Redford Thurston grad Wilson still thriving in NFL with Packers
Eric Wilson has enjoyed a productive season for the Green Bay Packers in 2024. PHOTO COURTESY OF PACKERS.COM
Redford Thurston graduate (Class of 2012) Eric Wilson appears to be getting better with age throughout his perseverance-coated eight-year National Football League career.
Projected to be drafted in the later rounds of the 2017 NFL Draft following three standout seasons at the University of Cincinnati, Wilson went undrafted.
Undeterred, he signed a free agent contract with the Minnesota Vikings, for whom he played for four seasons as a spot-starter and special-teams ace.
A valuable player
Wilson played seven games each for Houston and Philadelphia in 2021, before signing with Green Bay prior to the 2022 season.
This season with the Packers, Wilson has played significant minutes as a multi-purpose linebacker, taking advantage of multiple starting assignments due to injuries to starting linebacker Quay Walker and others.
Altogether this season, the 30-year-old Wilson has accumulated 65 tackles, two sacks, an interception and a forced fumble while playing in every game through Week 16.
Wilson stepped up big time in the Packers’ December 24-22 victory over Houston, registering six solo tackles (four for loss), two sacks and a defended pass.
Seizing opportunities
Green Bay Defensive Coordinator Jeff Hatley had high praise for Wilson, who has performed as the Packers’ play-caller in Walker’s absence.
“[Eric has] performed really well,” Hatley told Packers.com. “He did it in Indy, he did it at Houston, he did it at Jacksonville, and at that position there’s a lot that goes into it.
“One, he’s got to get the call from me, he’s got to give that to everybody, he’s got to make checks up front, he’s got to make checks behind him, he’s got to calm everything down, he’s got to get certain guys lined up. Eric’s a really smart player.
‘He brings a calmness’
“We cross-train all those guys so Eric’s played Sam, Mike and the Will, and when you’ve got to get that green dot halfway through a game, that’s not easy. Some of our calls can be kind of lengthy. So for him to make a tackle, get up, shake off whatever has happened, gather everybody up, tell everybody the call, hear something else I might tell him what I think is coming to tell this guy or that guy, and then line up and make a close call … I mean, there’s a lot that goes into that.
“He’s a veteran guy who brings a calmness and I think he’s had success doing that.”
Wilson was a standout student as well as one of the state’s best two-sport athletes (he won a long jump state championship as an Eagle) while at Thurston.
He is community-minded, too, hosting an annual football camp for metro-Detroit youngsters
Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.
