Erik Wilhelm

American football player (born 1965)

Erik Bradley Wilhelm (born November 19, 1965), is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) from 1989 to 1997. He played college football for four years with the Oregon State Beavers, setting a number of school passing records. Wilhelm was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the third round of the 1989 NFL Draft. During his six year NFL career, Wilhelm was a backup to the durable Boomer Esiason, seeing action in a total of 23 games, starting just once. After his time in the NFL Wilhelm played arena football for the Portland Prowlers of the Indoor Professional Football League (IPFL) in 2000 and for the Los Angeles Avengers of the Arena Football League (AFL) in 2001.

Wilhelm was born November 19, 1965, in Dayton, Ohio. He began playing high school football at Gladstone High School in Gladstone, Oregon, located 12 miles south of Portland. During his first three seasons the left handed quarterback developed and emerged as a fledgling star, gaining honors as a junior in 1982 when he was named to the Class AA Oregon All State team. In the summer of 1983 Wilhelm's family moved to Lake Oswego, Oregon, another Portland suburb, with Erik enrolling at Lakeridge High School for his senior year. compiling a mere 15 wins in the 10 seasons running from 1975 to 1984. The freshman Wilhelm was rapidly thrust into a starting role. Early season wins against Idaho and Cal with the strong armed Wilhelm running head coach Dave Kragthorpe's pass oriented offense had stoked hope in the team. The chimera faded, however, when the promising Wilhelm was lost for the season due to injury – and event which punctuated a brutal four game swoon which included a merciless 63–0 thrashing at the hands of the University of Southern California. During his partial 1985 season Wilhelm completed nearly 60% of his passes, throwing for 890 yards and passed for 9 touchdowns, suffering 14 interceptions, with the team's two victories his greatest accomplishment. Wilhelm's career as a collegiate mad bomber would begin in earnest in the sophomore 1986 campaign, when he topped a 60% completion rate and led not only the Pacific 10 Conference but the entire NCAA Division I in attempts (470) and completions (283). The team as a whole took a step backwards, however, finishing 2–9 overall and winless in Pac 10 conference action.

Season Games Passing Rushing GP Comp Att Pct Yards Avg TD Int Rate Att Yards Avg TD Oregon State Beavers 1985 – 86 145 59.3 890 6.1 9 14 112.0 23 32 1.4 0 1986 11 283 470 60.2 2,871 6.1 8 17 109.9 75 206 2.7 1 1987 11 226 423 53.4 2,736 6.5 17 21 111.1 41 123 3.0 0 1988 11 275 422 62.2 2,896 6.6 18 9 126.6 70 30 0.4 2 Career 33 870 1,480 58.8 9,393 6.3 52 61 115.4 209 331 1.6 3

Following the success of the San Francisco 49ers and their "West coast offense," the National Football League (NFL) began a move towards a more pass centric game, thereby putting a premium on quarterback accuracy and arm strength. Standing tall at 6'3" and with impressive collegiate credentials for completion percentage and passing yards in a pro style offense, Erik Wilhelm represented a tantalizing prospect, despite his propensity for throwing interceptions and the poor win–loss record of his team. Consequently, Wilhelm was drafted in the 3rd Round with the 83rd overall pick of the 1989 NFL draft by the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals. The draft class was topped by number 1 overall pick Troy Aikman of the UCLA Bruins, another Pac 10 quarterback. Wilhelm was the seventh quarterback selected in the draft. The Bengals were already being led by an established NFL star, Boomer Esiason – the 1988 NFL MVP – who like Wilhelm threw the ball left handed. Adding a left handed backup in Wilhelm allowed the Bengals not only additional depth, but the luxury of leaving offensive line protections unchanged should Wilhelm enter the game, with the right tackle rather than the left tackle being responsible for the critical task of blindside protection on passing plays. Initially wearing the number 12, Wilhelm saw limited action backing up Esiason in 6 games during his 1989 rookie season, completing 30 of his 56 passes for 4 touchdowns, at a cost of 2 interceptions.

A third and final stint in Cincinnati followed in 1996 and 1997, with Wilhelm seeing action as a reserve in just 3 games, going 7 for 13 with 1 touchdown pass and 2 interceptions. Wilhelm's squad lost the championship in a shootout, 53–48, falling victim to quarterback John Fourcade and the Mississippi Fire Dogs at Portland's Memorial Coliseum.

Wilhelm moved to the rival Arena Football League for the 2001 season, joining the AFL's Los Angeles Avengers. In Los Angeles, Wilhelm led the Avengers to a 5–9 record in the 2001 Arena Football League season, missing the playoffs. The season would mark the end of Wilhelm's professional football career.

During the 2002 AFL season, Wilhelm signed with the Tampa Bay Storm but was put on the refused to report list and was released.

Season Games Passing Rushing GP GS Rec Att Comp Pct Yards Avg TD Int Rate Att Yards Avg TD Los Angeles Avengers 2001 14 14 5–9–0 269 142 52.8 1,687 6.3 23 8 88.3 13 2 0.2 1 Career 14 14 5–9–0 269 142 52.8 1,687 6.3 23 8 88.3 13 2 0.2 1

After being cut from the NFL, Wilhelm returned to the Pacific Northwest, settling in the southwest Washington city of Vancouver, just north of Portland. He worked in partnership with his mother as a residential property manager there.