Wayne Lamar Gandy (born February 10, 1971) is a former American college and professional football player who was an offensive tackle 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 fifteen seasons. He played college football for Auburn University, and earned All-American honors. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the first round 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 Ma ...

, and he also played professionally for the Pittsburgh Steelers,

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

and Atlanta Falcons of the NFL.

Early years

Gandy was born in

Haines City, Florida Haines City is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. Its population was 13,174 at the 2000 census and 20,535 at the 2010 census. It is the third most populous city in Polk County. It is part of the Lakeland– Winter Haven Metropolitan ...

.National Football League, Historical Players
Wayne Gandy
Retrieved February 10, 2012. He attended Haines City High School,databaseFootball.com, Players
Wayne Gandy
. Retrieved February 10, 2012. and played for the Haines City Hornets

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 ...

team.

College career

Gandy attended Auburn University, where he played for coach

Pat Dye Patrick Fain Dye (November 6, 1939 – June 1, 2020) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at East Carolina University (1974–1979), the University of Wyoming (1980), ...

and coach

Terry Bowden Terry Wilson Bowden (; born February 24, 1956) is an American college football coach, currently the head coach at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Bowden was previously head coach at Salem University (1983–1985), Samford University (1987 ...

Auburn Tigers football The Auburn Tigers football program represents Auburn University in the sport of American college football. Auburn competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Western Division ...

teams from 1990 to 1993. As a senior, he was a member of the undefeated 1993 Auburn Tigers football team, and was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American.

Professional career

The Los Angeles Rams selected Gandy as the 15th overall pick (1st round) of the

, and he played for the Rams for five seasons from to .Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players
Wayne Gandy
Retrieved February 10, 2012. Gandy spent four seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1999 to 2002. On March 2, 2003, Gandy signed a six-year deal with

. After three seasons with the Saints, he was traded to the Atlanta Falcons on April 7, 2006 for

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

Bryan Scott and a draft pick. For the 2007 season, Gandy was named as one of the Falcons' team captains. On October 7 against the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their hom ...

, Gandy suffered a torn

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint and th ...

in his left knee, causing him to miss the remainder of the season. On February 15, 2008 the Falcons released him. He was re-signed on October 29 after an injury to offensive tackle Sam Baker. He was not re-signed by the Falcons during the 2009 offseason.

Broadcasting career

In late 2001 Gandy was asked by WSB-Radio Atlanta to record some vignettes for its "I Am Atlanta" campaign. After the success of the ads, he was encouraged to pursue a career in broadcasting. He started his own syndication company (The Gandy Group) and launched "The Sports Joc Show with Wayne Gandy". The syndicated three hour show broadcasts from Atlanta and intermingles Sports and Entertainment. The show is currently available for broadcast live or replay and has a live video feed at http://www.TheSportsJoc.com Wayne Gandy hosted a weekly TV show for CBS-Atlanta Sports' SEC Show with Guy Rawlings from 2011–2012, and is currently a Color Analyst for ESPN TV (2013–present)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gandy, Wayne 1971 births Living people All-American college football players American football offensive tackles Atlanta Falcons players Auburn Tigers football players Los Angeles Rams players New Orleans Saints players People from Haines City, Florida Pittsburgh Steelers players St. Louis Rams players Ed Block Courage Award recipients