BIOGRAPHY
Andrew Wingard was born on December 5, 1996, in Arvada, Colorado. He is a safety in the National Football League.
During high school, Wingard was named to the 2014 All-Colorado Team as a running back by The Denver Post. The All-Colorado team consisted of the Top 32 players in the state of Colorado in 2014 and included all classifications. He was selected as the 2014 Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Colorado. Wingard also earned First Team All-State Class 5A honors at running back from The Denver Post in 2014. For his career, Wingard accumulated: 3,251 total rushing yards on 414 carries and 52 rushing TDs; 810 receiving yards on 81 receptions and 12 receiving TDs; 1,331 kickoff return yards; 323 punt return yards; and 5,722 all-purpose yards. He helped lead Ralston Valley High to a 12-1 record and the Semifinals of the Class 5A State Playoffs before losing to eventual State Champion Cherry Creek, 27-15. An outstanding track and field athlete, Wingard placed fifth in the 110-meter hurdles at the 2014 Colorado Class 5A State Championships with a time of 14.76 seconds. He also played basketball at Ralston Valley High.
At his first college season in 2015, Wingard played in all 12 games for the Cowboys with 11 starts. He ranked No. 1 in the Mountain West and No. 4 in the NCAA among all players at all positions in solo tackles in 2015 (6.9 solo tackles per game). Wingard ranked No. 2 in the Mountain West and No. 12 in the nation among all players at all positions in total tackles in 2015 (10.2 tackles per game). He also led all MW defensive backs in tackles. His 122 total tackles in 2015 ranked as the 15th best single season in school history. Wingard recorded seven double-figure tackles games in the first 12 games of his career.
Through 2016, Wingard helped lead Wyoming to the 2016 Mountain Division title and a spot in the Mountain West Conference Championship Game. Wyoming hosted that championship game as the highest ranked team in the conference. He was a First Team All-Mountain West selection as a sophomore in 2016 in addition to being named a semifinalist for the Thorpe Award. He ranked No. 5 in the MW and No. 22 in the NCAA in total tackles in 2016, averaging 9.4 per game, and ranked No. 4 in the league and No. 26 in the NCAA in solo tackles, averaging 5.4 per game. Wingard ended his sophomore season ranked No. 1 among all current active NCAA FBS players in career solo tackles, averaging 6.08 per game, and he ranked No. 2 among all current active FBS players in career total tackles, averaging 9.73 per game. His 131 total tackles in 2016 ranks as the 10th best single season in Wyoming history. Wingard had two interceptions on the season, including one at Nebraska and one in the Poinsettia Bowl versus BYU.
For the 2017 season, Wingard will enter his senior season with 367 career tackles to rank No. 6 on Wyoming's career tackle list -- exactly 100 tackles away from the school record of 467 held by former Cowboy linebacker Galand Thaxton. In the past three seasons, Wingard has recorded 122 tackles in 2015, 131 in 2016 and 114 in 2017. Wingard was a First Team All-Mountain West selection and was on the Chuck Bednarik, Bronko Nagurski and Jim Thorpe Awards watch list. He ranked second on the Cowboys in tackles and added eight tackles for loss. He intercepted five passes last season and recovered two fumbles and would force one.
On 2018, he racked up 114 tackles, eight tackles for loss, five interceptions and two recovered fumbles for a Cowboys defense that finished 14th nationally in opponents’ passer rating and first in takeaways.
Wingard would sign with the Jaguars, on August 31, 2019, as an undrafted free agent.
