Wesley Sandy Chandler was born on August 22,1956 and is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League for eleven seasons during the 1970s and 1980s.
25 Facts About Wes Chandler
2.
Wes Chandler was selected to the Pro Bowl four times, and ranked twelfth in NFL history in receiving yards and thirteenth in receptions when he retired.
3.
Wes Chandler played college football for the Florida Gators and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2015.
4.
Wes Chandler was named both an All-American and an Academic All-American in 1977.
5.
Wes Chandler was picked third overall by the New Orleans Saints in the 1978 NFL Draft.
6.
Over an 11-year NFL career, Wes Chandler played for the Saints, the San Diego Chargers and the San Francisco 49ers.
7.
Wes Chandler holds the NFL record for most receiving yards per game in a season, set in 1982 with the Chargers.
8.
Wes Chandler attended New Smyrna Beach High School, where he was a standout high school football player for coach Bud Asher's New Smyrna Beach Barracudas.
9.
Wes Chandler scored twenty-two touchdowns as a senior in 1973, and rushing for 1,052 yards and catching 22 receptions as a wishbone halfback.
10.
Wes Chandler earned the nickname "Little Joe" due to his small size.
11.
Wes Chandler accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he was a wide receiver under coach Doug Dickey on the Gators football team from 1974 to 1977.
12.
Wes Chandler led the Gators in receiving yards for three straight seasons, and despite many seasons of pass-oriented offenses since his time in Gainesville, he still holds Florida's career records in average yards per catch and touchdown to reception ratio.
13.
Wes Chandler was a first-team All-Southeastern Conference selection and a first-team All-American in 1976 and 1977, a first-team Academic All-American in 1977, and the recipient of the Gators' Fergie Ferguson Award as a senior team captain in 1977.
14.
Wes Chandler finished tenth in the balloting for the Heisman Trophy in 1977.
15.
Wes Chandler is widely considered to be one of the best all-around football players to ever play for the University of Florida, and has been named to several all-time Gators and all-SEC teams, and was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 1989.
16.
Wes Chandler was selected to the Pro Bowl after his second season in the league after finishing with 1,069 yards and six touchdown receptions.
17.
Wes Chandler was traded to the San Diego Chargers in 1981 to replace star receiver John Jefferson, who was traded to the Green Bay Packers after a bitter contract hold-out.
18.
Wes Chandler caught nine passes for 124 yards in a playoff win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
19.
Wes Chandler represented Chargers players in the players' union, and many NFL players in that role were cut or traded after the 1987 NFL strike.
20.
At the time of his retirement, Wes Chandler ranked twelfth in NFL history in receiving yards and thirteenth in receptions.
21.
Wes Chandler earned four Pro Bowl selections, including three with the San Diego Chargers.
22.
In 2001, Wes Chandler was inducted into the Chargers Hall of Fame.
23.
Wes Chandler eventually went to Dallas after seven years coaching in NFL Europe, including a stint as head coach of the Berlin Thunder in 1999.
24.
Wes Chandler's other nephew and Dallas's younger brother, Perry Baker, is a professional rugby player with the United States national rugby sevens team.
25.
Wes Chandler resigned in July 2017 when the league was reorganizing after failing to launch.