Mack Wilson felt like quitting football a year ago, but fatherhood has brought back a purpose to his job. (TheLandOnDemand)
Mack Wilson feeling like ‘the baddest person out there’ again
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
Browns linebacker Mack Wilson disclosed on Friday that things got so bad for him in the 2020 season that he considered quitting football.
Two days in training camp virtually killed Wilson’s entire season. On the third day of camp, he drew the ire of everyone by horse-collaring Nick Chubb to the ground and causing the star running back a concussion. On the fourth day of camp, Wilson was demoted to second team and then hyperextended his left knee.
He would recover to play 13 games, starting eight. But he sounds like he lost his will to perform.
“I was down. I wanted to quit at times,” he said.
“That’s how down I was. Mentally, we go through a lot as football players. When I got hurt, that was one of the worst moments of my life. Just coming back, I never felt I was myself. I didn’t feel I was producing on the field. I couldn’t move like I wanted to. I was missing plays I could make in my sleep. I was in a dark place, basically.”
Wilson declined to label his funk as a bout with depression.
“I wouldn’t say depression. It was just me down on myself. I’ve never been depressed in my life,” he said. “It was just one of those tough moments I’m pretty sure every football player gets to at one point in their career. It was just something I had to think and overcome.”
He snapped out of it in December when he found out his girlfriend was expecting a baby boy. Mack Wilson II was born on Wednesday, which Wilson declared on social media to be "the best day of my life."
The reality of raising a son motivated Wilson to work hard in the offseason and get back to the player he was at Alabama, he said.
“Just knowing that having a son that’s going to be dependent on me. That’s what drove me,” he said. “I was in the gym every day, sometimes twice a day. My life changed after I found out.”
It’s not coincidental that Wilson’s best game in 2020 was against the Chiefs in the divisional playoff game after he learned he was going to be a father. In that game, Wilson knocked Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes out of the game with a legal hit.
“That was one of those moments I felt like I was in college again,” he said. “I just went out and had fun. In my mind, I was going to do whatever it takes for us to win. I hope people don’t take it the wrong way about Patrick Mahomes. That play wasn’t intentional. It’s football. We play fast. We’re not trying to hurt anybody.”
Now, in this year’s camp, with the joy of the sport back in his heart and a stronger purpose to his career in his mind, Wilson resembles his younger self.
He leapt for an interception in front of David Njoku in the end zone this week, drawing the attention of teammates and coaches.
“I felt like my old self. I told myself before we came back to practice, I’m going back to my college mindset. I just felt free. Just felt every time I went on the field I was the baddest person out there. That’s the mind space I’m at. That keeps me going. I feel like I’m in college again, having fun, doing whatever it takes to help us win,” Wilson said.
Some would say just in time. Wilson is locked in a three-way battle for the starting WILL linebacker position with Jacob Phillips and rookie Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah.
Coach Kevin Stefanski said he was aware that Wilson struggled last year, but not to the level that he articulated on Wednesday.
“But I think it points out that everybody’s dealing with things through the course of a season. We go through adversity as a team and sometimes you go through personal adversity. I’m really pleased with where Mack Wilson is right now, physically and mentally.”
