's Daniel Sepulveda and Bentley Jones, basketball's Aundre Branch and Sophia Young-Malcolm, pitchers Jon Perlman from baseball and Cristin Vitek from softball, Jahnavi Parekh from women's tennis and Olympic gold medalist Darold Williamson from track and field.

The Hall of Fame Banquet will be held at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 14, at the Waco Convention Center, with the honorees also being part of the Homecoming parade and recognized at Saturday's football game against Kansas.