Ryan Wetnight (November 5, 1970May 1, 2020) 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

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

for eight seasons with the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

and

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

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 finished his career with 175 receptions for 1,542 yards and 9 touchdowns in 101 games. Upon concluding his playing career, Wetnight became a real estate broker in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. In 2019, he was hired as the wide receivers coach at Grace Brethren High School. In 2018, he was diagnosed with

gastric cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a malignant tumor of the stomach. It is a cancer that develops in the lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a number of subtypes ...

. Although the cancer was treated by January 2019, an inoperable tumor developed near his stomach later that year. Wetnight died on May 1, 2020, at 49.

References

1970 births 2020 deaths Businesspeople from California Players of American football from Fresno, California American football tight ends Chicago Bears players Green Bay Packers players Stanford Cardinal football players Deaths from stomach cancer in California Brian Piccolo Award winners 20th-century American sportsmen {{tightend-1970s-stub