When an injury derails what was set to be a promising college football campaign, some players would become withdrawn, piteous, or depressed. It’s a natural reaction to any setback in life. Yet, for Rice Owls safety Plae Wyatt, an injury sustained early in the 2024 season provided a realization and opened up an opportunity to impact his community beyond the football field.
Rice Owls DB Plae Wyatt Opens Up On Allstate Good Works Team Nomination
“A lot of things set me back, especially with the injuries,” Wyatt tells PFSN during an exclusive interview to discuss the Rice safety’s Allstate Good Works Team nomination. “It’s been one of them things where I’m like, ‘Okay, I realize it’s not all about me.’ You know what I’m saying? That’s why I’m big now, after the injury, giving back in any type of way, any type of form.”
Wyatt is away from the field as his football is on the field. High energy. Non-stop. Relentless. Passionate. His words flow effortlessly, like his pursuit of a ball carrier or quarterback.
2024 was meant to be his season.
The previous season he was a 13-game starter for the first time in his career. He led the Owls with a career-high 81 tackles, impacting the game on the biggest stage against the Texas Longhorns, and posting double-digit tackles against the best the American Conference had to throw at him, with a standout showing against the Tulane Green Wave.
2024 was meant to be his season. But on August 31, against the Sam Houston Bearkats in the campaign opener, disaster struck.
“As soon as the play happened, I knew it was something wrong. I didn’t know exactly what it was, but I was like, ‘man, I ain’t never felt nothing like that in my knee before.’ I thought we was going to be nice that year, too. Like, I’m thinking eight to 10 wins. Things didn’t go as planned, though, and that just shows you, like, that’s life sometimes, things ain’t going how you think.”
Despite describing the injury setback as “tough,” Wyatt didn’t wallow. His appreciation that things don’t always go as planned galvanised his resolve to help people whose lives haven’t gone exactly as they might have anticipated or planned.
The AFCA Allstate Good Works Team recognizes those whose efforts to give back to causes greater than themselves, to work equally as hard in their community or classroom as they do in the weight room, and to contribute where the lights of the ESPN or CBS cameras don’t shine outweigh anything that they accomplish on a fall Saturday in front of adoring fans.
Wyatt earned a nomination for the 2025 team on the back of the work he was able to do while recuperating. When he could have locked himself away in silent reflection, a private mourning of a lost opportunity to make a national name for himself as the leader of the Rice defense in 2024, he got up, got out, and into the Houston community to make a greater impact.
Rice University itself is a visible presence in fighting food insecurity in the Houston area with the Kids Meal Donation Center, and its rising star safety became an extension of those efforts, taking it upon himself to take meals into the community.
“Growing up, everybody has it different,” Wyatt explains the motivation behind his endeavors. “You have to play the hands you’re dealt. Not everybody understands that people are less fortunate than us. Every time we’re having a bad day, another person is having an even worse day than you think you had.”
“To be able to just go out there and be like ‘you want some food’ and, you know, they get up hungry and they’re like ‘man, I’ve been waiting for a meal.’ It’s good to just be able to be a blessing on their life,” Wyatt continues. “Every time we have some extra meals, I’ll take them and make something happen with them.”
Family Values Drive Community Service Commitment
“Everything that we’ve been doing, it’s just been in our DNA for years.”
Although his injury allowed Wyatt time to focus on those less fortunate than himself while at Rice, this wasn’t just a lightbulb moment for the Owls’ safety; he didn’t just wake up one morning, flick on a switch, and become a community leader.
There is more to his story than handing out some meals on the streets of Houston to distract him from a lost 2024 season.
McKinney, TX, is considered one of the more affluent areas in Dallas. According to Data USA, in 2023, the average household income was over $120,000 (a 6.17% one-year growth), with over half the population in employment (a 4.71% one-year growth) and a median property value of $439,500 (a 9.77% one-year growth). You could say everything is booming there.
Yet, McKinney also has a 6.07% poverty rate. Just 15 years ago, 8.5% of the population of the city lived below the poverty line, with 4.9% of families not having the money for the basic necessities of life. Â 9.2% of children under the age of 18 fell into that bracket. Underprivileged. Underfed. Often unhoused.
It’s also the place the Wyatt family calls home. Plae was born in Lubbock, TX, but any amateur social media sleuth can deduce the impact that his time spent growing up in McKinney has had on the Rice linebacker. Furthermore, the example set by Ian Wyatt and Jennifer Hancock (pops and mom) on his future calling is plain to see (hear) as he opens up about their influence.
“He’s been giving back for years,” Wyatt explains. “Just been doing whatever it takes for underprivileged kids, at risk kids, he’s doing it. We had kids stay at the house, kids he tutored. I saw it with kids my age, and it just always put something in me to be like ‘man, I want to give back.'”
“We used to do things for the [McKinney] Yellow Jackets, go through the city and put on little events,” Wyatt continues. “Growing up through that type of father makes you realize how much it means. It means more to give back. It’s not all about what we can do on the field, what we can do for ourselves, but just be a light to someone else’s life. Big inspiration.”
The elder Wyatt founded the McKinney Yellow Jackets in 2002. The youth sports organization aims to build discipline, resilience, and growth through sports. It provides a crossroads where football and community service collide, allowing Rice safety Wyatt to combine his football skills with charitable initiatives.
In 2024, the Plae Wyatt Youth Football Camp was born.
I sat down with Rice Owls playmaker Plae Wyatt to discuss his @WeAreAFCA Allstate Good Works Team nomination, fuelled by his work at the Plae Wyatt Youth Football Camp in McKinney 🙌 pic.twitter.com/vm5VIR9JVf
— Oliver Hodgkinson (@hodgkinsonsport) July 17, 2025
“We’ve just been trying to motivate the youth, and it was a bigger turnout,” he says of the 2025 event. “We had some more sponsorships, more donors come in to help out with the kids, help out with some snacks and drinks, and things they need.”
“Being able to just be in McKinney and be at the field and come to the park on a great day. Bring all the kids out, man. The energy is always so high. Anybody in McKinney can come out. It’s a free camp. You can get t-shirts. It’s a great day out there. We really just do it for the city, but anyone can come.”
Wyatt was a star at McKinney Boyd High School. An All-District 9-6A honoree after tallying 110 tackles with 10 pass breakups and two interceptions as a senior, he earned multiple honors throughout his time with the program and made 42 starts at the varsity level. When the time came to move to the college level, he thought he’d leave the city — and the state — far behind.
While he ultimately landed at Rice, just 275 miles and four hours down the I-45 S, there’s a feeling that Wyatt could have gone as far north as Wisconsin, as far east as Boston, or as far west as Oregon, and he would never have truly left McKinney. The city is ingrained within his very fabric, the experiences and community woven through him like the blood coursing through his veins.
“I think everybody there just supports each other,” Wyatt explains the love of his hometown that fuels his community endeavors. “Everybody shows love in the city and everybody loves to give back and help one another. I tell people all the time that North Dallas, that whole area, it’s a great place to live…good atmosphere, good overall energy and environment.”
A Wyatt Family First
“Stick through it. Fight through it. Keep going.”
Fatherly advice has followed Wyatt wherever he goes. From the football fields and streets of McKinney to Houston, where “pops'” advice on community initiatives and classroom work ethic have positioned the Rice safety to be the first from the family with the potential to graduate university with a master’s degree.
While he has another year to play with the Owls, and where that leads in terms of professional opportunities remains to be seen, Wyatt knows that the qualifications he takes away from Rice serve as as big a purpose in the rest of his story as anything that happens between the white lines and hash marks this fall.
Unsurprisingly for a man with his relentless energy, enthusiasm, and drive, there’s a long-term plan.
“Man, I think about those things all the time,” Wyatt responds to a question on his life beyond football. “I know for sure that I want to be an entrepreneur, and be able to create things for other people and put a smile on people’s faces.”
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While he juggles his masters, preparing for the 2025 football season with Rice, and existing work in the community, Wyatt is also gaining valuable experiences during an internship with a fellow Owls alum. Former NFL player Emmanuel Ellerbee has taken the young safety under his wing.
“He is from the Houston area, and is big in the Houston community,” Wyatt tells me. “I assisted with his fourth annual camp, and have been learning a lot about nonprofit work and how to better give back through things like Lunch and Learns.”
Wyatt Discusses Development and Drive
“Brick by brick. You can’t just go jump in and get straight to it.”
Special teams is the most selfless role on the football field. If you’re looking for praise, adulation, a positive spotlight that provides a reflective glow on your abilities, special teams isn’t for you. It’s tough. It’s hard. It’s gritty. It takes dedication, commitment, and the ability to have your flaws exposed because when it goes wrong, that’s what you’ll hear your name called.
Coming out of McKinney Boyd as a talented, productive defensive back who calls Jamaal Adams someone he wanted “to model my game on,” it would have been easy for Wyatt to presume a starting role would beckon as a true freshman at Rice. Like everything else in his journey, the Owls’ safety practiced selflessness to ensure the greatest payback for his efforts.
“So the person who recruited me out of high school was our defensive coordinator at the time, Coach Brian Smith. He really played an instrumental role and developed me into the player I am today. You know, even from freshman year, he tell me, ‘always get in that playbook, study your film, watch your tape,’ and he quizzed me all the time.”
“So, it really started pushing me, and he was like, ‘Hey, man, like you want to go on the field, go play special teams. Go talk to the special team coach.”
“So, you know, I was like, man, what can I do? Everybody is trying to come in and just start, go play on offense, defense, you know. I came in, talked to the coach, Coach Mono [Chris Monfiletto]. He told me just keep grinding, keep working, and staying after practice, you know what I’m saying, before practice, and ended up starting on all four phases of the special teams.”
“After that year, I was one of the special team leaders on the team, and then came back in 2022, got hurt, and had to redshirt. 2023, you know what I’m saying. I had a great year, finished strong, and then 2024 got hurt again. But all that time it just made me into that player, like now I feel like I’m ready to eat.”
According to the Rice safety, he isn’t the only one. Despite expecting to be part of an eight-win team last fall, Wyatt has never seen a winning campaign during his time in Houston. Last season’s 2-6 start to the year led to a change, with seven-year head coach Mike Bloomgren giving way to Scott Abell in 2025. Everybody is hungry for that overhaul to result in success.
“It’s good to see a shift, a change, you know what I’m saying?” Wyatt explains. “Change is always good. Just seeing a new breath through there, a new light through there. It’s been good. All the guys know that it’s a new year. They know everything’s new around here. We calling it the new Rice, and it’s time to eat. Everybody’s excited. It feels like we’ve nothing to lose.”
It might be a new era for Rice football, but one thing remains the same. Wyatt isn’t going to change. He doesn’t need to. He knows what it takes to impact this program on the field, and to make a difference off it. He carries that with him from every day gone before, in the present, and for every one yet to come.
“If every day you can just touch someone else and be a light in their life, and inspire somebody, then you won the day.”
