Kenneth Tyron Wheaton (born March 8, 1975) 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 ...

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

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

. He also was a member of the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...

in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL). 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 ...

at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

Early life

Wheaton attended

McClintock High School McClintock High School is a high school located in Tempe, Arizona, Tempe, Arizona, approximately two miles southeast of the campus of Arizona State University. McClintock High School was established in 1964. The school was named after James H. McC ...

, where he was a two-way player. As a senior he played

strong safety Safety (S), historically known as a safetyman, is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free sa ...

and

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

, registering 97 tackles (led the team), 669 rushing yards and 10

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s. He received All-state and Mesa Tribune Area Defensive Player of the Year honors. He accepted a football scholarship from the

. He was a backup as a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically ...

freshman. As a sophomore, he became a starter moving between

free safety Safety (S), historically known as a safetyman, is a position in gridiron football on the American football positions#Defense, defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two var ...

and right cornerback. He collected 60 tackles (fifth on the team) and 4 interceptions, while contributing to the team winning a Pac-10 Championship. He also made arguably the most famous play in

Ducks Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

history known as "

The Pick "The Pick" is the 53rd episode of the sitcom ''Seinfeld''. It is the 13th episode of the fourth season, and first aired on December 16, 1992 on NBC. In this episode, Elaine mistakenly mails out a Christmas card in which her nipple is exposed ...

". As time was winding down and the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

was driving down to the Oregon nine-yard line, Wheaton intercepted a

Damon Huard Damon Paul Huard (born July 9, 1973) is an American former professional football quarterback. He is the director of community relations and fundraising for the University of Washington football program, his alma mater. Huard was signed by the ...

pass and ran it back for a

not just to save the game, but it also signaled the start of a new era of winning football for Oregon. The play has long been shown on the replay boards at

Autzen Stadium Autzen Stadium is an outdoor football stadium in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Located north of the University of Oregon campus, it is the home field of the Oregon Ducks of the Big Ten Conference. Opened in 1967, the stadium has undergone severa ...

before every Ducks home game. As a junior, he started 10 games at right cornerback, tallied 72 tackles (5 for loss), 5 interceptions and 2 sacks. As a senior, he started at left cornerback, posting 73 tackles (led the team), 15 passes defensed and 2 interceptions. He had a career-high 16 tackles against

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

. Wheaton finished his college career with 194 tackles, 10 interceptions and the school record of 380 yards on interception returns, breaking a 49-year record previously set by

Jake Leicht Jacob Leicht (August 2, 1919 – May 18, 1992) was an American football halfback in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) for the Baltimore Colts. He played college football at the University of Oregon and was drafted in the tenth roun ...

. He had an interception return for a touchdown of 70-or-more yards in each of his 3 seasons as a starter. In 2011, he was inducted into the University of Oregon Athletics Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Wheaton was selected by the

in the third round (94th overall) of the 1997 NFL draft. His rookie season was a difficult one, a separated shoulder he suffered in a scrimmage against the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

, caused him to miss the first 3 pre-season games, he would return to play in the last exhibition game 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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

, but he re-injured the shoulder and was forced to miss the first 14 regular season games. He also missed time at the end of the year, in order to deal with the death of his younger brother (Derrek), who was killed in a drive-by shooting. He still would play in the last two contests, registering four tackles against 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 ...

in the season finale. In

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, after considering that he was the fifth

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

on the depth chart and that

Deion Sanders Deion Luwynn Sanders Sr. (born August 9, 1967) is an American American football, football coach with the Colorado Buffaloes football, Colorado Buffaloes. Sanders is also a former professional football and baseball player, having played in the N ...

and

Kevin Smith Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. He came to prominence with the low-budget buddy comedy film ''Clerks (film), Clerks'' (1994), which he wrote, directed, co-produced, and acted i ...

would be difficult to replace as starters, he asked the coaches to switch him to

. At his new position, although he was effective defending the pass, he had problems in run-support. He recorded 36 tackles, one interception and 2 fumble recoveries, playing mainly on the

nickel defense American football, a nickel defense (also known as a 4–2–5 or 3–3–5) is any defensive alignment that uses five defensive backs, of whom the fifth is known as a nickelback. The original and most common form of the nickel defense features ...

. In

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, he suffered a knee injury while playing against the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

in the eighth game, that placed him on the

injured reserve list 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 t ...

on November 16. The injury would turn to be career threatening and the Cowboys did not renew his contract at the end of the year.

Detroit Fury

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, after being out of football for two years rehabbing his knee injury, he signed with the

Detroit Fury The Detroit Fury were an arena football team based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. They were a member of the original Arena Football League from 2001 to 2004 and played at The Palace of Auburn Hills, also the home of the NBA's Detroit Pistons. The ...

of the

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 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

, playing 9 games (6 starts). He was traded to the

Colorado Crush The Colorado Crush were an arena football team based in Denver, Colorado. They began play as a 2003 Arena Football League expansion team. The Crush played in the Central Division of the American Conference until the Arena Football League suspen ...

during the offseason, only to be cut by the team in training camp.

Toronto Argonauts

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, Wheaton signed with the

of the

and was their starting defensive half back. In

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, during a playoff game against the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home game ...

, Wheaton intercepted a pass in the

end zone The end zone is the scoring area on the field, according to gridiron-based codes of football. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on the opposite side of the field ...

. In a play reminiscent of "The Pick" in his famous college game, Wheaton returned an interception from deep in his own end for a

, setting a CFL post-season record for the longest ever interception return for a touchdown (116 yards). He went on to help his team win the

92nd Grey Cup The 92nd Grey Cup game took place on November 21, 2004, at Frank Clair Stadium in Ottawa, Ontario. The game decided the championship of the 2004 Canadian Football League season. The Toronto Argonauts defeated the BC Lions 27–19. This is the f ...

championship with the Argonauts that season. Wheaton was named to CFL East Division All-Star team each year between

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

. He was released on January 9,

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Personal life

His younger brother, Derrek, also attended

playing varsity football, basketball, and baseball. He went on to play college football at

Phoenix College Phoenix College (PC) is a Public university, public community college in Encanto, Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 1920, it is one of the oldest community colleges in the country. History The college was originally a part of the Phoenix Union Hi ...

and received a football scholarship to attend the

. Derrek was killed on his way home from the Phoenix College football banquet, he was the random victim of a

drive by shooting ''Drive by Shooting'' is a solo EP by American hardcore punk musician Henry Rollins, credited as Henrietta Collins and The Wifebeating Childhaters. The EP served as a precursor to the Rollins Band. This recording is a mix of original songs and ...

. The Arizona Junior High School Basketball Tournament honors his memory with the Derrek Wheaton MVP Award. Wheaton's cousin,

Markus Wheaton Markus Levonte Wheaton (born February 7, 1991) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Oregon State Beavers football, ...

, played for

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

and the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

. His other cousin Marquese Wheaton played for the

University of Southern Mississippi The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bac ...

, and signed 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 ...

with 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 ...

for the 2012

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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wheaton, Kenny 1975 births Living people Players of American football from Tempe, Arizona American football defensive backs Players of Canadian football from Phoenix, Arizona Canadian football defensive backs Oregon Ducks football players Dallas Cowboys players Detroit Fury players Toronto Argonauts players