Chad Wheeler (born January 19, 1994) is an American former 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 an

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He 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

USC Trojans The USC Trojans (also Southern California Trojans) are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ...

from 2012 to 2016. At the end of the 2016 season, he was selected as a first-team All-Pac-12 player. He was also chosen by Campus Insiders. In college, he suffered multiple

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include headache, dizziness, difficulty with thinking and concentration, sleep disturbances, a brief ...

s, a torn ACL, and a bout of

plantar fasciitis Plantar fasciitis or plantar heel pain is a disorder of the plantar fascia, which is the connective tissue that supports the Arches of the foot, arch of the foot. It results in pain in the heel and Sole (foot), bottom of the foot that is usuall ...

. He was not drafted out of college due to injuries and off-the-field issues, was signed by the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

, and made his NFL debut in 2017. He played for the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

from 2019 to 2020. He was waived from the team after being charged with three counts of felony domestic violence.

Early life

Wheeler attended

Santa Monica High School Santa Monica High School, officially abbreviated to Samohi or SMHS, is a public high school in Santa Monica, California. Founded in 1891, it changed location several times in its early years before settling into its present campus at 601 Pico Bo ...

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

. He played

and

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

. Wheeler was rated by Rivals.com as a three-star recruit and was ranked as the 114th offensive tackle in his class. He had a shoulder surgery in 2011, during his senior year.

College career

Wheeler committed to the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

(USC) to play

. He suffered multiple

s throughout his college career and also had a torn right ACL in 2014 that ended his season, and a bout of

in 2016 that caused him to miss two games.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Coming out of USC, Wheeler received mixed draft projections from

NFL draft The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

experts and scouts. Some analysts projected him to be a fourth or seventh round pick, while others projected him to go undrafted and be signed immediately as a priority undrafted free agent. Wheeler received an invitation to the

NFL combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...

and completed all of the required positional and combine drills. On March 22, 2017, he opted to participate at USC's

Pro Day The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

along with JuJu Smith-Schuster, Zach Banner, Justin Davis, Taylor McNamara, Stevie Tu'ikolovatu, Adoree Jackson, Leon McQuay III, Damien Mama, and six other prospects. Team representatives and scouts from all 32 NFL teams attended as Wheeler opted to run all of his combine drills again. He was able to produce a better

vertical jump A vertical jump or vertical leap is the act of jumping upwards into the air. It can be an exercise for building both endurance and strength, and is also a standard test for measuring athletic performance. It may also be referred to as a ''Sargent ...

(24"), 40-yard dash (5.28), and 20-yard dash (3.05). Wheeler was ranked the 12th best offensive tackle prospect in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com. Wheeler was regarded as a top prospect based solely on talent, but received mid to late round draft grades due to his history of multiple injuries and off-field incidents.

New York Giants

Wheeler was not drafted out of college due to injuries and off-the-field issues. On April 30, 2017, the

signed Wheeler as an

. He received a three-year, $1.68 million contract that includes $30,000 guaranteed and a signing bonus of $20,000. As one of the top undrafted free agents, Wheeler received multiple offers and opted to sign with New York, who gave him one of the largest contracts among undrafted free agents. He competed with Adam Bisnowaty and Michael Bowie throughout

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events ...

for the job as the backup offensive tackle. Head coach Ben McAdoo named Wheeler the backup left tackle, behind Ereck Flowers, to begin the regular season. On October 1, 2017, Wheeler made his regular season debut in the Giants' 25–23 loss to the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

. He earned his first career start against the Kansas City Chiefs in relief of injured Justin Pugh, and backup Bobby Hart. Wheeler entered the 2018 season as a backup tackle behind left tackle Nate Solder and right tackle Ereck Flowers. In Week 3, Wheeler was named the starting right tackle after struggles from Ereck Flowers, and remained there the rest of the season. Wheeler was waived/injured by the Giants during final roster cuts on August 31, 2019, and reverted to the team's

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

list the next day. He was waived from injured reserve with an injury settlement on September 9.

Seattle Seahawks

On October 15, 2019, Wheeler was signed to the

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

of the

. He was promoted to the active roster on January 8, 2020. On September 5, 2020, Wheeler was waived by the Seahawks and signed to the practice squad the next day. He was elevated to the active roster on September 12 and December 5 for the team's weeks 1 and 13 games against the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

and

, and reverted to the practice squad after each game. He was promoted to the active roster on December 12. He was waived on January 27, 2021, after a domestic violence arrest.

Personal life

On December 19, 2015, Wheeler was involved in an incident on the USC campus.

Los Angeles Police {{Unreferenced, date=June 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) Law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, ...

responded to a call at 8:45 AM at an apartment in

South Los Angeles South Los Angeles, also known as South Central Los Angeles or simply South Central, is a region in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, lying mostly within the city limits of Los Angeles, south of Downtown Los Angeles, downtown. It is de ...

near the USC campus. The police arrived and a suspect, who was identified as Wheeler, was confronted by police who were concerned he might grab a weapon and got into an altercation with them that led the police to shoot him with multiple

bean bag round A bean bag round, also known by its trademarked name flexible baton round, is a type of baton round, fired from a shotgun, and used for Non-lethal weapon, less lethal apprehension of suspects. Description The bean bag round typically consists ...

s, a type of non- lethal force. Wheeler was detained by the police but not arrested, and was instead transported to a local hospital to be held under protective custody for a

psychiatric evaluation Psychological evaluation is a method to assess an individual's behavior, personality, cognitive abilities, and several other domains. A common reason for a psychological evaluation is to identify psychological factors that may be inhibiting ''a p ...

. As a result of the incident, Wheeler missed the

Holiday Bowl The Holiday Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in San Diego, California. Operating since 1978, its current conference tie-ins are with the Pac-12 Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The bowl is held at Snapdragon S ...

. Wheeler later apologized for the incident. On January 23, 2021, Wheeler was arrested in

Kent, Washington Kent is a city in King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. It is part of the Seattle metropolitan area, Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue metropolitan area and had a population of 136,588 as of the 2020 Unit ...

, on

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

charges. He was charged with three counts of

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "''félonie''") to describe an offense that r ...

domestic violence and later released on $400,000 bail. Wheeler said he would temporarily retire to "get his life together" after the incident. He pleaded not guilty to the charges on February 1, 2021. On November 9, 2023, Wheeler was found guilty of a domestic violence assault against his then-girlfriend by a jury in

King County, Washington King County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of counties in Washington, most populo ...

. He was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison.

References

External links

USC Trojans bio

New York Giants bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wheeler, Chad 1994 births Living people American football offensive tackles New York Giants players Players of American football from Santa Monica, California Seattle Seahawks players USC Trojans football players