Douglas Wilkerson (March 27, 1947 – February 21, 2021) was an was an American professional football player who was a

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

in the

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(NFL) for the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 a ...

and San Diego Chargers. Named to the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

three times, he was also a three-time

All-Pro All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list t ...

, including a first-team selection in 1982. He was inducted into the Chargers Hall of Fame. He also played one season in the

Austrian Football League The Austrian Football League (AFL) is the highest level of American football in Austria founded in 1984. The Austrian Football League (AFL) has always been considered among the best and strongest leagues in Europe. The league plays by rules based ...

for the

Graz Giants The Graz Giants are an American football team in Graz, Austria founded in 1981. The Giants play in the Austrian Football League at ASKÖ Stadium in the Eggenberg district of Graz. History Inspired by a March 1981 broadcast of the first Austria ...

in 1987.

Early life and college

Wilkerson was born on March 27, 1947, in Fayetteville, North Carolina. He grew up in a military family in Fayetteville, where he attended E. E. Smith High School. He was recruited by many of the college football powerhouses, including

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

and Wake Forest. Initially, Wilkerson accepted a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholars ...

to play at Michigan State under coach

Duffy Daugherty Hugh Duffy Daugherty (September 8, 1915 – September 25, 1987) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Michigan State University from 1954 to 1972, compiling a record of 109–69–5. His 1965 and 1966 teams won ...

. However, E.E. Smith's principal, E.E. Miller, stripped him of the scholarship as punishment for a school incident. A student egged Wilkerson into a foot race; Wilkerson capitulated and won the race. The challenger refused to settle the wager, prompting Wilkerson to knock him to the ground. Miller's punishment could have been ignored, as no

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

rules were broken, but Miller was both respected and feared. Daugherty did not try to get involved, nor did Wilkerson ask him to. Wilkerson decided to attend the historically black college

North Carolina Central University North Carolina Central University (NCCU or NC Central) is a public historically black university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by James E. Shepard in affiliation with the Chautauqua movement in 1909, it was supported by private funds from ...

(NCCU), known then as North Carolina College, where some of his former classmates were also enrolled. At NCCU, Wilkerson earned national honors as a lineman on both offense and defense. As a junior in 1968, he was named to the small college

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

team on defense as a

middle guard The Imperial Guard (French: ''Garde Impériale'') was originally a small group of elite soldiers of the French Army under the direct command of Napoleon I, but grew considerably over time. It acted as his bodyguard and tactical reserve, and he ...

by the

American Football Coaches Association The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) is an association of over 11,000 American football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "mainta ...

(AFCA). The following year, the AFCA selected him to the team as a defensive tackle, while the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

named him as an offensive tackle. North Carolina Central

retired Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

Wilkerson's No. 63 in 1970. He was inducted into the North Carolina Central University Hall of Fame and the

Black College Football Hall of Fame The Black College Football Hall of Fame (BCFHOF) is an American hall of fame for college football players, coaches and contributors from historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). It was founded in 2009 in Atlanta, centrally located ...

Professional career

Wilkerson was selected by the

in the first round of the

1970 NFL Draft The 1970 National Football League Draft was the 35th National Football League Draft and the first of the league's modern era, following the merger of the National Football League with the American Football League. It was held on January 27–28, ...

with the 14th overall pick. The first offensive lineman drafted that year, he is North Carolina Central's highest overall NFL draft selection. As a rookie in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

, Wilkerson also played as a

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...

. After the season, he was traded to the San Diego Chargers for tight end

Willie Frazier Willie C. Frazier (June 19, 1942 – September 5, 2013) was an American collegiate and professional American football tight end. He spent three stints with the Houston Oilers over a 10-year career in the AFL and NFL and was one of the 4,000- ...

. Playing 14 seasons with San Diego, Wilkerson was named the team's Lineman of the Year seven times, including four straight from 1974 through

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

. The Chargers struggled in his first seven seasons before

Don Coryell Donald David Coryell (October 17, 1924 – July 1, 2010) was an American football coach, who coached in the National Football League (NFL) first with the St. Louis Cardinals from 1973 to 1977 and then the San Diego Chargers from 1978 to 1986. ...

became their head coach mid-season in 1978. They reached the playoffs from

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

through 1982, finishing in the top-4 in the NFL in points each season, twice leading the league. San Diego won three straight

AFC West The American Football Conference – Western Division or AFC West is one of the four divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The division comprises the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Las ...

division titles and played in back-to-back AFC Championship Games. Their Hall of Fame quarterback,

Dan Fouts Daniel Francis Fouts (born June 10, 1951) is an American former football quarterback who played for the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League (NFL) throughout his 15-season career (1973-87). After a relatively undistinguished fi ...

, in appreciation of the offensive line's critical role in the success of their

Air Coryell In American football, Air Coryell is the offensive scheme and philosophy developed by former San Diego Chargers coach Don Coryell. The offensive philosophy has been also called the "Coryell offense" or the "vertical offense". With Dan Fouts as qua ...

offense, treated his blockers to dinner before each game. Playing on one of the NFL's most prolific offenses, Wilkerson was named to three straight Pro Bowls starting in 1980. He earned second-team

honors in 1979 and 1980 before being named to the first-team in 1982. In

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, Wilkerson was named the co-winner of the Chargers' Lineman of the Year. Two and a half weeks into training camp in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, he announced his retirement. In 15 NFL seasons, Wilkerson played in 204 regular-season games, starting 195. He ended his Chargers career with 195 games played, the second most in franchise history behind former teammate and fellow lineman

Russ Washington Russell Eugene Washington (December 17, 1946 – August 5, 2021) was an American professional football player who was an offensive and defensive lineman for the San Diego Chargers of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football L ...

. Wilkerson did not miss a game with San Diego until his ninth season there and missed just eight games total in 14 years. He was named to the Chargers Hall of Fame, as well as their 40th and 50th anniversary teams. He was also inducted into San Diego's Breitbard Hall of Fame In 1987, Wilkerson came out or retirement signing and playing for the

of the

becoming the Giants' first NFL player. In his later years, Wilkerson was the strength and conditioning coach for the

Los Angeles Raiders The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural 1960 season to the 1981 season and then agai ...

(1990–1994) and player relations executive for the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

(1995–1996).

Personal life

Wilkerson died on February 21, 2021, at the age of 73.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkerson, Doug 1947 births 2021 deaths American football offensive linemen North Carolina Central Eagles football players Players of American football from North Carolina Houston Oilers players Los Angeles Raiders coaches San Diego Chargers players American Conference Pro Bowl players Sportspeople from Fayetteville, North Carolina St. Louis Rams executives American expatriate players of American football American expatriate sportspeople in Austria Place of death missing