Phil Klemmer and John Enbom, the writers of the episode, found the episode difficult to write because they were not very familiar with American football. However, they decided to resolve the problem by making the episode as little about football as possible. "Wichita Linebacker" also features a guest appearance by Armie Hammer, as well as the first appearances by Begley, Jr. as Cyrus O'Dell and Ryan Devlin as Mercer Hayes. The episode received mixed to negative reviews, with criticism primarily focusing on the case of the week.