William Charles Wolford (born May 18, 1964) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive lineman 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 Indianapolis Colts, and the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played college football for the

Vanderbilt Commodores The Vanderbilt Commodores are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Vanderbilt University, located in Nashville, Tennessee. Vanderbilt fields 16 varsity teams (6 men's teams and 10 women's teams), 14 of which compete at the National ...

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 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 (and Super Bowl 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

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...

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.

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 St. Xavier High School (Louisville) alumni Vanderbilt Commodores football players Players of American football from Louisville, Kentucky {{offensive-lineman-1960s-stub