“Chad I think you should play cornerback.” Those words from a childhood friend of mine in 1986 brought fire to my belly. “Man I’m a running back,” I fired back. I was going to be the next Eric Dickerson. I had my neck roll, my upright running style and if they wouldn’t have given me a headache, I would have worn the Rec Specs goggles too.
I couldn’t really name any cornerbacks back them. I knew Leroy Irvin because he played for my favorite team, the Los Angeles Rams. Of course everyone knew Lester Hayes because he was one part good, one part half crazy. Other than that, there was no one inspiring me to stand real close to the sidelines and chase a receiver around the field for an entire game. Runningbacks got the ball, were able to make sweet moves and they scored touchdowns. They get their face on TV. Cornerbacks, in 1986, weren’t doing that.
1986 turned to 1987 and I was now 15 years old. I was not the biggest guy on the football field but I could run with almost anyone. Eric Dickerson was 6’3″ 220 lbs. and it wasn’t looking like I was going to get there. Plus running backs would get hit quite a bit. I didn’t want to play corner but what about wide receiver? That was the thought process until I watched this guy wearing #2 for the Florida St. Seminoles. This guy was playing corner but was not playing it like everyone else. I watched him swoop up on Andre Rison of the Michigan St. Spartans, jump up over him, catch the ball, pop up and point to the sidelines telling Rison to get off the field. I also watched him intercept Brett Favre from Southern Mississippi and high step like Walter Payton. Only thing was, Walter Payton never high stepped this long. Who was this dude?
The Bobby Bowden show would come on locally in the Miami / Ft. Lauderdale area in the 80’s and every week, Bobby was talking about this daggum Deion Sanders. Every week he would do something spectacular. He would run back a punt with pizazz. Chase down a speedy back with confidence. Make a ridiculous interception or just put a top ranked receiver on the back of a milk carton. Hey, maybe playing cornerback isn’t that bad I began to think.
By 1988, I became married to the idea of playing cornerback. Besides, most coaches that saw me thought that I would be good at it. By now, I had made my way out to California to finish my high school years. I did bring that Florida / Prime Time swag with me and while I was still playing running back, I was also playing corner too. Running back was fun but I wanted to be Prime Time. So out came the head band around the neck. I couldn’t high step because it was a penalty but I would sneak one in every now and then. In a game against our cross town rivals, I broke into the open field on a kickoff return and raised the ball up over my head for the last 35 yards on my way to the end zone. It took every ounce of will power not to high step. One of the assistant coaches met me on my way back to the sidelines. “Don’t you ever hold the ball up over your head like that again,” he screamed while circulating through different shades of red. Being so full of Prime Time confidence, my only thought was “he said the word ‘again” so he knows I’m going to be scoring a lot”. It was the Prime Time talking. From that point on every time I scored, I touched the ball down in the back of the end zone just to give me some unique style like Neon Deon.
I took my act to college when I signed with Long Beach St. I arrived on campus ready to play a bunch as a freshman because that’s what Deion did. It made me work hard, play hard and guess what? I was playing a bunch as a freshman and started a number of games. By my second year, Long Beach St. was not big enough for the star I thought I was. So I wanted to transfer. I wanted to be on T.V., like Prime. I wanted to be seen. So what did I do? I called Florida St. University and told them I wanted to transfer. I sent my highlight tape and everything. I informed Hall of Famer Willie Brown who was the head coach at the time and after trying to talk me out of it, he asked me where I wanted to go. I told him Florida St. The next day at practice, Brown ordered up seven consecutive go routes by wide receivers against me. They caught the first one and the whole team starting doing the Tomahawk chop mocking me. The next six passes were all incomplete and one was picked off. I proved my point and I was thrilled.
As fate would have it, I ended up going to the University of Miami when Long Beach St. dropped football and even though I was playing for Prime Time’s arch nemesis, I was thrilled to be a Cane. That still did not stop me from playing with Prime’s pizazz and working hard to reach his level. I had the opportunity to watch him practice on our University of Miami practice field when the 49ers were preparing for their Super Bowl vs. the San Diego Chargers in 1995. I was stunned by his work ethic. Nobody worked harder than Jerry Rice but the second hardest working guy I saw on that practice field was none other than Prime Time. I thought it was all about his 4.21 forty but that day I learned that “success is not an accident” and “talent has it’s limits, work ethic will make you the best.”
All along the way, wanting to be like prime time made me work hard on my skills at the cornerback position. I can imagine that this is the case for 1,000’s of youngsters that have come behind this legendary figure in the game. It’s only fitting that he be inducted into the Hall of Fame today as a first balloter. He truly changed the game and continues to have an impact even after he has retired.
Chad Wilson is a college football recruiting expert and creator of the GridironStudsApp which allows high school football players to gain exposure to college football coaches and fans. Wilson is a former college football player for the University of Miami (92-94) and Long Beach St. (’90-’91) and played briefly for the Seattle Seahawks (’95). He is also a former youth and high school football coach for over 15 years most recently for 5-A State of Florida Champs American Heritage. He runs All Eyes DB Camp a defensive back training company located in South Florida IG: @alleyesdbcamp. Wilson’s oldest son Quincy plays in the NFL for the New York Giants and his younger son plays cornerback for the Arizona Cardinals.
