John Douglas Wyatt (born October 18, 1946) 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 a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

for five seasons 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) for the

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 National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

and

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 ...

. 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

Tulsa Golden Hurricane The Tulsa Golden Hurricane are the athletic teams that represent the University of Tulsa. These teams are referred to as the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (or variously as TU or Tulsa). Before adopting the name Golden Hurricane in 1922, the Universit ...

. Wyatt attended John Tyler Highschool in Tyler Texas where he lettered in three sports. Football, Baseball and Basketball. He attended Tulsa on a football scholarship in 1966. Wyatt was a three-time all-Missouri Valley Conference selection as a defensive back for the Golden Hurricane in 1967, 1968 and 1969. He also returned punts and handled field goal kicking and points after touchdown in his sophomore and junior seasons. He tallied a team-high eight pass breakups and was second in tackles with 72 as a junior in 1968. He was looked at to be Dallas Cowboys number one draft pick in the 1969 draft to play strong safety, however he underwent knee surgery in the spring before his senior season after an injury on the practice field. As a senior, Wyatt came back to lead Tulsa with five interceptions for 41 yards and 10 pass breakups while recording 66 tackles. He had totals of 53 points as a sophomore and 25 points his junior season on conversions and field goals, and also totaled 312 yards on 25 punt returns in those two seasons. He played in the Hula Bowl after his senior campaign. Before the draft, Wyatt was helping the state of Texas with highway cleanup in 1969, when he picked up a 7 Up bottle that had been lying on the highway easement. When he rinsed off the bottle, it exploded from the Texas heat and a piece of shrapnel hit him in his left eye. Wyatt has been blind in that eye to this day. However Doug never disclosed his injury to anyone. Wyatt was taken in the 17th round as a gamble, but ended up starting the first game for the New Orleans Saints playing blind in one eye every play. Wyatt started three seasons with the Saints and was traded to Detroit. He played two seasons in Detroit. Wyatt was inducted to the Tulsa Hall of Fame in 2006 for football and the Tyler Athletics Hall of Fame in 2019. He is still an avid Saints and Lions Fan. He currently resides in Cypress Texas.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wyatt, Doug 1946 births American football safeties American football cornerbacks Detroit Lions players New Orleans Saints players Tulsa Golden Hurricane football players Living people 20th-century American sportsmen