Harmon Wages: From the Atlanta Falcons to Federal Prison

Harmon Wages is a former Atlanta Falcons running back who became one of Atlanta’s best-known television sportscasters in the 1970s, lost that career to a federal cocaine conviction in the mid-1980s, rebuilt a broadcasting life in his hometown of Jacksonville, and published an autobiography in 2023 that recounted the whole arc along with a late-in-life reunion with a son he never knew he had.¹

Playing Career With the Falcons

Wages grew up in Jacksonville, Florida, raised by adoptive parents Leon and Nell Wages. He played quarterback at Lee High School and then at the University of Florida, where he backed up Steve Spurrier.²

He spent his entire NFL career with the Atlanta Falcons, playing 60 games across six seasons from 1968 through 1973.³ A versatile back, he carried 332 times for 1,321 yards and five touchdowns, with a long run of 66 yards, and caught 85 passes for 765 yards and five more scores. One of those catches, an 88-yard reception, stood as a franchise record.⁴ His best rushing year was 1970, when he gained 422 yards and scored twice on the ground. Injuries ended his playing days.

Atlanta Sportscasting Years

Wages moved from the field to the press box and built a prominent second career in Atlanta television.⁵ He held sports jobs at WAGA-TV and WXIA-TV and worked three years as a color analyst on Falcons radio broadcasts. At the height of his popularity, readers of the Atlanta Constitution voted him the city’s top sportscaster.⁴

The Federal Cocaine Case

Federal prosecutors charged Wages in the mid-1980s with 17 felony and misdemeanor counts, including 10 counts of cocaine possession and four counts of conspiring to distribute cocaine. The case went to trial in November 1985, when he was 38. Prosecutors alleged he had distributed cocaine at parties and arranged drug buys by telephone, and said he had offered to name other NFL cocaine users in exchange for avoiding prosecution. Assistant U.S. Attorney Allen Moye called that offer “the act of a scared and desperate man.”⁶

His defense attorney, Ed Garland, acknowledged that Wages had used cocaine but argued he was not a distributor and had been overcharged. Garland noted that Wages had cooperated with investigators and helped identify his supplier, Steven Moore, who ran an interstate cocaine ring and had pleaded guilty to trafficking.⁶

The jury convicted Wages on four misdemeanor counts of cocaine possession, a sharp reduction from the original indictment.⁴ He received three months in a federal minimum-security prison camp and five years of probation, with 2,106 hours of community service as a condition, calculated at eight hours a week over the five years. He was released in April 1986, nine days early for good behavior.⁷

Back in Jacksonville

Within months of his release, Wages had a broadcasting job again. In August 1986, WTLV in Jacksonville hired him as sports director, with a start date of September 15. The move brought him home to the city where he had grown up.⁴ He later served as an advisor to the Jacksonville Police Athletic League.⁸

The 2023 Autobiography and a Son He Never Knew

In 2023, Wages published his autobiography, The Butcher’s Boy, a title drawn from his adoptive parents’ trade. The book covers his adoption, his football and broadcasting careers, his federal prison time, and revelations about his biological family.¹ Writing about growing up without any knowledge of his birth parents, he put it this way: “I didn’t even know my mother, I didn’t even know my father, I didn’t even know my birth certificate being adopted. I was $500.17.”⁸

The book also tells the story of a son Wages did not know he had. Travis learned of his true parentage from his mother on her deathbed and reached out when he was 34. The two built a relationship, and Wages met Travis’s three sons, Eli, Tyler, and Chase. “They don’t put that on the shelf, instant coffee, instant granddaddy,” Wages said. “We get along good. We get along fine.” A portion of the book’s proceeds goes to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.¹

Where He Is Now

Wages is fully retired and lives in South Carolina. He has drawn on his experiences, including the federal prison term, when speaking to youth groups, offering his own story as a cautionary one.¹

1
News4Jax. From UF to the NFL to Federal Prison: Jacksonville Football Legend Tells His Incredible Story in Autobiography
2
Times Enterprise. Charmin Harmon Wages: The Head-Turning Football Player
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NFL.com. Harmon Wages Career Stats
4
UPI Archives. Former Atlanta Falcons Running Back Harmon Wages Was Named
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Digital Library of Georgia. Harmon Wages Sportscaster Record
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Orlando Sentinel. Prosecutor Says Wages Offered to Name NFL Drug Users
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UPI Archives. Former Atlanta Falcons Running Back Harmon Wages Convicted Of
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Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Whatever Happened to Harmon Wages