James Wilson nearly quit football before he had a chance to play at his best.
He wasn’t giving up because things got tough or because he wasn’t getting enough playing time.
He was going to stop playing the sport that once made him one of the most sought-after high school players in the country because he was forced to undergo a fourth surgery on his left knee.
Wilson had just sat out the last 10 games of the 2010 season recovering from surgery on the same knee. Three years earlier, he took a medical redshirt as the knee underwent two operations during the first three months of his freshman year at UF.
After redshirting, Wilson was discouraged and considered transferring, but he decided against it after a talk with his high school coach, Craig Howard.
“I got in the car and I drove to Gainesville and I found him,” said Howard. “[I] get in the restaurant and sat down with him and said, ‘Son, you’re in the right school and the right place for your education and the right place for your football.’”
The conversation helped convince Wilson to stay at Florida, and he eventually came to agree with Howard. But before reaching that point, the sixth-year senior guard worked through two more surgeries. He also dealt with fractures in both of his feet — at the same time.
“I texted him the other day and I said, ‘Remember when I drove there and told you to stay?’” Howard said. “He said, ‘Coach, I’m so glad you did. I’m so proud and excited to be a Gator, and it’s finally paying off for me.’”
ννν
When Wilson showed up to football practice at Ponte Vedra Nease High as a freshman in 2003, he didn’t look the part of an offensive lineman. He was close to his current height of 6 feet, 4 inches, but he weighed less than 200 pounds.
“He was a big-boned kid,” said Danny Cowgill, Wilson’s strength coach at Nease. “He had like a size-14 shoe, I believe. You can tell Division I players when they walk in as freshmen, and you could tell when he walked in as a freshman that he was going to be a Division I player.”
Wilson bought into the Nease strength and conditioning program from the start, hitting the weight room with vigor. However, Howard, who now coaches at Southern Oregon, worried that the process of adding muscle contributed to injuries that nagged Wilson throughout high school.
As a freshman, he weighed 180 pounds. As a senior, he weighed more than 300 pounds.
“I always said, ‘James, you’re getting too big,” his mom, Carla Wilson, said. “But he was always in the weight room, always going to the YMCA. And I do think that some of that contributed to his knee injuries.”
Despite the injury struggles, James flourished. As a junior, he anchored an offensive line that blocked for Tim Tebow as Nease won a state championship.
“He was so big, so strong, so physical,” Howard said. “And he could run. That was what separated him. He was a guy that was 300 pounds and could run like a 190-pounder.”
During his senior season, in 2007, James was the top-rated guard and the 12th-best player in the country according to Rivals.com, which ranked Tebow 22nd overall in the class of 2006.
“As long as he stayed healthy,” Cowgill said, “he was going to have great success.”
In the spring of his senior year, James committed to go join his former quarterback at Florida. He had left a mark at Nease and a lasting impression on Howard.
“I’ve coached for 38 years,” Howard said. “I’ve had quite a few football players that have gone on to Division I football. … James Wilson, what he was as a player for me, was as dominant at his position as Tim Tebow was at his.”
ννν
It wasn’t all smiles for James during his first season in Gainesville.
While he kept a good attitude through his surgeries, he still had to sit and watch. He didn’t feel like part of the team.
“There was some frustration because he really wanted to be out there,” Carla said.
James thought about transferring as his rehab dragged into spring practice, but he once again found happiness when he returned to the field.
“Everyone welcomed me back with open arms,” Wilson said during spring practice in 2008.
After playing in 10 regular season games during the Gators’ 2008 championship season, James suffered his most debilitating injury. He had been playing with sore feet, but the injuries worsened in the Southeastern Conference Championship against Alabama. He was diagnosed with fractures in both feet following the game, confining him to a wheelchair for several weeks.
At one point, he was stuck on the third floor of his dorm in the Springs Complex for five days because the elevator broke.
Day-to-day living became a challenge. Simple tasks such as navigating his dorm room turned into big ordeals.
“He couldn’t get around,” Carla said. “He’s a big kid, and there’s not a whole lot of room to move around. … I’m like, ‘James, you keep running into the walls.’”
Still, James worked through it. Carla visited him every weekend, and the two managed to laugh and talk and keep the injuries out of their minds even though he couldn’t walk. He successfully rehabilitated his feet and went on to play in 14 games and make four starts in 2009.
His streak of good health ended a year later. James was sidelined for the final 10 games of the 2010 season after re-injuring his left meniscus. Guard David Young, who played for the Gators from 2008-11, also missed most of the season after suffering a broken kneecap.
“We were best friends,” Young said. “We were rehab buddies.”
Having already experienced being out for a significant period of time, James helped Young get through the rehab process without dwelling too much on what he was missing.
They talked about their moms, their families and whatever else was going on in their lives, but they didn’t discuss injuries.
“He helped me keep my mind off football,” Young said
The guards motivated each other in rehab. Young said whenever one of them wanted to take a day off, the other made him get out of bed.
James suffered another setback in the spring, when he had to undergo his fourth knee procedure. He said he came closer than ever to quitting football in the aftermath of the surgery but decided with friends and family to keep playing.
The surgery set James back, and he was not at what coach Will Muschamp referred to as a “playable” weight at the start of fall camp in 2011. He began the season on the scout team but ended up appearing in 12 games. He made his first start of the season in Florida’s win against Ohio State in the Gator Bowl. While James’ weight was not quite where Muschamp wanted it, the coaching staff didn’t write him off.
“It’s always been a weight issue with James,” Muschamp said. “If he keeps his weight down, he’s able to play. He’s able to sustain. He’s always been a very talented guy, and given the opportunity, which he did at the end of last season when he got his weight under control, he’s been a productive player for us.”
Carla thought the limited playing time had unintended benefits for her son.
“In my mind and in my heart,” she said, “I think it was a blessing in disguise to give his knee some rest.”
James and Carla discussed applying for a sixth year of eligibility early in the 2011 season, but James was against it. Thinking she’d never see her son play again, Carla was upset. Then she got some surprising news prior to what she thought would be his final home game: senior night against Florida State. After improving physically throughout the course of the season, James changed his mind.
“[James] was like, ‘I’ve applied for a sixth year, and we’ll see what they say, and next year, hopefully I’ll be able to prove myself,’” Carla said.
ννν
During Florida’s win against Ohio State in the Gator Bowl on Jan. 2, the last game of what James thought would be his last season, he found out his request for a sixth year of eligibility had been granted.
“I was so happy for him because of how much he wanted it,” Young said. “It was like him getting a clean slate.”
Things began to fall into place for Wilson, who stayed healthy for an entire spring practice for the first time.
“It’s totally night and day,” James said.
He came into the 2012 season 11 pounds lighter at 323 pounds, a weight that Howard said makes him more effective than he has ever been.
“He’s been persistent,” Howard said. “He hasn’t given up. A lot of guys would quit, or leave or fade into the fog.”
Wide receiver Frankie Hammond Jr. sees the results of James’ relentless drive every day at the locker across from his. Hammond, who is in his fifth year at Florida, has seen most of James’ journey and believes it is a good example for inexperienced players who might encounter similar adversity.
“It’s definitely a positive thing for younger guys who are here that are going through injuries or going through tough times,” Hammond said.
On a second-and-15 play during the Gators’ second drive of the third quarter against South Carolina on Oct. 20, offensive coordinator Brent Pease called a screen pass to tight end Jordan Reed. James ran nearly 20 yards downfield and threw a block on South Carolina linebacker Shaq Wilson that sprung Reed for a 39-yard gain. It was the kind of play his mom hadn’t seen him make in years.
“I was like, ‘Damn, James, I’ve never seen you move that fast,’” Carla said.
The win against the Gamecocks was the sixth of James’ seven starts this season. He has missed only one game, UF’s Oct. 13 win against Vanderbilt due to an orbital fracture suffered in practice.
Those who are closest to him savor every moment they can watch him play. After six years, they are finally witnessing the Army All-American guard realize his potential.
“I’m seeing the big James Wilson that I’ve always loved,” Young said.
Contact Josh Jurnovoy @jjurnovoy@alligator.org.
Senior guard James Wilson (66) blocked for Tim Tebow (15) for three seasons at Ponte Vedra Nease High before both moved on to Florida. Although Tebow would win a Heisman Trophy, Wilson was the more heralded recruit, ranking as the nation’s 12th-best player in the class of 2007, according to Rivals.com. Tebow ranked 22nd in the class of 2006.
UF offensive guard James Wilson runs downfield to block during the Gators' 56-6 win against Troy in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Sept. 12, 2009.
