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LB Matt Wilhelm (All-American, National Champion, Super Bowl Champion, OSU HOF)

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Wilhelm returns

ILB Matt Wilhelm returned from a calf injury that caused him to miss the past two games. Wilhelm had six tackles, second to CB Quentin Jammer's seven.

"It's my second (complete game) of the season, so I'm 2-for-5," Wilhelm said with a laugh. "It felt good to get back out there and bring whatever I could bring ---- intelligence, coverage. It felt good to be back out there with the guys and actually play a game."
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North County Times - Pro Sports - Big-play Jackson
 
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Cottrell also mentioned improved tackling and the play of inside linebacker Matt Wilhelm. His return from a calf injury coincided with the three-game winning streak's start.

"Having Matt in there has been a huge plus for us,'' Cottrell said. "It's the communication of getting the call and checks and audibles. That also helps (Stephen) Cooper. Now Cooper is free of some of the burden.''

Cooper, the other inside linebacker, agrees. He said with Wilhelm ---- one of the Chargers' smartest players ---- lining everyone up, he can concentrate on the ball-carrier.

"Having Matt is real big because we have been together for five years now, and we know how each other plays in the pass and the run,'' Cooper said. "It was tough (with) him not being there.''
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North County Times - Chargers - It's reunion weekend for Cottrell
 
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Wilhelm awed by production of his predecessor

By: MIKE SULLIVAN - Staff Writer

SAN DIEGO -- Matt Wilhelm replaced Donnie Edwards as a starting inside linebacker in the Chargers' defense and is quietly putting up similar tackle numbers.

Wilhelm has 95 tackles despite missing the equivalent of 2 3/4 games with a calf injury. That ranks second on the team behind Stephen Cooper's 120 stops and represents an impressive number for a first-year starter.

Wilhelm and Edwards will play in the same game as opposing players for the first time on Sunday when the Chargers visit Kansas City. Wilhelm missed Edwards' homecoming game in San Diego in September because of his injury, but he occasionally speaks to Edwards.

"It is more us catching up since I hadn't seen him in a while," Wilhelm said Wednesday. "We're still on good terms. I talked to him a couple weeks ago about when we're coming in.

"He has a lot of ties to the city and this organization, so guys are going to want to see him and he'll probably come over to the hotel and hang out for a little while."

Wilhelm said he remains in awe of the tackle numbers Edwards compiled in San Diego despite criticisms about where on the field the player now referred to as "Downfield Donnie" made his stops. Edwards led the Chargers in tackles in all five seasons he was with the team, including a career-best 170 last season.

Edwards leads Kansas City in tackles with 87 and is on track to lead his team in tackles for a 10th consecutive season, a fact that impresses Wilhelm.

"I talked about it last year when I was his backup," Wilhelm said. "As much as I wanted to play and as much as I felt I deserved to start, the guy makes a lot of plays. He's around the football consistently regardless of what type of defense or what position he's playing. He's just around the ball. It's something you can't take away from him."
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North County Times - Chargers - Wilhelm awed by production of his predecessor
 
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Wilhelm putting it together
Play of Chargers linebacker just keeps getting better and better
By Kevin Acee
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
December 22, 2007

As Matt Wilhelm began this week's preparation, watching video of the Chargers' just-completed game against Detroit and then the Oct. 7 Denver game, he was a little shocked.
There on the screen in the latter of those DVD showings, against an opponent he and the rest of the Chargers will face Monday night, was a player Wilhelm hardly recognized.

?I'm like two different players,? he told linebackers coach Ron Rivera later.

The improvement in Chargers linebacker Matt Wilhelm is evident with three interceptions over the past six games.

When the Chargers played Denver almost three months ago, Wilhelm was playing for just the second time this season and for the first time completely healthy. He was routinely out of position, blocked out of plays, slow to react, knocked back by blockers.

In fact, much of the next 2? months saw similar circumstances a little too often.

But not the past two weeks.

?I thought he finally put it all together,? Rivera said, referring to Wilhelm's play against Tennessee on Dec. 9, when he made a team-high 10 tackles and an interception while playing at a level unseen in his previous nine games.

?I'm getting to where I expected to be all along,? Wilhelm said.
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SignOnSanDiego.com > San Diego Chargers -- Wilhelm putting it together
 
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STREET PEOPLE: Buckeye, Charger and husband

Name: Matt Wilhelm
Who: "I am a linebacker for the San Diego Chargers. I am blessed to play a game for a living. And I would have to say I am a great husband to my beautiful wife, Vanessa."

Age: 26

Hangs out: "I am a homebody, so our home in Poway. I have everything I need there, so why leave? As far as the off-season, though, we have a place back where I am from in Ohio and we go there and always throw a Fourth of July party and chill with all of our family and friends. Otherwise, it's definitely traveling abroad."

Best place for lunch: "Love my BBQ at Brett's BBQ in 4S Ranch, and I have to add best place for breakfast by far is Hash House a Go Go in Hillcrest!"

Favorite bands: "U2, Linkin Park. I like anything with a good beat."

Last song you downloaded? "That's tough because I am always downloading
stuff to get me amped for the game. Probably 'I Get Money' by 50 Cent was the last one."
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Street
 
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Matt Wilhelm sees bright future for himself, team
Scott Petrak | The Chronicle-Telegram

Matt Wilhelm spent this weekend at the poker, blackjack and baccarat tables of the Bellagio in Las Vegas. As perfect as that may sound, Wilhelm has bigger plans for the same time next year: preparing for the Super Bowl.

Wilhelm, the Elyria Catholic and Ohio State graduate, is still hurting after his San Diego Chargers were ousted 21-12 on Jan. 20 by the New England Patriots in the AFC championship game. As an inside linebacker, Wilhelm was part of the defense that limited the record-setting Patriots offense to its second-lowest output of the season. But it wasn?t good enough, as the banged-up San Diego offense settled for field goals and the Chargers headed home for the offseason.

?Obviously everybody?s disappointed,? Wilhelm said Thursday by phone from San Diego. ?We?re extremely confident in our abilities. I like how we matched up against them.

?The feeling is we let New England off the hook. That makes us hungrier for next year. We?d love to get back at them.?
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He turns 27 on Saturday, has a contract through 2011 and is coming off his first year as a starter. Oh, yeah, his wife, Vanessa, is pregnant with their first child, who?s expected in March. He?s a boy and his name?s Mason.
?That will be the highlight of the offseason,? said Wilhelm, who lives in San Diego but keeps a condominium in Lorain. They?ll be back in the summer to introduce Mason to family and friends.

The birth of Mason will cap a watershed year for Wilhelm, who made his first career start in the opener. For the season he had three interceptions, 120 tackles (second on the team), a sack and a fumble recovery. He made a career-high 18 tackles at Minnesota and intercepted Peyton Manning in a win over the Colts. He did it all despite being limited early with an injury.

He tore a calf muscle during an individual pass-rush drill in training camp after being kicked in the calf a few days earlier. He sat out the rest of camp, but returned to start in the opener. Then early in Week 2 versus New England, he felt it pop again while covering a punt. It was a strain rather than a tear, but it kept him out of action for Week 3.
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The Chronicle-Telegram - Lorain county's leading news source
 
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Matt Wilhelm wants to make an impact on kids? lives
Scott Petrak | The Chronicle-Telegram

BEDFORD ? The mob of linebackers was moving downfield to start another drill, but one inquisitive high schooler wasn?t satisfied with his work. He pulled the 6-foot-4, 245-pound instructor aside and received a one-on-one tutorial on pass-coverage technique.

In return, Matt Wilhelm got a glimpse of his future.

Wilhelm was at Bedford High School on Saturday morning to help San Diego Chargers teammate Chris Chambers with his football camp. Wilhelm led the linebacker drills, then gave a quick speech to all the campers before lunch.
?I have a lot of pride in the state of Ohio,? Wilhelm told them. ?Ohio?s a football state.?

Twenty years from now, Wilhelm could be spending all his days like this.
?If God blesses me to play this game long enough and I can make enough money, I would love to coach on a high school level,? he said, ?whether it be just helping or being the head coach somewhere.

?Impacting lives, that?s why guys have camps like this. For (NFL players from Northeast Ohio) to come out and say, ?We sat in your seat and were here and look where we?ve gone now.? That?s the impact I want to make post-football.?

From Elyria Catholic to Ohio State to the Chargers, Wilhelm, 27, has taken the good and the bad from his coaches to form his vision of the perfect mentor.

?There are coaches you?ve hated throughout the years and there are coaches you took to and almost feel like they?re your friend,? he said. ?That?s the relationship you develop as a coach and a player and it?s fun.
?Making kids feel better about themselves, that?s exciting for me.?
Wilhelm singled out Mark Snyder and Jim Tressel at Ohio State and Ron Rivera, who joined the Chargers as inside linebackers coach last year after being defensive coordinator for the NFC champion Bears.
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Personally, Wilhelm wants to become an every-down player, as opposed to being replaced in certain passing situations. He still managed 144 tackles (second on the team), three interceptions, a sack and a fumble recovery last year.

?I worked extremely hard in the offseason to be physically ready and mentally ready to take on that challenge, because it is a challenge to not come off the field,? he said. ?There are only a handful of guys in the league who actually do that.

?I?m priming myself for that.?
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The Chronicle-Telegram - Lorain county's leading news source
 
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Wilhelm Ready to Lead in Cooper's Absence

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LB Matt Wilhelm (Donald Miralle/Getty)

By The Sports Xchange
Posted Aug 11, 2008

It was quite a ride for the Chargers last season for inside linebacker Matt Wilhelm. "It was a roller coaster," Wilhelm said. By the time the wheels stopped spinning, last year's Chargers were 1-3 and Wilhelm wondered about his life as a starter.
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Scout.com: Wilhelm Ready to Lead in Cooper's Absence
 
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Wilhelm gets earful in a good way: radio
By Chris Jenkins
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
August 13, 2008

helmet.jpg

JOHN R. MCCUTCHEN / Union-Tribune
Speakers in the helmet of Chargers linebacker Matt Wilhelm will carry defensive signals from the sideline.

Speakers in the helmet of Chargers linebacker Matt Wilhelm will carry defensive signals from the sideline.

Matt!

Hearing his name called from very close, yet far away, Chargers linebacker Matt Wilhelm turned to put a face with the voice on the sideline at Qualcomm Stadium. He found none.

Matt!! Matt!!

Wilhelm spun the other way. Still nobody.

Matt!!! Matt!!! Matt!!!

Wilhelm whirled again, then threw his arms in the air and yelled, ?What??? Where are you?? No answer. Only after scouring the full length of the sideline did he find the Chargers' defensive coordinator, Ted Cottrell, who'd been trying to reach Wilhelm via the helmet-radio system that now connects NFL coaches with the fellow calling plays in the defensive huddle.

Ah, technology. Given the way cell phones and walkie-talkies usually fail at the most important moments, to say nothing of interference and the wonder of who else is listening, you might think the Chargers would be better off using two cans and a string when passing plays from the sideline to the field.

Actually, the first application of the one-way radio worked well, according to personnel at both ends of the line during Saturday's exhibition opener against Dallas. Nary a glitch.

?It's pretty good,? said Wilhelm. ?Here and there in training camp it would cut out, but during the game at the stadium it worked just fine, real well. There were a few times when Dallas came out of the huddle quick and didn't allow me time to have my eyes on the sideline, so I just had to listen to the headset.?

The headset is a pair of orange-colored receivers planted just behind the ears in the helmets of Wilhelm and fellow linebacker Tim Dobbins, the latter of whom called the plays for the backup unit and was the only other Chargers defensive player wired Saturday. (Their wired status is denoted to officials with a green dot on the back of the helmet.) According to NFL rules, each team is allowed no more than one headphoned defender on the field.
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SignOnSanDiego.com > San Diego Chargers -- Wilhelm gets earful in a good way: radio
 
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Link

CHARGERS: Team laments what went wrong
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Chargers coach Norv Turner and quarterback Philip Rivers both mentioned how different the feeling would be had Delhomme's last-ditch attempt fallen incomplete.

Inside linebacker Matt Wilhelm nearly broke up the pass, tipping the ball with his fingertips before it got to Rosario, and Turner said Wilhelm could have been playing deeper in the end zone, which would have increased his chances of breaking up the play.

"They had five receivers running up the field and there was no one underneath," Turner said. "There was nobody they could throw to underneath, and Jake wasn't going to run in that circumstance.

"Matt thought he was deep enough. He was deep enough to feel the ball with a finger. He needed to be another step deeper and he could have batted the ball."

Wilhelm said it was tough to watch film of that final play. He said his finger "tweaked the rotation of the ball" but not enough to break up the play.

"It could have gone either way," Wilhelm said. "A veteran quarterback made a great throw."
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Scout.com (Free)

Looking to Rebound.............
 
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