Tag: Frank Wycheck

Titans release statement on passing of Frank Wycheck

The Titans released a statement on Sunday after the tragic passing of Frank Wycheck.

The NFL world was saddened to hear of the tragic passing of Tennessee Titans great and former tight end Frank Wycheck, who died in his home in Chattanooga after an apparent fall, according to a statement from his family.

After the terrible news broke on Sunday, Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk released a statement mourning and remembering the greatest and most beloved tight end in franchise history.

We are all devastated to hear the news of Frank’s passing. He was loved by so many, and his memory will always be cherished.

Frank’s name was synonymous with Titans football. He was such a huge part of our team’s success both on and off the field. He embraced this community and fan base immediately, and everyone loved him right back.

On the field he always seemed to be open and making key plays – he was even part of a Miracle. He worked to become one of the greatest NFL tight ends of his era, evidenced by his three Pro Bowl appearances. Off the field he was as approachable as anyone could ever be. Following his playing career, he continued his connection with our fans and community through his radio career, and his voice became one of the most recognizable in Middle Tennessee.

His on field work and accomplishments rightfully led to his induction in our Ring of Honor, cementing his legacy in our team’s lore.

We offer our prayers and condolences for Frank’s family. Our football family mourns with you.

Wycheck was just 52 years old and leaves behind two adult daughters and three grandchildren. Our thoughts and prayers are with his loved ones in this difficult time.

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Former Maryland and Washington TE Frank Wycheck dies

Frank Wycheck played for the University of Maryland and was drafted by Washington. He would become an excellent tight end for the Oilers/Titans.

Ardent Maryland and Washington football fans are saddened to hear Frank Wycheck died suddenly this weekend.

Wycheck residing in Chattanooga, Tenn., apparently fell and hit his head in his home sometime Saturday morning, his family conveyed in a statement released this weekend. Wycheck was found Saturday afternoon. He was 52.

The former Maryland Terrapin was drafted 160th overall by the Redskins in 1993. At tight end, he caught 23 passes in the 8 games he started in his two Washington seasons (1993-94) and was released. Upset he had been released, he voiced his disapproval, and sure enough, Wycheck proved Redskins head coach Norv Turner wrong when he was claimed by the Houston Oilers.

Wycheck proceeded to play nine seasons for the Oilers/Titans, catching 482 passes for 4,958 yards for 27 touchdowns and 264 first downs. Wycheck was a Pro Bowler three consecutive seasons (1998-2000) and was All-Pro 2nd team in 2000.

Playing 137 games for the Titans, Wycheck went from being a Redskins castaway to actually setting a franchise record when in 99 consecutive games he caught at least one pass. Frank also achieved being the team receiving leader for three consecutive seasons (1999-2001).

He is best remembered for a single play in the Jan. 8, 2000 AFC wild-card game. In the closing seconds, Buffalo kicked off to the Titans’ Lorenzo Neal who handed off to Wycheck. Frank, moving to his right, suddenly threw back across the field to his left to Kevin Dyson, who ran down the left sideline for a touchdown and a 22-16 Titans victory. The play became known as the “Music City Miracle.”

After the conclusion of Wycheck’s career, he stated he believed he may have CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy), which sometimes results in those who have been exposed to concussions and repetitive forceful impacts to the head.

Wycheck’s family will reportedly agree to Wycheck’s desire to involve experts in CTE research and ongoing brain injury.

Following his NFL career, Frank was employed in sports talk radio in Nashville. He was also part of the Titans NFL game radio broadcast team through the 2016 season. He relocated to Chattanooga, moving to be closer to his family. He is survived by his two daughters and three grandchildren.

NFL world mourns death of Titans great Frank Wycheck

The NFL world mourned the loss of Titans great Frank Wycheck, who passed away at the age of 52.

The Tennessee Titans have lost one of their franchise greats after former tight end Frank Wycheck passed away at the age of 52.

Per a statement from his family, via Titans beat writer Paul Kuharsky, Wycheck died after an apparent fall in his Chattanooga home on Saturday.

He is survived by his two adult daughters, Deanna and Madison, and his three grandchildren, Leo, Stevie and August.

At this time, it appears Wycheck fell inside his Chattanooga, TN home and hit his head on Saturday morning. He was found unresponsive that afternoon.

Wycheck moved to Chattanooga, TN this past summer to be closer to his family. He leaves behind two adult daughters, Deanna and Madison, both married, and three grandchildren — Leo, Stevie and August.

The family, per his wishes, plans to work with experts for on-going brain injury (TBI) and CTE research. Funeral services have not yet been made at this time.

The Wycheck family appreciates the love and support they’ve received, but asks the public to please respect their privacy during this difficult time. Thank you.

Wycheck became one of the best and most beloved players in franchise history after being claimed by the Houston Oilers off waivers in 1995.

The tight end ranks seventh in franchise history in receiving yards, and first among tight ends in that category. He also threw the lateral to Kevin Dyson that sparked the legendary “Music City Miracle” play in the 1999 playoffs.

Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this time. Titans fans and the rest of the football world shared their condolences upon hearing the awful news.

Frank Wycheck of Music City Miracle fame dies at 52

Frank Wycheck, a former Tennessee Titans TE, died at 52 after a household accident

Former Tennessee Titans tight end Frank Wycheck died Saturday at the age of 52 after suffering a fall at his home.

Per a statement from the family, “at this time, it appears Wycheck fell inside his Chattanooga, TN home and hit his head on Saturday morning. He was found unresponsive that afternoon.”

Per TennesseeTitans.com:

The family, per his wishes, plans to work with experts for on-going brain injury (TBI) and CTE research. Funeral services have not yet been made at this time.

The signature play of his career ended up being a lateral on a kickoff return, known simply as the Music City Miracle. It was Wycheck who threw the cross-field pass to Kevin Dyson during the AFC Wild Card game against the Bills on Jan. 8, 2000. Dyson then went 75 yards for a touchdown in Tennessee’s win.

Titans great Frank Wycheck has passed away at 52

Titans great Frank Wycheck has passed away at the age of 52.

Tennessee Titans great and former tight end Frank Wycheck has tragically passed away at the age of 52.

According to a statement from Wycheck’s family, via Titans beat writer Paul Kuharsky, Wycheck was found unresponsive in his home after an apparent fall on Saturday morning.

“At this time, it appears Wycheck fell inside his Chattanooga, TN home and hit his head on Saturday morning,” the statement read. “He was found unresponsive that afternoon.

“Wycheck moved to Chattanooga, TN this past summer to be closer to his family. He leaves behind two adult daughters, Deanna and Madison, both married, and three grandchildren — Leo, Stevie and August.

“The family, per his wishes, plans to work with experts for on-going brain injury (TBI) and CTE research. Funeral services have not yet been made at this time.

“The Wycheck family appreciates the love and support they’ve received, but asks the public to please respect their privacy during this difficult time. Thank you.”

A former sixth-round pick of Washington in 1993, Wycheck was claimed off waivers by the Houston Oilers in 1995 and went on to become one of the most productive and beloved players in franchise history.

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Wycheck was a three-time Pro Bowler and finished his Oilers/Titans career with 4,958 receiving yards, which ranks seventh in franchise history and first among tight ends.

He was also one of the heroes in the legendary “Music City Miracle” play in which Wycheck threw a lateral to wide receiver Kevin Dyson, who scored the game-winning touchdown to defeat the Buffalo Bills in the 1999 playoffs.

Wycheck’s memory will live on in the hearts and minds of Titans fans everywhere. Our prayers go out to his loved ones in this difficult time.

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Delanie Walker weighs in on best TE in Titans history debate

Delanie Walker picks a side in the debate about the Titans’ best tight end of all-time.

The debate about the Tennessee Titans’ best tight end in franchise history has been ongoing for years now, and it recently got a boost when Titans great Delanie Walker announced his retirement this week.

On one side is Frank Wycheck, who spent nine years with the franchise and ended up as the most prolific pass-catcher at tight end in franchise history in terms of yardage. Then you have Walker, who spent seven years with the organization and finished No. 2 among tight ends in receiving yards.

Arguments can certainly be made for both; however, if you ask Walker, his answer is simple: it’s Wycheck.

“Frank Wycheck — I watched Frank and some of the stuff Frank did,” he said. “We’re two different tight ends. I can’t say that I am the best because what Frank has done for this organization is great too.

“So, I always put Frank in front of me. I would say I’m the second-best.”

No matter what side of the fence you’re on, there’s no doubt Titans fans have grown to appreciate these two players even more in recent years, as the team has been disappointing to inept at the position since Walker’s 2018 injury.

If only we could invent a time machine to bring peak Walker or Wycheck into 2022, the Titans would be far better off than they are now.

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Titans great Frank Wycheck disputes Adam Schefter’s take on ‘Music City Miracle’

Titans great Frank Wycheck isn’t trying to hear it was a forward pass.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter has remained a firm believer that the “Music City Miracle” play from the 1999 AFC wild-card game between the Tennessee Titans and Buffalo Bills should have never happened.

Schefter has long maintained that the pass was indeed a forward lateral, which would have rendered the play dead and erased what was one of the greatest moments in all of sports history.

And it’s an opinion he once again shared during ESPN’s “Monday Night Countdown” broadcast prior to the Bills-Titans “Monday Night Football” matchup in Week 6.

But the man who threw the certain backward lateral, Titans great and tight end, Frank Wycheck, checked Schefter on his take via Twitter.

“…I’m reporting that you couldn’t be more wrong. I know because I threw it,” Wycheck tweeted.

It’s 21 years later and somehow there is still a debate about this, even from Schefter, who clearly had it broken down for him during the aforementioned broadcast.

Time to let it go, because Frank Wycheck said so.

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Former Titans reflect on the anniversary of the Music City Miracle

While the whole play itself seems like a stretch, the fact that Dyson was the pass-catcher on that day was a stretch all by itself.

The Tennessee Titans have finished out the past four seasons with a 9-7 overall record, but it’s hard not to feel like this year’s team is just a bit different than those before it.

For the first time in years, the Titans have a team that can contend with some of the best in the postseason, and that showed when they took down a dominant New England Patriots team, 20-13 last week.

One Titans team that compares is the 1999 squad that made its way to the big game after a season that included a 22-16 postseason victory over the Buffalo Bills.

The contest was one of the most thrilling in Titans history, dubbed the ‘Music City Miracle’ after Frank Wycheck threw a pass to Kevin Dyson, who went the distance to secure the game-winning score.

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While the whole play itself seems like a stretch, the fact that Dyson was the pass-catcher on that day was a stretch all by itself.

“The crazy part about it is that I got hurt, and then the guy that was my backup got hurt and it left Kevin (Dyson),” former Titans wideout Derrick Mason told The Tennessean. The way we practiced it, none of that happened in the game. There was a process, there was one pass, really, but during that game you get a short kick, you get a handoff, you run over and you get a throwback. The only thing that went the way it was supposed to was (Wycheck) getting the ball and throwing it to Kevin, which was supposed to have been Anthony Dorsett, which was supposed to have been me.”

Dyson describes the moment as one of “pure elation.”

“So for the Miracle, the feeling now is a little different than then,” Dyson told Titans Wire in 2017. “Then, it was pure elation, of course. You know, you just helped your team take the lead to secure a win to go on in the playoffs. It was short-lived, because you have to go on to the next game.”

Wycheck remembers it well.

“Well, Jeff Fisher, I mean, he was a detail-oriented coach, and we, like any team should, you go over every possible situation that can come up in a game and you do that with your two-minute drill, your four-minute drill, how to run out games and even practice the victory formation. … We hoped we’d never get in that situation, but it proved to be very successful because we were all prepared,” he said in a report from The Tennessean.

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Titans Radio’s Mike Keith also recalls the historical moment.

“And then on national TV, (Paul) Maguire, (Mike) Patrick and (Joe) Theismann argued with one another while the play was going on,” he said. “As it turned out, we were the only ones that did an audible call of the actual play all the way through. And it was the home radio call, so that makes it a little different because we were very obviously enthusiastic about it.

The Titans will look to keep their chances of playing in the Super Bowl alive as they face the Baltimore Ravens in M&T Bank Stadium at 7:15 p.m. CST on Saturday.

NFL playoffs: 20 years ago, the Tennesee Titans experienced a Music City Miracle

The 20th anniversary of the Music City Miracle between the Titans and Bills is upon us.

The date: Jan. 8, 2000. The place: then known as Adelphia Coliseum in Nashville, TN. The scene: An AFC Wild-Card game between the Buffalo Bills and the Tennessee Titans. The result: The wildest of wild Wild-Card finishes.

Otto Greule Jr. /Allsport

The Bills

Buffalo came into the game with an 11-4 record. Wade Phillips started Rob Johnson, rather than Doug Flutie, who had started 15 games and led the Bills into the playoffs. Flutie had gone 10-5 as a starter but threw 16 interceptions against 19 touchdowns. With a playoff berth decided, Phillips decided to let Johnson start the Week 17 game against the AFC East division champion, the Colts. Johnson went 24-of-32 for 287 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 31–6 win. The following day, Phillips told Johnson he would start in their first round playoff game against the Titans. Years later, Phillips claimed that it was not his decision to start Johnson, and that owner Ralph Wilson had ordered him to do so.

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