Wesley Carl Hopkins is a former professional American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 safety who played for the Philadelphia Eagles

Philadelphia Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

 his entire 11-year National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

 career from 1983 through 1993. A walk-on for the Southern Methodist

Southern Methodist University

Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...

 football team, Hopkins was noticed after he made a vicious tackle on future Pro Football Hall of Fame

Pro Football Hall of Fame

The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...

 running back

Running back

A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...

 Eric Dickerson

Eric Dickerson

Eric Demetric Dickerson is a former professional running back in the National Football League who in his career played for the Los Angeles Rams, Indianapolis Colts, Los Angeles Raiders, and Atlanta Falcons.-College career:...

 at a team practice.

NFL career

Hopkins was drafted

NFL Draft

The National Football League Draft is an annual event in which the National Football League teams select eligible college football players and it is their most common source of player recruitment. The basic design of the draft is each team is given a position in the drafting order in reverse order...

 by the Eagles in the second round of the 1983 NFL Draft

1983 NFL Draft

The 1983 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 26–27, 1983...

 and became an immediate starter at free safety, replacing the slower Brenard Wilson

Brenard Wilson

Brenard Kenric Wilson , is a former professional American football safety in the National Football League for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1979 to 1987...

. In 1985, he had a career-high 6 interceptions and was selected to the Pro Bowl

Pro Bowl

In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...

. The safety tandem of Hopkins and strong safety Andre Waters

Andre Waters

Andre Waters was an NFL defensive back who played for the Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals from 1984 to 1995. Waters was regarded as one of the NFL's hardest-hitting defenders, serving as an integral part of one of the league's top defenses...

 lasting from 1986 to 1993, especially with Buddy Ryan

Buddy Ryan

James David "Buddy" Ryan is a former American NFL football coach.-Early years:Ryan was born and reared in a small, agricultural-based community "just outside of Frederick, Oklahoma." Ryan played college football for Oklahoma A&M University where he earned four letters as a guard between 1952 and...

 as head coach from 1986 to 1990, was considered one of the hardest hitting ones in the NFL. In 1993, Rich Miano

Rich Miano

Richard James Miano is a former American football defensive back who played 11 seasons for three teams in the National Football League. Rich was a walk-on for University of Hawaii team in 1981 and became an all WAC defensive back in 1983 and 1984. In 1985 Rich was drafted in the 6th round by the...

 also played free safety, until both he and Hopkins were replaced in 1994 by Giants free-agent Greg Jackson (American football)

Greg Jackson (American football)

Gregory Allen Jackson is a former American football safety in the National Football League. He was drafted by the New York Giants in the third round of the 1989 NFL Draft...

, while Waters was replaced by Mike Zordich.