George Wilson (safety)

George Wilson
	Safety
Personal information
Born:	March 14, 1981 (age 43); Paducah, Kentucky, U.S.
Height:	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight:	210 lb (95 kg)
Career information
High school:	Paducah Tilghman; (Paducah, Kentucky)
College:	Arkansas
Undrafted:	2004
Career history
	Detroit Lions (2004)*; Buffalo Bills (2004–2012); Tennessee Titans (2013–2014);
	* Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
	Second-team All-SEC (2003);
Career NFL statistics
Interceptions:
Interceptions:	14
	Player stats at NFL.com

George Eugene Wilson Jr. (born March 14, 1981) is a former

undrafted free agent in 2004. He played college football at Arkansas. Wilson was a longtime player for the Buffalo Bills and also played for the Tennessee Titans

.

Early years

Wilson played

catches for 1,723 yards and 24 touchdowns. Wilson played in the Kentucky-Tennessee

All-Star Game.

receptions for two of those years. He had at least one reception in 38 of his final 40 games. For his career, he played in 44 games, catching 144 passes for 2,151 yards (14.9 average) and 16 touchdowns. Wilson left Arkansas with the second most receptions in a career there (behind Anthony Eubanks) and he had the third highest total for receiving touchdowns and receiving yardage there (behind Eubanks and Anthony Lucas). He was only the 16th player in school history to gain over 1,000 yards receiving in a career. In 2002, he led the team with 49 catches for 626 yards and a career-high seven touchdowns, starting 11 of 14 games. In 2003, Wilson had four 100-yard receiving games, including a career-high 172 yards on nine receptions and a touchdown in the 71-63 seven overtime win at Kentucky.^[1] Over Wilson's four seasons at Arkansas, he helped the Hogs go to four consecutive bowl games, winning the 2003 Independence Bowl

as a senior on a team that finished 9–4, as well as win a share of the 2002 SEC West Division Championship during his junior season on a team that finished 9–5.

Professional career

Detroit Lions

Wilson was signed by the

undrafted free agent

.

Buffalo Bills

Wilson was signed by the

strong safety, a position at which he had never played in an organized game.^[3]

On October 8, 2007, on Monday Night Football, he intercepted Tony Romo and returned it for a touchdown in his first NFL start. His 2007–2008 season ended with a rib injury on December 10, 2007, in a game against the Miami Dolphins in which he returned a fumble for a touchdown.

In the 2008 season, Wilson played in all 16 games for the first time in his career. He shared a sack of New England Patriots Matt Cassel with Marcus Stroud at New England on November 9, 2008. The play marked his first career participation in a sack. He also recovered the fumble forced by Stroud on the same play, marking his second career fumble recovery. Wilson had a season-high four tackles, including one for a loss of five yards, a sack, and recovered a fumble at KC. He finished third on team with 15 special teams tackles. He was voted special teams captain prior to the season, and has been voted consecutively as team captain for seasons since.

Wilson is the first Buffalo Bills defensive back to post consecutive multi-sack seasons since Lawyer Milloy (2003–04) and only the second Bills defensive back to accomplish this feat.^[1]

On February 11, 2013, Wilson was released from the Bills, along with linebacker Nick Barnett.

Tennessee Titans

On February 22, 2013, Wilson was signed by the Tennessee Titans.^[4] He was later waived by the Titans.

Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame

Wilson was a part of the 2022 Induction to the Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame. This is the 20th anniversary of their Hall of Fame Inductions.^[5]

Career statistics

Season				Tackling				Fumbles				Interceptions
NFL career statistics
Year	Team	GP	GS	Comb	Solo	Asst	Sack	FF	FR	Yds	F-TD	Int	Yds	Avg	Lng	I-TD	PD
2005	BUF	15	03	02	02	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0
2007	BUF	12	09	37	30	07	0.0	0	1	20	1	2	25	12.5	25	1	4
2008	BUF	16	03	25	20	05	1.5	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2009	BUF	16	12	103	70	33	2.0	1	0	0	0	4	23	5.75	27	0	6
2010	BUF	16	02	35	26	09	0.0	1	1	0	0	2	65	32.5	56	0	4
2011	BUF	13	13	106	78	28	0.0	2	1	0	0	4	26	6.5	12	0	6
2012	BUF	16	16	104	79	25	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5
2013	TEN	16	03	40	29	1	0.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	4
2014	TEN	16	10	73	57	16	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	4
Career		124	68	525	391	134	4.5	4	5	20	1	14	139	9.9	56	1	33

Philanthropy

Wilson has been an active philanthropist both within his community and on a national scale to improve education for today's youth. In 2008, Wilson received the

Walter Payton Man of the Year Award twice, once in 2009 and then again in 2011.^[7]

Recently, Wilson has increased his work with

United Way Worldwide Team NFL,^[9]

to recruit one million volunteer readers, tutors and mentors and cut the high school dropout rate in half by 2018.

In his native Paducah, Kentucky, Wilson also hosts an annual Summer SportsFest that benefits his former high school. He has also headed up a Life Skills Camping Retreat in Nashville to teach leadership, self-esteem and responsibility to youth.^[7] Wilson has also worked with Toys for Tots, and helped provide over 5,000 donations and gifts for families in his hometown.

The "George's Jungle" program is another initiative where Wilson personally donates 20 season tickets and meal vouchers to Buffalo Public High School students. For the first time in 2011, George served as a spokesperson for the

Ralph Wilson Stadium in September and November 2010. With the help of George and the teams support, over 500 units of blood were collected, ultimately saving over 1,500 lives.^[1]