Willie Porter Wyatt (born September 27, 1967 in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

) was an

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

player who played

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 ...

defensive 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 ...

for the

Detroit Drive The Massachusetts Marauders were a professional arena football team that was based in Worcester, Massachusetts. They were a member of the Arena Football League (AFL) from 1988 to 1994. The team was established in Detroit in 1988, as the Detroit D ...

in 1993 and the

Tampa Bay Storm The Tampa Bay Storm were a professional arena football team based in Tampa, Florida, US. It played in the Arena Football League (AFL). Originally the team was located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and operated as the Pittsburgh Gladiators. The f ...

from 1995–1999, and again in 2001. He wore #55. He also played 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) NFC South, South divisio ...

of 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 ...

in 1990. Wyatt played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

Gardendale High School Gardendale High School (GHS) is a public high school located in the Birmingham, Alabama suburb of Gardendale. It is currently operated by the Jefferson County Board of Education. GHS was established in 1956 as a result of population growth in th ...

Gardendale, Alabama Gardendale is a city in Jefferson County, Alabama, United States and a northern suburb of Birmingham. The population was 16,044 at the 2020 census. History A large farm settlement near the area today known as Gardendale was settled around 1825 ...

.Willie Wyatt
, database Football. Accessed October 27, 2007. Wyatt coached

as a defensive coordinator at Gardendale High, and was head coach of the wrestling team. Previously he was also the defensive line coach and head wrestling coach at

Hueytown High School Hueytown High School is a four-year public high school in the Birmingham, Alabama suburb of Hueytown. It is one of fourteen high schools in the Jefferson County School System. Hueytown competes in AHSAA Class 6A athletics. According to the websi ...

. Willie Wyatt was frequently referred to as a father figure by the young men he coached. He, and his wife Annette Wyatt, would refer to many of the young men as “their sons.”

References

1967 births Living people American football defensive tackles Alabama Crimson Tide football players Detroit Drive players Orlando Thunder players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Tampa Bay Storm players Players of American football from Birmingham, Alabama People from Gardendale, Alabama {{ArenaFootballLeague-stub