Larry Jerome Whigham (born June 23, 1972) is a former professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player who played

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

for nine seasons for the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

and

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

. Whigham attended the

University of Louisiana at Monroe The University of Louisiana Monroe (ULM) is a public university in Monroe, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System. History ULM opened in 1931 as Ouachita Parish Junior College. Three years later it became the Northeast Cen ...

and was drafted by the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

in the fourth round (110th overall) of the

1994 NFL Draft The 1994 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 1994, at the Marriott Mar ...

. He was known for his enthusiasm on the field and excelled in

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

play. He made 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 ...

twice as a special teams player, once with New England and once with Chicago. In January 1997 he earned AFC Special Teams Player of the Week in the

AFC Championship Game The AFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the American Football Conference (AFC) and one of the two semi-final playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American football league in the world. ...

against Jacksonville when he tackled Jaguar punter

Bryan Barker Bryan Christopher Barker (born June 28, 1964) is a former American football punter in the National Football League (NFL). Barker last played for the St. Louis Rams in 2005. Barker has previously played with the Kansas City Chiefs, the Philade ...

on his own four-yard line, which resulted in a touchdown for the Patriots a few plays later. On September 21, 1997, Whigham picked up 2 sacks against Rick Mirer and the Chicago Bears. While Whigham gained attention playing mostly special teams (he started only six games), he intercepted four passes during his career, three of which were against the NFL's all-time leading passer,

Dan Marino Daniel Constantine Marino Jr. (born September 15, 1961) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons with the Miami Dolphins. After a successful college career at Pittsburgh and be ...

. He intercepted two Marino passes versus

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

on November 23, 1997, including one he returned 60 yards for a touchdown, and finished the game with a season-high four tackles to earn Player of the Game honors. He is married to Kenyatta Whigham and now resides in Houston, Texas.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whigham, Larry 1972 births Living people Sportspeople from Hattiesburg, Mississippi American football cornerbacks New England Patriots players Chicago Bears players American Conference Pro Bowl players National Conference Pro Bowl players Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks football players Pearl River Wildcats football players