Wade Wilson (American football)

Charles Wade Wilson (February 1, 1959 – February 1, 2019) was an American professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL).

He graduated from Commerce High School in 1977.

Wilson accepted a football scholarship offer from East Texas State University (now Texas A&M University–Commerce).

As a freshman in 1977, he backed up Lions All-American quarterback Terry Skinner.

He also was the team's punter, averaging 38.5 yards.

As a sophomore in 1978, he was named the starting quarterback.

As a junior in 1979, he received first-team All-Lone Star Conference honors.

He played college football for East Texas State Lions (now Texas A&M–Commerce), where he was an NAIA All-American quarterback and led the Lions to the NAIA national semifinals during the 1980 season.

Wilson was born in Greenville, Texas, and lived in Wolfe City, Texas and Quitman, Texas before moving to Commerce, Texas where he grew up.

The son of a football coach, Wilson became a standout quarterback and punter at Commerce High School, after initially quitting the team during his sophomore season.

As a senior, he led the Tigers to a 10-win season and a district championship, while running a wishbone offense and receiving All-district honors.

As a senior in 1980, he completed 116-of-227 passes for 1,978 yards and 19 touchdowns, while the Lions finished tied for first with Angelo State University among NAIA schools in the Lone Star Conference.

The Lions were selected for the NAIA national playoffs as the 8th-ranked team in the country.

Wilson and the Lions upset a top-ranked Central Arkansas University Bears team in the national quarter finals, but bowed out to Elon College, the eventual national champion, in the semifinal round.

The Lions finished 6th in the country, with Wilson earning the first-team All-Lone Stone Conference and first-team NAIA All-American recognition.

He played for the Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints, Dallas Cowboys, and the Oakland Raiders in a seventeen-year NFL career from 1981 to 1998.

Wilson graduated in 1981 with a degree in Business Management.

He finished his college career with 4,616 passing yards, 32 touchdowns and an 18–14–1 record.

Wilson was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the eighth round (210th overall) of the 1981 NFL Draft.

As a rookie, he appeared in three games while being on the active roster for all 16 contests.

Wilson saw his first action against the Oakland Raiders, replacing an injured Steve Dils.

In 1982, Wilson did not appear in any game during the strike-shortened season.

In 1983, he only played in the season finale against the Cincinnati Bengals, contributing to the 20–14 victory in his first career start.

In 1984, Wilson started five out of eight contests.

In 1985, he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

He appeared in 4 games, with his only start coming in place of an injured Tommy Kramer against the Philadelphia Eagles, in which he led the team to one of the greatest comebacks in franchise history.

The Eagles held a 23–0 advantage with 8:23 minutes to play.

In 1986, he appeared in 9 games, including 3 starts in place of an injured Kramer.

He was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week in the season finale 33–17 win against the New Orleans Saints, after replacing an injured Kramer and having the best game of his career at the time, throwing for 361 yards and 3 touchdowns.

He was mostly the backup quarterback until 1987, when Kramer started 5 games to Wilson's 7 contests, including the playoffs.

He was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week after the 21–16 win against the Los Angeles Rams, in which he threw a 41-yard game winning touchdown to wide receiver Hassan Jones with less than a minute to play.

He threw for 3 touchdowns in the season opener against the Detroit Lions and in the Week 12 game against the Chicago Bears.

He led the Vikings in rushing in the Week 14 game against the Detroit Lions with 8 carries for 55 yards and in the season finale against the Washington Redskins with 10 carries for 75 yards.

He guided the team to the NFC Championship Game after upsetting the top-seeded 13–2 San Francisco 49ers in the divisional round of the playoffs, finally succumbing 17–10 to the eventual Super Bowl XXII champion Washington Redskins.

In 1988, Wilson started 10 games to Kramer's 6 contests, while missing 2 games with a separated shoulder.

He was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week after the 49–20 win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, completing 22-of-30 passes for 335 yards, and 3 touchdowns.

He was named NFC Offensive Player of the Month for November, when he completed 73-of-112 passes (65.1%) for 1,009 yards, 5 touchdowns and 2 interceptions, while leading the Vikings to a 4–0 record.

His best game came in a 44–17 win against the Detroit Lions in Week 10, completing 28-of-35 passes (80%) for a career-high 391 yards, 2 touchdowns and one interception, including a stretch in which he had 14 straight completions.

He was quarterbacks coach for the Dallas Cowboys from 2000 to 2002 and from 2007 to 2017 and the Chicago Bears from 2004 to 2006.

Wilson directed 3 scoring drives, after being benched at halftime in favor of rookie 3rd-string quarterback Steve Bono, but after Bono only completed one pass out of ten, Wilson was put back in the game with less than 12 minutes remaining, throwing 3 touchdown passes to achieve a 28–23 victory.