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Buckeyes' Lawrence Wilson puts on a show with his pick (not that he remembers it)
By Mary Schmitt Boyer, The Plain Dealer
September 26, 2009
Terry Gilliam/Associated Press
Lawrence Wilson (97) is corraled by teammate Kurt Coleman after Wilson's third-quarter interception against Illinois on Saturday afternoon in Columbus.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State defensive end Lawrence Wilson will be anxious to see the highlights of his interception in the Buckeyes' 30-0 pasting of Illinois on Saturday afternoon in Ohio Stadium, because he has no earthly idea exactly what he did.
His boisterous celebration after his pick in the third quarter earned some razzing from teammates and even coach Jim Tressel.
"He's got to be exhausted after his celebration," Tressel said. "He'll go to bed right now and sleep for two days."
Wilson jumped and spun and danced his way to the sideline, screaming all the way. He was surprised to find the ball in his hand when he got there. He was also surprised to find himself out of breath.
"I was definitely tired afterwards," he said, laughing. "When I sat on the bench, I thought to myself, 'What did I just do?' My teammates were giving me a hard time the whole rest of the game. ... I didn't even know what was going on until I sat down and my teammates said, 'Oh, man. You were going crazy.' The first thing I thought was, 'Coach Heacock is going to kill me.'"
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http://www.cleveland.com/osu/index.s...lson_puts.html
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Bob Hunter commentary: Wilson deserves memorable moment
Saturday, September 26, 2009
By Bob Hunter
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Illinois was on the move. Trailing 20-0 in the third quarter, the Illini had driven 42 yards to the Ohio State 34 when quarterback Juice Williams rolled right and threw a pass that was tipped by hard-luck defensive end Lawrence Wilson.
The ball seemed to hang in the air, much like the dark clouds that have stalked Wilson. The fifth-year senior didn't know it yet, but the ghosts of two frustrating years of rehabilitation were about to be exorcised.
"When I tipped it, I heard the crowd yelling," Wilson said. "And I ended looking up and I saw the ball and I'm like 'Wow, an interception.'"
"Wow" is right. Wilson made it only 4 yards before he was hit and reached the sideline. He was flailing his arms so much that some of his teammates were afraid to congratulate him.
"I wanted to give him a hug," defensive lineman Doug Worthington said. "But he was throwing all them 'bows, and I had to watch that I don't get injured. When he got off there, he had to hit the asthma pump a couple of times, he was so excited and got so riled up."
There's no way any of us can understand all the energy that went into Wilson's celebration. There's no way for him to sufficiently describe how horrible it felt to suffer a broken leg in the first game of the 2007 season, or how unfair it seemed to have his 2008 season end prematurely because of a knee injury in the seventh game. There's no way to summarize two years of rehabilitation, and Wilson didn't even try.
But know this: The daily grind has to be brutal. All work and no play. Sweat and pain, today, tomorrow and the next day, and the next and the next. Sweat and pain, all for a flimsy maybe. And then to come back for his final season at less than 100 percent and work his way in slowly, always believing his coaches and parents when they kept saying all that work eventually would pay off.
His coaches and teammates saw what he went through, which is probably why they felt as good about what happened to him yesterday as he did. The shutout meant a lot to them -- without his interception, there's a good chance the Illini would have scored -- but not as much as seeing their friend and teammate finally have the moment he had earned.
Sweet? Oh, yeah. This was sweet.
"It means the world to me," defensive coordinator Jim Heacock said. "Anybody who went over and saw him laying in the hospital the last two years. ... I'll tell you, it broke your heart knowing how hard he worked two years ago and then to come out there in the first game and break his leg. And then last year, back with a broken leg and work his tail off all summer and he's an excited football player ... and then to have knee surgery and be out for the rest of the season. It has really been a hard road for him. And then to come back this year and have some success, it's just unbelievable."
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BuckeyeXtra - Bob Hunter commentary: Wilson deserves memorable moment
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Impact player
OSU’s Wilson back after two lost years
By ED PUSKAS Tribune Chronicle Sports Editor
POSTED: September 27, 2009
COLUMBUS - Ohio State's Lawrence Wilson was supposed to be the next Vernon Gholston, a dominant pass-rushing defensive end with NFL-caliber size and quickness.
But Wilson broke his leg in the Buckeyes' 2007 season opener against Youngstown State and missed the rest of the season.
While watching his teammates win another Big Ten Conference championship and earn another BCS title game berth, Wilson waited for his leg to heal and then furiously rehabbed to get ready for the 2008 season.
But that wasn't meant to be, either. Wilson tore an ACL against Purdue on Oct. 11, and again was relegated to watching his teammates finish the season and go to a bowl game.
"It was tough," said Wilson, an Akron native and St. Vincent-St. Mary High School graduate. "It was a difficult two years."
After two catastropic injuries, the Buckeyes weren't sure what they'd get from Wilson. But after already going through an extensive rehab program once, he was sure he'd get back on the field in 2009.
Wilson showed the Ohio State coaches, his teammates and a crowd of 105,219 he is back on Saturday, during the Buckeyes' 30-0 victory over Illinois in the Big Ten opener for both teams.
Wilson, now a backup defensive end, tipped and intercepted a Juice Williams pass on the kind of instinctive, athletic play Ohio State's coaches once anticipated he would make routinely.
Wilson returned the interception just 4 yards before he was tackled, but admittedly celebrated like he "was crazy" after coming up with one of three interceptions by the Buckeyes.
Wilson, screaming and gesturing, wound up on the Buckeyes' sideline with the ball, which isn't exactly the field-exit strategy preferred by Ohio State coach Jim Tressel.
"My teammates came over and said, 'Man, you were going crazy,' " Wilson said. "When I sat down, I thought, 'Oh, I'm in trouble now. I'm going to hear about this.' Coach always says to just give the ball to an official, but I didn't see one, so I just took it with me.' "
Tressel acknowledged seeing Wilson's spirited celebration. How could he have missed it?
"He's got to be exhausted after his celebration," Tressel said. "He'll go to bed right now and sleep for two days."
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http://www.tribtoday.com/page/conten....html?nav=5024
Last edited by Buckskin86; 09-27-2009 at 07:30 AM.
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