Michael Eugene Wells (born June 18, 1951) is a former
NFL
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
who played briefly in 1977. He was originally drafted in 1973 by the
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...
but did not appear in a Vikings regular-season game. He played for the
Cincinnati Bengals
The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...
in 1977 but saw very limited action.
Wells was a high-school football All American at
Normal Community High School
Normal Community High School (NCHS or Normal Community) is a public high school located in Normal, Illinois that was founded in 1905. NCHS serves parts of Normal, Bloomington, and Towanda and is home to over 2,000 students (grades 9–12) with ...
in
Normal, Illinois
Normal is a town in McLean County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town's population was 52,736. Normal is the smaller of two principal municipalities of the Bloomington–Normal metropolitan area, and Illinois' seventh most ...
before going on to play college football at the
University of Illinois
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...
. He was an all-
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
selection in 1972 before being drafted in the fourth round by Minnesota. A three-sport star in high school, he was also selected by the
San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...
in the
1969 Major League Baseball Draft
The 1969 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft took place prior to the 1969 MLB season. The draft featured future Hall of Famers Bert Blyleven (pick 55) and Dave Winfield (pick 882).
First round selections
The following are the first round picks ...
, but did not sign and never played professional baseball.
1951 births
Living people
American football quarterbacks
Illinois Fighting Illini football players
Cincinnati Bengals players
New York Giants players
{{quarterback-1950s-stub