Gold Jacket Spotlight: Roger Wehrli Turned Lasts Into Firsts
As a man of deep faith, Roger Wehrli is familiar with the biblical passage that states “the last shall be first … many are called but few are chosen.”
Despite his extraordinary athletic gifts, Roger’s path to Canton seemed unlikely, even years after his decorated career in the National Football League. At several turns along the way, he stood only moments away from a situation or circumstance that if any had transpired only slightly differently, he wouldn’t have been enshrined in 2007.
Roger called that journey and those key moments divinely influenced, and they are recalled this week in the Gold Jacket Spotlight.
At tiny King City High School tucked in the northwest corner of Missouri, Roger participated in sports year-round. He could boast – although he never did – of being the best athlete in his class, which numbered all of 28 his senior year.
He starred in football, but when his senior season ended, he remembers removing his shoulder pads for the final time and saying to himself, “That's the last time I'll be putting those things on.”
It was time to turn his attention to his preferred sport: basketball. Roger was talented enough that nearby Northwest Missouri State was waiting for him. Before he would follow the allure of collegiate basketball, however, track season beckoned.
And from it, the first of his life’s big twists of fate.
At the 1965 Missouri state high school meet, Roger represented King City High School in the championships held in Columbia, the home of the University of Missouri. He won the long jump, high hurdles, low hurdles and placed in the 200-meter dash, winning the state championship for King City almost single-handedly.
In the crowd watching was Clay Cooper, defensive backs coach for the Missouri football team. The Tigers held one remaining scholarship to offer for the 1965 season, and an impressed Cooper offered it to Roger.
The football pads came back out.
With the Tigers, Roger was a two-time all-conference pick and an All-American as a senior, finishing that season with seven interceptions and leading the nation in total punt returns and punt return average. He was invited to the Hula Bowl.
Projected as a third-round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, Roger’s career arc changed again when he agreed to run a 40-yard dash for a scout. After the Hula Bowl, wearing full pads, he clocked 4.5 seconds on a grass surface.
He jumped up the draft board, with the St. Louis Cardinals selecting him in the first round. Roger intercepted three passes in 13 games his first season and finished second in voting for Defensive Rookie of the Year.
Over the next 13 seasons, Roger would earn seven Pro Bowl invitations and three times be named first-team All-Pro by the Associated Press. He finished his career with 40 interceptions and a franchise-record 22 fumble recoveries.
Many thought he would follow former teammate and mentor Larry Wilson quickly into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. For years, his call never came.
Roger waited. And waited.
“I’d made up my mind that it had probably passed me by and I wouldn’t make the Hall of Fame unless I made it as a Senior,” he told an interviewer a few years ago.
In his 20th year of eligibility – and last opportunity before he would have moved into the Seniors category – he got the call every pro football player longs to hear.
Roger had been chosen.
He summed up his feelings during his Enshrinement speech.
“Many of you know me as a man of faith,” he said. “I believe that God has guided each and every move I've made. He's put the right people in the right places to bring me here, and I thank Him with all my heart for taking a little guy from a little town with little dreams and making me fit to wear the title of Hall of Famer.”
Despite his extraordinary athletic gifts, Roger’s path to Canton seemed unlikely, even years after his decorated career in the National Football League. At several turns along the way, he stood only moments away from a situation or circumstance that if any had transpired only slightly differently, he wouldn’t have been enshrined in 2007.
Roger called that journey and those key moments divinely influenced, and they are recalled this week in the Gold Jacket Spotlight.
At tiny King City High School tucked in the northwest corner of Missouri, Roger participated in sports year-round. He could boast – although he never did – of being the best athlete in his class, which numbered all of 28 his senior year.
He starred in football, but when his senior season ended, he remembers removing his shoulder pads for the final time and saying to himself, “That's the last time I'll be putting those things on.”
It was time to turn his attention to his preferred sport: basketball. Roger was talented enough that nearby Northwest Missouri State was waiting for him. Before he would follow the allure of collegiate basketball, however, track season beckoned.
And from it, the first of his life’s big twists of fate.
At the 1965 Missouri state high school meet, Roger represented King City High School in the championships held in Columbia, the home of the University of Missouri. He won the long jump, high hurdles, low hurdles and placed in the 200-meter dash, winning the state championship for King City almost single-handedly.
In the crowd watching was Clay Cooper, defensive backs coach for the Missouri football team. The Tigers held one remaining scholarship to offer for the 1965 season, and an impressed Cooper offered it to Roger.
The football pads came back out.
With the Tigers, Roger was a two-time all-conference pick and an All-American as a senior, finishing that season with seven interceptions and leading the nation in total punt returns and punt return average. He was invited to the Hula Bowl.
Projected as a third-round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, Roger’s career arc changed again when he agreed to run a 40-yard dash for a scout. After the Hula Bowl, wearing full pads, he clocked 4.5 seconds on a grass surface.
He jumped up the draft board, with the St. Louis Cardinals selecting him in the first round. Roger intercepted three passes in 13 games his first season and finished second in voting for Defensive Rookie of the Year.
Over the next 13 seasons, Roger would earn seven Pro Bowl invitations and three times be named first-team All-Pro by the Associated Press. He finished his career with 40 interceptions and a franchise-record 22 fumble recoveries.
Many thought he would follow former teammate and mentor Larry Wilson quickly into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. For years, his call never came.
Roger waited. And waited.
“I’d made up my mind that it had probably passed me by and I wouldn’t make the Hall of Fame unless I made it as a Senior,” he told an interviewer a few years ago.
In his 20th year of eligibility – and last opportunity before he would have moved into the Seniors category – he got the call every pro football player longs to hear.
Roger had been chosen.
He summed up his feelings during his Enshrinement speech.
“Many of you know me as a man of faith,” he said. “I believe that God has guided each and every move I've made. He's put the right people in the right places to bring me here, and I thank Him with all my heart for taking a little guy from a little town with little dreams and making me fit to wear the title of Hall of Famer.”