William Charles Wolford (born May 18, 1964) is a former
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 ...
offensive lineman
In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...
in the
National Football League
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 ...
(NFL) for the
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...
, the
Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...
, and the
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...
.
Playing career
Wolford attended
St. Xavier High School in
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
and played
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.
Unlike most ...
at
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...
. He was the Bills' first-round pick in the
1986 NFL Draft
The 1986 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 29–30, 1986, at the Marriott Marq ...
, and played for them from 1986 to 1992, including
AFC championships
The AFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the American Football Conference (AFC) and one of the two semi-final National Football League playoffs, playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional Amer ...
(and
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...
losses) in his last three years in Buffalo. Wolford signed as a
free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...
with the Colts in 1993, and finally joined the Steelers from 1996 to 1998. He was named to the
AFC 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 ...
roster in 1990, 1992, and 1995.
Post-playing career
In 2002, he became the majority owner/operator of the
Arena Football 2 Louisville Fire
The Louisville Fire was an arena football team that played its home games at the Brown-Forman Field in Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky. They were a 2001 expansion team of the af2. Their owner/operator was former Pro Bowl lineman and Louisv ...
.
Wolford took over
color analyst duties for the Colts in the
2007 season, working alongside longtime Colts voice
Bob Lamey. Wolford was also co-host of ''The Bob and Will Show'', working alongside
Bob Valvano
Bob Valvano (born January 29, 1957) is a former college basketball coach and an American sportscaster based in Louisville, Kentucky.
Television and coaching
During the college-basketball season, he is the lead game analyst for ESPNRadio, and oc ...
on
WQKC, an all-sports station in Louisville, until that station changed formats in November 2008.
In 2013, Wolford became the head football coach at his alma mater of St. Xavier High, replacing the retiring Mike Glaser. On December 20, 2017, he announced his retirement.
Personal life
Wolford's wife, Mary Jude Wolford, is a career lawyer who was elected Nov. 8, 2022, to be the 15th Division District Court Judge in Kentucky. She had been a former assistant district attorney in Jefferson County. She and Wolford have been married since 1992. They have three adult daughters.
Wolford's nephew,
John Wolford
John Thomas Wolford (born October 16, 1995) is an American football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Wake Forest and signed with the New York Jets as an undrafted fr ...
, is a quarterback for the
Los Angeles Rams
The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...
and played for the
Arizona Hotshots
The Arizona Hotshots were a professional American football franchise based in Tempe, Arizona, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), which played one season from February 2019 to April 2019. They played their h ...
in the
Alliance of American Football
The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan are ...
.
References
External links
*
1964 births
Living people
American Conference Pro Bowl players
American football executives
American football offensive tackles
Buffalo Bills players
High school football coaches in Kentucky
Indianapolis Colts players
National Football League announcers
Pittsburgh Steelers players
Sportspeople from Louisville, Kentucky
St. Xavier High School (Louisville) alumni
Vanderbilt Commodores football players
Players of American football from Louisville, Kentucky
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