BILL GLASS
Founder of Champions for Life
Author of Champions for Life: The Power of a Father’s Blessing
Born August
1935, in Texarkana, Texas, Bill Glass had an outstanding high school career in Corpus Christi, Texas, at W.B. Ray High School. Bill then attended Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and became a Consensus All-American. During this time, Glass helped
lead the Baylor Bears to four Bowl Games.
From college, Glass went on to play professional football, beginning in the
Canadian Football League for one year, before moving to the Detroit Lions where
he played for four years. It was, however, his seven-year career with the
Cleveland Browns for which Glass is best known.
One year before the NFL created the Superbowl, Glass played on the Browns team
that won the NFL championship in 1964, and then went on to win the Division
Championship in 1965, 1967, and 1968. During Glass’s entire football career,
the four-time All-Pro never missed a practice or a game before a minor injury
sidelined him for his last four games. Basically he played 10 years in school
and 12 years in the pro’s without injury. In 1985, Glass was inducted into the
“College Football Hall of Fame,” and a year later into the “Texas Sports Hall
of Fame.”
Bill Glass spent the off-season of his professional football career attending
Southwestern Theological Seminary where he received a degree in theology in
1963. He made several appearances on television with his friend Billy Graham,
giving his testimony. As the end of his pro-football career was drawing near,
Graham urged Glass to consider taking on a new career as a full time evangelist
and prompted Glass to start his own ministry. In 1969, Champions for Life,
then called Bill Glass Evangelistic Association, began. Today this ministry organizes
city-wide crusades, facilitates one of the oldest and largest prison ministries
in the nation, and conducts local rallies to reach at-risk youth with the
Gospel and mentoring opportunities. The ministry has been endorsed by Rev.
Billy Graham, President George W. Bush, Bill Bright, Zig Ziglar, Tom Landry,
Roger Staubach, Terry Bradshaw, Gov. Mike Huckabee, and many other leaders.
Glass has written 12 books including Don’t Blame the Game, Expect to Win,
and How to Win When the Roof Caves In. Terry Pluto, famous sports
author, joined Bill in co-authoring Crime: Our Second Vietnam, which
details Glass’s work in America’s prisons and the ministry he developed to
reach the world’s inmate population. His newest book, Champions for Life:
The Power of a Father’s Blessing, details Glass’s life story. The book
releases April 2005 from Faith Communications.
Today Bill Glass is a highly sought-after speaker and motivator, with a packed
schedule including speaking engagements around the nation and overseas. Bill
and his wife Mavis make their home near Dallas, Texas. They have three grown
children and seven grandchildren.
April 2005