The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office shared a neat photo of former Hokies' wideout Ernest Wilford. Wilford, who caught 126 passes for 2,052 yards and 11 TDs for Virginia Tech from 2000-03, played for both the Jacksonville Jaguars and Miami Dolphins in the NFL. He is now a cop.
We are real people just like you. We laugh, we cry, we have families. We have hobbies, weird allergies, and like to enjoy life. We are real people #BehindtheBadge.Meet Police Officer Ernest Wilford
Posted by Jacksonville Sheriff's Office on Monday, April 11, 2016
Wilford's interest in law enforcement dates back to his playing days. In 2007, he accompanied an officer on a ride-along to get a taste for the duty.
"Being in the NFL you have the opportunity to be exposed to so many different things," said Wilford, who is a Virginia Tech graduate. "The ride-along is something I wanted to do and I had a blast doing it.
"It really is a life changing experience."
So far he has gone on two ride-alongs and Varner said Wilford can go as many times as he would like. When asked if he plans to go on more ride-alongs, Wilford said "oh yeah."
"I have a new found respect for police officers. They have an at-risk life," he said. "Every day they put their lives in danger and a lot of people don't realize that."
Comments
Was happy to see that this morning, JSO has been doing these recently for their officers trying to get a better connection to the community. VTPD just did a video with one of their newest officers, a former woman's lacrosse goalie for Tech.
Victor Davila works (or used to) as a police officer for Fairfax County in Northern VA as well..... don't ask me how I know this lol
How do you know this?
Wait... Did I fuck up?
lets just say my #sources are legit
You got arrested by Victor Davila, didn't you?
"If I miss this free throw, you get off with a warning"
(CLANK)
"Dammit, Davila, you have to arrest at least one person this month"
I only regret that I have but one leg to give for this post.
Congratulations. You win the internet today.
My wife just said, "I hope he protects Fairfax better than he protected the rim"
Very cool to know this, being in Jacksonville...glad I didn't find out first hand.
We're learning more about everyone on this thread!
/s
ernest got in some trouble as a jag out here at the beaches. but now is making up for it. great dude. spoke with him a couple weeks ago about coming out to speak with my football team about hard work and achieving his goals and life after football and some other stuff. he has a new born but has been great about working with me to try and set something up.
see Wilford got it right: be successful at football then move on to being a good cop.
Mike London, on the other hand...
TIMEOUT!
My fiance named a pet after Ernest Wilford.
WIFE HER!
Oh wait. You're already on that.
lol...yep, on it!
We're getting married this spring! Looking forward to it :D
Sorry, but your response made me think of this...
What a year.
hahaha..thanks for the laugh.
Glad to see Wilford doing well. I was always a fan of his. He used to live in an apartment complex that I volunteered to do after school activities with kids at and he was regularly out playing with the kids along with us just cause he wanted to.
Must....resist...joke....
AHHH I can't not do it!...
I hope he's better at catching bad guys than he is at catching two point conversions...
I'm sorry Ernest...
I see a trip to the Jacksonville Glue Factory in your future.
Unfortunately, this is always my first thing I think of when I think of Wilford. sigh.
Glad to see he is doing well though
Chris Rock (I think) performed on campus right after the drop. He made a joke about it and got booed by the students attending.
That's always my first thought when I hear his name.
It was Spike Lee. Called him out during a talk while he was in the Audience
Ernest Wilford immediately dropped the sign and helmet after this photo was taken
The first thing that comes to my mind is him landing out of bounds, the ball pops out, and BC "recovered" it on our first play from scrimmage. Our last Big East game. I wanted to curb stomp that damn eagle mascot that day.
Wait. Did I see a....?
Sorry, this is a feel good Ernest Wilford thread. Not allowed.
So great to see a former Hokie football player and NFL veteran continuing the motto of our great university. UT PROSIM!
This makes me so proud on many levels. One, that VT does a terrific job of shaping student athletes to carry on Ut Prosim, and two that Wilford chose such an excellent profession to serve others and be an outstanding role model. Being the wife to a Trooper K9 handler and a love of Hokie football makes me unabashedly proud!
He's been on a couple of ride alongs. I have a 65 year old woman friend who has been on a few more than that, but she's not going to be a police officer. I'm all for Wilford, big fan of him and the large majority of police officers, but I guess I missed the part about him being a sworn cop.
Are you asking if Ernest Wilford is a Jacksonville Police Officer?
Yeah, I was, but this time when I went back to the topic post, my computer didn't skip the first half of the post. Just saw that he was, indeed, a policeman. I do try to read the links when I see them, but my screen was jumping up and down and when it stopped, it had omitted the first sentence that said he was a cop and the link to Jacksonville. In this case, I can truly blame my computer, which hasn't been acting right for a couple of weeks, and thank you for your reply. Leg for your trouble.
I am SO confused right now.
My bad, GoKart. Whatever the opposite of a roll is, I'm on one right now.
Come on, man. Get out of your rut and into a groove!
I used to talk with Ernest around Jamerson (and Big Al's) all the time when we were in school. One of my best memories of him is getting a huge hug from him at graduation in Lane stadium. He's an all around great guy and one of my all time favorite Hokies. It's great to see him doing what he loves!
Bad. Ass.
Interview with Wilford about being a police officer.
http://m.jacksonville.com/news/crime/2016-04-18/story/former-jaguar-erne...
Built like he can still play too. Wouldn't wanna mess with this cop.
http://jacksonville.com/news/public-safety/2017-03-30/former-jacksonvill...
Wilford is doing great with JSO.
Thanks for linking that article. Everyone should read that.
Very humbling read.
Thanks officer Wilford
(and Hokie Fireman and other first responders)
for going beyond expectations to help others.
I wanna see him lay out to catch a perp like it was a hail Mary pass.
Stay safe EW!