No. 24, 26, 30 | |||||||
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Position: | Fullback | ||||||
Personal information | |||||||
Born: | Blasdell, New York, U.S. | October 14, 1962||||||
Height: | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||
Weight: | 225 lb (102 kg) | ||||||
Career information | |||||||
High school: | Orchard Park (Orchard Park, New York) | ||||||
College: | West Virginia | ||||||
NFL draft: | 1985 / Round: 4 / Pick: 104 | ||||||
Career history | |||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||
Career NFL statistics | |||||||
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Player stats at PFR |
Ronald Paul Wolfley (born October 14, 1962) is an American former professional football player who was a fullback in the National Football League (NFL) for the St. Louis/Arizona Cardinals from 1985 through 1991. Wolfley was selected four times to the Pro Bowl as a special teams captain.
Wolfley played collegiately for the West Virginia Mountaineers.
As of September 2021 [update] , Wolfley co-hosts a midday sports talk show on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM in Phoenix, Arizona with Luke Lapinski entitled, Wolf and Luke. [1] Teamed with play-by-play announcer Dave Pasch, Wolfley also serves as the Arizona Cardinals' color analyst on the Arizona Cardinals Radio Network. [2]
Wolfley is the younger brother of former offensive lineman Craig Wolfley, formerly of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings.
Wolfley arrived at West Virginia in 1981. His freshman year, he saw little action. He only rushed for 13 yards on the season.
As a sophomore in 1982, Wolfley started at fullback, blocking for starting running back Curlin Beck. He also rushed for 355 yards and two touchdowns of his own, good enough to be second on the team, behind Beck.
As a junior in 1983, Wolfley again started at fullback, blocking for running back Tom Gray. Wolfley had a career-high 485 yards rushing and four touchdowns on 122 carries.
In 1984, his final season as a Mountaineer, Wolfley assumed the role of starting running back, amassing 475 total yards and four touchdowns.
Wolfley was selected in the fourth round of the 1985 NFL draft by the St. Louis Cardinals. [3] During his seven seasons as a Cardinal (from which the team moved from St. Louis to Phoenix), he totaled 252 yards and two scores. Wolfley was known for his fearless special teams play that allowed him to compete in four straight Pro Bowls from 1986 through 1989.
In 1992, Wolfley joined the Cleveland Browns, where he played for two seasons. In 1995, he joined the St. Louis Rams for his final professional season.
Wolfley is the only player to have played in St. Louis for both the Cardinals and the Rams, earning him the self-proclaimed moniker "America's Fullback."
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play their home games at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, a suburb northwest of Phoenix.
Steven Rashad Jackson is an American former football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the St. Louis Rams. He played college football for the Oregon State Beavers and was selected in the first round of the 2004 NFL draft by the Rams, where he spent his first nine seasons. In his final three seasons, he was a member of the Atlanta Falcons from 2013 to 2014 and the New England Patriots in 2015. Named to three Pro Bowls and two All-Pro teams during his Rams tenure, Jackson is the franchise's all-time leading rusher.
Larry Eugene Centers is an American former football fullback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons, mostly the Phoenix / Arizona Cardinals (1990–1998). Centers then played for the Washington Redskins (1999–2000), the Buffalo Bills (2001–2002), and finally was a member of the New England Patriots.
Michael John Mario Karney is a former American football player who was a fullback in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. He played college football for Arizona State University. He was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the fifth round of the 2004 NFL draft, and also played for the NFL's St. Louis Rams.
Kenneth Henderson Willard is an American former professional football player who was a running back/fullback in the National Football League (NFL), where he was a four-time Pro Bowler with the San Francisco 49ers in the 1960s.
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Lyvonia Albert "Stump" Mitchell is an American football coach and former player who last served as the running backs coach for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He served as head football coach at Morgan State University from 1996 to 1998 and Southern University from 2010 to 2012, compiling an overall college football record of 14–42. Mitchell played collegiately at The Citadel and thereafter was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals. He was a running back and return specialist for the Cardinals from 1981 to 1989.
Owen Schmitt is a former American football fullback. He was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL draft. He played college football at West Virginia University. Before transferring to the Mountaineers he played at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.
Lewis Glen Carpenter was an American football player and coach. He played college football for the University of Arkansas and professionally for ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL) as a halfback and fullback with the Detroit Lions, Cleveland Browns, and Green Bay Packers. He played on three NFL Championship teams, with Detroit in 1953 and with Green Bay in 1961 and 1962. After his playing career ended, Carpenter spent 31 years as an assistant coach in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings (1964–1966), Atlanta Falcons (1967–1968), Washington Redskins (1969), St. Louis Cardinals (1970–1972), Houston Oilers (1970–1974), Green Bay Packers (1975–1985), Detroit Lions (1987–1988), and Philadelphia Eagles (1990–1994). Carpenter also coached the Frankfurt Galaxy of the World League of American Football in 1996 and at Southwest Texas State University. He concluded his 47 years of playing and coaching football at the end of the 1996 season. Scientific tests on his brain diagnosed post-mortem that he had an advanced case of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
Christopher Michael Wells, known as Chris Wells or Beanie Wells, is an American former professional football player who was a running back for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes and was selected by the Cardinals in the first round of the 2009 NFL draft with the 31st overall pick.
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Frank Gerald Mestnik was an American football fullback in the National Football League (NFL) for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Green Bay Packers. He played college football at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After graduation, he was selected by the Cardinals in the 15th round of the 1960 NFL draft. He also had stints in the NFL with the New York Giants, Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears, but saw no playing time with them. Mestnik additionally spent a year with the Newark Bears of the Continental Football League (COFL).
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Kyren Lawrence Williams is an American football running back for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Notre Dame and was selected by the Rams in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL draft.
The Hail Murray was a play during an American football game between the Buffalo Bills and Arizona Cardinals on November 15, 2020. The game took place at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. With eleven seconds remaining in regulation play, Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray threw a 43-yard Hail Mary pass into the end zone that wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins caught over three Bills defenders for the game-winning touchdown. The score resulted in a 32–30 comeback victory for Arizona, who had trailed Buffalo 23–9 in the third quarter and had allowed the Bills to score a go-ahead touchdown just over 30 seconds prior. Multiple media outlets dubbed the play "Hail Murray," a play on "Hail Mary" and Kyler Murray's last name. The play, which was the first go-ahead Hail Mary in a regular season fourth quarter since the 2015 Miracle in Motown, won the NFL Play of the Year Award for the 2020 season.