Wins have been few and far between for wide receiver Michael Wilson during his last eight seasons of playing football for the Stanford Cardinal and the Arizona Cardinals.
Things started in promising fashion when Stanford was 9-3 in 2018, his freshman year. After that, not so much. In the four years from 2019 through 2022 the record was 14-28 and 6-18 in his final two seasons.
In his three seasons in Arizona, the overall record is 15-36. That’s 21-54 over the last five seasons.
In his always thoughtful talks with the Arizona media, Wilson has noted how tough it has been playing for teams that haven’t won very much.
So it was on Thursday after signing a three-year contract extension with the Cardinals that Wilson was asked point-blank, “You also seem
very legitimately grateful and excited to be here despite what the last three seasons have looked like. Why does that outweigh the lack of winning? And why did you want to sign here despite not having that history so far here?”
Wilson will often sprinkle in “good question” during his interviews, but after this one, he went even further, saying, “Yeah, I think that's a phenomenal question.”
To which he then expounded by saying, “For me, I think it comes back to, like I said, I love the organization. I love living in the state of Arizona. I love the people in Arizona.”
Fairly routine, right? Perhaps.
But then, the essence of what makes Michael Wilson tick came when he said next:
“I think when you can be a centerpiece and flip something, that's way more gratifying and rewarding. Going through the dark days, the tough times, when you've lost bad games. There are more Niner fans than Arizona fans. How cool would that be this season when the stadium is packed and we're in a race for the playoffs or we're a playoff team or we're in the playoffs?
“And being a centerpiece of changing, turning the tides; I think that sense of loyalty just screams the type of player and person that I want to be. I want to be a centerpiece to a franchise and be a guy that was a cornerstone piece that helped flip it. What better place to do it than in Arizona? I've got so much, I keep saying it, but I got so much love for Arizona. I genuinely do and not even tied to the franchise. I can see myself living here for the rest of my life.”
Then, the brilliant ending to his comments were: “And so I want to bring good vibes, wins to the fan base, into the organization. I definitely feel a sense of debt and I'm going to work my hardest every single day to show why I deserve that deal.”
That’s one thing we absolutely know he will do.
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This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: WR Michael Wilson wants to be part of turning Cardinals into winners
