Frank Wycheck

Frank John Wycheck (born October 14, 1971 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a former American football tight end in the National Football League. Wycheck attended Archbishop Ryan High School in Northeast Philadelphia. Drafted in sixth round of the 1993 NFL Draft out of the University of Maryland by the Washington Redskins, Wycheck was released by the Redskins in 1995 and picked up by the Houston Oilers. Wycheck continued to play for that franchise (later known as the Tennessee Oilers and Tennessee Titans) until his retirement following the 2003 season.

Upon the Oilers franchise's rocky transition into Tennessee, Wycheck quickly adopted Nashville as his hometown (even before the team officially left Houston), and thereby became one of the most visible players in the community. When the team reached enormous popularity in Nashville, Wycheck's stellar performance on the field and visibility in the media helped him become one of the most popular players on the team. Even following his retirement, he remains a popular public figure in Middle Tennessee.

Wycheck amassed 505 receptions for 5,126 yards and 28 touchdowns over his 11-year career, one of only five tight ends to surpass 500 receptions in NFL history (the others being Shannon Sharpe, Ozzie Newsome, Kellen Winslow, and Tony Gonzalez). Wycheck led the Titans in receiving for three consecutive seasons (1999-2001). Wycheck also went 5-for-6 passing the ball in his career (all on trick plays), resulting in 148 yards, two touchdowns, and a perfect 158.3 passer rating. He also made the Pro Bowl in 1998, 1999 and 2000. Wycheck is perhaps most famous for his particiption in the Music City Miracle, where, with the Titans down 16-15 with 16 seconds remaining, to the Buffalo Bills in the wild card round of the playoffs in 2000, after taking a handoff from Lorenzo Neal, he lateraled the ball to Kevin Dyson, who turned the ball upfield 75 yards for the game winning touchdown. The play was looked at several times on replay by the officials, in the end, it was ruled a touchdown. The Titans would go on to make the Super Bowl that year, but would lose by a touchdown.

Wycheck now serves as a sports talk radio host at WGFX 104.5 The Zone in Nashville. He stars on "The Wake-Up Zone", the morning show, with former WTVF sports talking head Mark Howard and the brilliant radio announcer-impressionist Kevin Ingram. Beginning with the 2005 season, Wycheck assumed color commentary duties on the Tennessee Titans Radio Network.

Wycheck is a strong supporter of the Tennessee Special Olympics, hosting the Wycheck Harley Ride charity event [1].

Professional wrestling appearances

On May 31, 2007 Total Nonstop Action Wrestling announced that during a press conference in Nashville, that an altercation between Wycheck and James Storm disrupted events. Wycheck, with the help of Jeff Jarrett, delivered a guitar shot to James Storm after the "Tennessee Cowboy" spat beer in the former Tennessee Titan's face. TNA Wrestling would then announce that Wycheck has agreed in principle to a match with James Storm at Slammiversary on June 17, 2007. The match was made official on TNA's website later that day. At Slammiversary, he teamed with Jerry Lynn to defeat Storm and Ron Killings in a tag match. Wycheck won the match with a Cradle Piledriver, Lynn's finishing move.^[1]

References