Wayne DeSutter (May 17, 1944 – June 8, 2025) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a tackle for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

of the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...

(AFL) in 1966.

Biography

DeSutter played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Western Illinois Leathernecks The Western Illinois Leathernecks are the teams and athletes that represent Western Illinois University, located in Macomb, Illinois, in NCAA Division I sports. The school is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference. Its football team is a member ...

. He was inducted into the WIU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1986. DeSutter was selected in the sixth round of the

1966 NFL draft The 1966 NFL draft was held at the 569 Lexington Avenue, Summit Hotel in New York City on Saturday, November 27, 1965. The expansion 1966 Atlanta Falcons season, Atlanta Falcons were awarded the first pick in each round as well as the final pick ...

by the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

, but chose to play for the Bills, who picked him in the 12th round of the AFL draft. Following his one season in the AFL, DeSutter served in the

Illinois National Guard The Illinois National Guard comprises both Army National Guard and Air National Guard components of Illinois. As of 2013, the Illinois National Guard has approximately 13,200 members. The National Guard is the only United States military force e ...

. Starting in 1970, he began a 34-year career in education as a teacher, athletic director and football coach. He was inducted into the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1993. DeSutter was the coach at Plainfield High School in 1990 and had just called afternoon practice when five minutes later with the players huddled inside an F5 tornado ripped through the high school on August 28, 1990. DeSutter was inducted into the inaugural class of the school's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2018. DeSutter died in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

on June 8, 2025, at the age of 81.

References

1944 births 2025 deaths American football tackles Illinois Fighting Illini football players Western Illinois Leathernecks football players Buffalo Bills players {{Amfoot-bio-stub