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Tyrone Anthony Wheatley, Sr. (born January 19, 1972) is the running backs coach of Michigan and a former professional American football player who played 10 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) and was one of the most successful high school and collegiate athletes in Metropolitan Detroit history. In high school, he was a member of state-champion teams in both track and field and football, and he was named Michigan's track and field athlete of the year and football athlete of the year in the same academic year. He earned All-America track honors in both high school and college. Following his graduation as one of Michigan's best high school athletes, he attended the University of Michigan on an athletic scholarship and earned first-team All-Big Ten Conference honors on Big Ten Champion football and track teams. At the University of Michigan, Wheatley earned the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year Award during the 1992 football season. In the Michigan Wolverines' post-season bowl game, he was named the Most Valuable Player for his performance in the team's Rose Bowl victory. Wheatley continued his track success as well, earning first-team All-Big Ten Conference and All-American honors. He ranks among the Wolverines' all-time rushing leaders in numerous categories, and his name appears in several places in the Big Ten football record book. He was named to All-Big Ten teams in football and track and field a total of four times, and he earned portions of seven Big Ten championships (two team awards for football, one team award for indoor track, one award for 110 meter hurdles, and three awards for individual football statistical performances). Following his graduation from the University of Michigan, Wheatley was selected by the New York Giants of the NFL in the first round of the 1995 NFL Draft. As a running back for the Giants, he was the team's all-purpose yards leader in 1996 and their leading ballcarrier in 1997. Despite his success on the field, he developed a reputation as a tardy dawdler. He was traded to the Miami Dolphins, but cut before the 1999 season began. He signed with the Oakland Raiders and flourished, leading the team in rushing three times and twice finishing among the NFL's top ten players in rushing touchdowns. With Wheatley, the Raiders went to the playoffs three years in a row, including one Super Bowl appearance. During his NFL career (1995–2004), he totaled over 6,500 all-purpose yards as a running back and kickoff returner. After retiring from the NFL, Wheatley returned to his hometown to coach his high school alma mater, Dearborn Heights' Hamilton J. Robichaud High School, where he had previously made a name for himself as a nine-time Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) state champion athlete. As a player, he had led the school to its only state football championship. In 2007, during his first year as head football coach, his team rebounded from an 0–9 record to compile a 9–2 record, reaching the playoffs for the first time since 1994. He coached at in 2008, and in 2009 he became an assistant coach for Eastern Michigan University. He served as the running backs coach for the Syracuse Orange football team from 2010 to 2012. He was hired by the Buffalo Bills to coach the running backs in 2013. == Early life == Wheatley was born in Inkster, Michigan. Inkster is located in Metropolitan Detroit, east of both Ann Arbor and University of Michigan. Wheatley's father (also named Tyrone)〔 suffered a mortal gunshot wound to the head in 1974 when Wheatley was two years old. Wheatley's stepfather died of a heart attack when he was 13, leaving behind Wheatley, his sister, and half-brother, two-year-old Leslie Mongo. Shortly afterward, Wheatley's mother, Patricia,〔 was laid off and became an alcoholic. With the effective loss of his two parents, Wheatley and his sister were forced to move in with an aunt, where he lived through the rest of his childhood.〔 Due to family difficulties, Wheatley acts as the guardian of two cousins and his half brother.〔〔 Mongo was ten years younger than Wheatley,〔 and graduated from high school in New Jersey in 2004—thirteen years after Wheatley had graduated from high school.〔 Wheatley was involved in competitive athletics from an early age: In his youth, he ran competitively with the Penn Park track team, where, as an eight-year-old, he stood out for his discipline and promptness.〔 Because of his family trouble, he assumed a family leadership role at a relatively young age. Wheatley made it clear to his brothers and sisters that when chaos came to their lives, they should to turn to him because he would be there and he would never fall.〔 When he was in high school, he would take his younger siblings to basketball games, mapping out emergency plans for shooting outbreaks or brawls.〔 Wheatley's guardianship continued throughout his career at the University of Michigan and while he was a professional athlete. While playing in the NFL, he realized that leaving Mongo—the youngest of his siblings—in Inkster and merely providing financial support was not a solution because Mongo was still exposed to gang shootings. As Mongo's guardian, Wheatley moved Mongo to New Jersey for school. Mongo later earned outstanding freshman athlete honors during the Bergen County, New Jersey outdoor track championships while living with Wheatley, who was playing for the Giants at the time.〔 In 2004, with his graduation from high school imminent, Mongo signed a letter of intent with Utah State as a defensive back. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Tyrone Wheatley」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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