Jimmy Wilkerson

Jimmy Wilkerson was born in Mount Pleasant, Texas, and played at Paul H. Pewitt High School. At Oklahoma he played in 38 games, made 130 tackles, 35 tackles for loss and 12 sacks, and was first-team All-Big 12 in 2001 and 2002. He was also on the 2000 national title team. Kansas City drafted him in the sixth round, 189th overall, in 2003, and he played five seasons for the Chiefs. In 2009 he set career highs with 46 tackles and six sacks as a starter for Tampa Bay, but he tore his ACL late that season. He later played for New Orleans and Seattle and finished with 179 tackles and 14 sacks. He coached at Texas A&M–Commerce (part of its 2017 Division II title) and at Carl Albert High School. He died of a heart attack in Oklahoma City on December 13, 2024, at age 43. Tulsa World wrote on December 21, 2024: "Stoops still remembers his trip with Venables and Bobby Jack Wright down to Omaha, Texas to recruit Wilkerson, who was a standout quarterback and linebacker for the Pewitt High School Brahmas." It also says he "died on Dec." (the extracted sentence is cut off there).