Background
Wilkin was born in Bingham Canyon, Utah and attended Springville High School in Springville, Utah, where he played high school football, basketball, and track and field
Wilkin was born in Bingham Canyon, Utah and attended Springville High School in Springville, Utah, where he played high school football, basketball, and track and field
He attended Saint Mary"s College of California. Wilkin attended and played college football at Saint Mary"s College of California in Moraga, California, graduating in 1938.
Wilkin also played in the All-America Football Conference () for the Chicago Rockets. He was inducted into the Saint Mary"s College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1973. After college, Wilkin briefly worked in a silver mine in Mexico.
Wilkin signed with the Washington Redskins of the National Football League in 1938, and played for the Redskins from 1938 to 1943.
During that span, he played in three Championship games, winning the 1942 Championship Game. Wilkin signed up for the United States Marine Corps in 1946, during World World War World War II While in service, he was stationed at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro and played for their football team
After his service with the Marines ended, Wilkin signed with the Chicago Rockets of the All-America Football Conference in 1946. After retiring from football, Wilkin became a math and social studies high school teacher for special needs children in Monterey County, California.
While teaching, he was also an offensive line coach for Monterey High School.
He later moved to Deer Lodge, Montana. Wilkin was married and had twin sons. Both sons, John Sharpe Wilkin and Christopher Wilkin, died in an automobile accident in 1965.
In 1970, he had a brain tumor successfully removed.
However, two years later, he developed stomach cancer and died on May 16, 1973 in Palo Alto, California.