Tyrone Wheatley - Early Life

Early Life

Wheatley was born in Inkster, Michigan. Inkster is located in Metropolitan Detroit, east of both Ann Arbor and University of Michigan. Wheatley's father (also named Tyrone) suffered a mortal gunshot wound to the head in 1974 when Wheatley was two years old. Wheatley's stepfather died of a heart attack when he was 13, leaving behind Wheatley, his sister, and half-brother, two-year-old Leslie Mongo. Shortly afterward, Wheatley's mother, Patricia, was laid off and became an alcoholic. With the effective loss of his two parents, Wheatley and his sister were forced to move in with an aunt, where he lived through the rest of his childhood. Due to family difficulties, Wheatley acts as the guardian of two cousins and his half brother. Mongo was ten years younger than Wheatley, and graduated from high school in New Jersey in 2004—thirteen years after Wheatley had graduated from high school.

Wheatley was involved in competitive athletics from an early age: In his youth, he ran competitively with the Penn Park track team, where, as an eight-year-old, he stood out for his discipline and promptness. Because of his family trouble, he assumed a family leadership role at a relatively young age. Wheatley made it clear to his brothers and sisters that when chaos came to their lives, they should to turn to him because he would be there and he would never fall. When he was in high school, he would take his younger siblings to basketball games, mapping out emergency plans for shooting outbreaks or brawls. Wheatley's guardianship continued throughout his career at the University of Michigan and while he was a professional athlete. While playing in the NFL, he realized that leaving Mongo—the youngest of his siblings—in Inkster and merely providing financial support was not a solution because Mongo was still exposed to gang shootings. As Mongo's guardian, Wheatley moved Mongo to New Jersey for school. Mongo later earned outstanding freshman athlete honors during the Bergen County, New Jersey outdoor track championships while living with Wheatley, who was playing for the Giants at the time. In 2004, with his graduation from high school imminent, Mongo signed a letter of intent with Utah State as a defensive back.