Hogan: Tuggle and Wilder Celebrate Family Day, Football Style
A Toronto Argonaut player with a father who also played pro football is not unusual. Tyler Holmes’ dad Richard was a running back for the Argos back in the day. Justin Herdman’s father James Reed played most of his CFL career in Winnipeg, also playing a handful of games for the Double Blue.
Justin Tuggle and James Wilder Jr. are a bit different because their fathers were iconic NFL players. James Wilder Sr. remains the leading rusher in Tampa Bay Buccaneers history, while Jessie Tuggle is the best linebacker to ever play for the Atlanta Falcons.
“Most kids are watching cartoons,” Wilder told Argonauts.ca, “I grew up watching his highlight films.”
Wilder was born in 1992, two years after his father had played his final NFL game. It wasn’t until elementary school that the son realized how good the father was.
“Every Friday you could bring in a toy to explain why it meant a lot to you,” explained Jr., “I’d bring in my dad’s helmet or my dad’s football and teachers would start almost interviewing me, ‘How does it feel for your dad to be…’ and that’s when I figured out my dad’s kind of big.”
Justin Tuggle didn’t have to find out second hand how good his father was, he was old enough to watch him play.
Jessie Tuggle’s career spanned 14 seasons, all with Atlanta. He amassed 1,293 tackles in the 90s, the most by any NFL player in that decade. He was a five-time Pro Bowl player, a three-time All Pro, and is a member of the Falcons Ring of Honour.
All that success was just dad being dad, no big deal around the Tuggle household.
“It was just so normal that I think other people looked at him more than I did,” said Justin. “That was just my dad and he played football and I would go watch him play on the weekends.”
The Argo defensive end/linebacker is incredibly proud of his father’s accomplishments, though despite all the recognition Jessie has received, Justin feels he’s due a little more love because some of his Falcons teams weren’t exactly Super Bowl contenders.
Justin has followed in Jessie’s footsteps, though there was a bit of a bend in the path. That’s because of some advice he received from the former linebacker.
“Be who I want to be,” Justin told Argonauts.ca, “He never pressured me to be him. He never pressured me to go down a path, or play a certain position, he just tried to help me with whatever advice he had, football or off the field. Whatever it was, he was always there for me.”
He listened to his father’s advice and started his NCAA career by going to Boston College, but as a quarterback. He ended up transferring to Kansas State where he switched positions to something a bit more familiar in the Tuggle household – linebacker.
Wilder Jr. could have done the same thing and shied away from playing his dad’s position in college. He was the top ranked high school player in the country, but roughly half of the teams that recruited him wanted him to play running back, the other half wanted him as a linebacker.
He opted to continue carrying the ball, which shouldn’t be a great surprise. James Wilder Sr. was a Pro-Bowl running back who once posted a 1,544-yard, 13-TD season for the Bucs. It served as great inspiration for his son.
“For me to be able to follow his footsteps,” said JWJ, “To grow up and have such a strong role model in my life where I wanted to be just like him. Same number, already got the same name, same position. I just wanted to be like him. It wasn’t Superman, he was my hero.”
Tuggle also spoke of his dad’s career with the highest respect.
“Go and look at the stats he put up, they’re amazing,” gushed Justin. “You can’t fake real, you can’t fake the hard work, you can’t fake the determination, you can’t fake the plays made. Go back and look at my dad’s career and look at the tackles he made. The numbers are astounding.”
When you speak to Head Coach Marc Trestman, he’s quick to emphasize the character of his players. When you hear Justin Tuggle and James Wilder Jr. speak about their fathers with such love, such respect and such admiration, it underscores why these players are such a perfect fit for his team.