De’Runnya S. Wilson (September 14, 1994 – January 21, 2020) was an American football wide receiver for the Albany Empire of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

(AFL). He played college football for the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

High school career

Wilson attended

Wenonah High School Wenonah High School is a four-year public high school in Birmingham, Alabama. It is one of seven high schools in the Birmingham City School System. School colors are Old gold and white. The mascot is the Dragon. Wenonah competes in Alabama High S ...

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

, where he was primarily a basketball star, earning first-team ''Parade'' All-American honors in 2013. He joined the football team in his senior season, when he caught 31 passes for 682 yards and helped lead the Dragons to a 10-2 season. On the hardwood, he helped lead the Dragons to three consecutive state championships and was named the 2013 Alabama Mr. Basketball. Wilson was rated as a three-star football recruit by ''247sports.com'', ''

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

'', and ''

Scout.com Scout Media is an integrated sports publishing company that produces Internet content covering hundreds of professional and college teams across America. The company was founded in 2001 and was acquired by Fox Sports in 2005. In 2013, Fox Sports ...

''. He chose to attend Mississippi State over offers from

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Colorado State Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

, Louisville,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, and UAB.

College career

Freshman season (2013)

Wilson made his debut in the first game of the 2013 season, catching 2 passes for 17 yards in a 21-3 loss to

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New M ...

in the AdvoCare Texas Kickoff. Wilson's first touchdown came on a 59-yard pass from

Tyler Russell Tyler Ryan Russell (born December 6, 1990) is an American football quarterback. He had played college football from 2010 to 2013 for Mississippi State University, where he placed fifth on the Bulldogs' career passing list with 5,441 passing yar ...

against

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

. Wilson had a breakout game against Texas A&M, catching 7 passes for 75 yards and 2 touchdowns. After the football season ended, Wilson played on the Bulldogs men's basketball team. He appeared in 7 games, scoring 6 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.

Sophomore season (2014)

Wilson started every game at receiver for the Bulldogs in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

. He had four catches and a touchdown in each of the Bulldogs' wins over top 10 teams

, Texas A&M, and

, helping lead the Bulldogs to the #1 ranking. Wilson came on strong at the end of the season, having 8 catches each in losses to Alabama and Ole Miss. He followed it up with 9 catches and 2 touchdowns in the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in th ...

. Wilson was the 2014 Bulldogs' leading receiver in receptions, yards, and touchdowns. Wilson was listed on the 2014–15 men's basketball roster, but did not appear in any games. Wilson's career as a basketball player was over, as it turned out later.

Junior season (2015)

Wilson had 8 catches and a touchdown in a 21-19 loss to

. He had 102 yards and 2 touchdowns in a rainy 31-13 win over

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

and a career-high 10 receptions in a 51-50 thriller over Arkansas. Wilson ranks 5th in school history with 133 receptions, 6th with 1,949 yards, and 2nd with 22 touchdowns.

College statistics

Professional career

On January 1, 2016, Wilson declared for the

2016 NFL Draft The 2016 NFL Draft was the 81st annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft beg ...

. He had drawn comparisons to

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

receiver Calvin Johnson,

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

receiver

Kelvin Benjamin Kelvin Benjamin (born February 5, 1991) is an American football wide receiver who is a free agent. He played college football at Florida State and was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He also played for ...

, and

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

tight end

Darren Waller Darren Charles Waller (born September 13, 1992) is an American football tight end for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia Tech. He is the great-grandson of composer and jazz pianist ...

. Wilson participated in the

NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Footb ...

but went undrafted, gaining only a workout with the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

in October of that year. On March 20, 2018, Wilson joined the Albany Empire of the

as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

, but never played a game as the team placed him on recallable reassignment a week later.

Death

On January 21, 2020, Wilson was found shot to death inside his Birmingham, Alabama home. He was 25 years old. Wilson was the father of five children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, DeRunnya 1994 births 2020 deaths 2020 murders in the United States Albany Empire (AFL) players American football wide receivers American men's basketball players Basketball players from Birmingham, Alabama Deaths by firearm in Alabama Mississippi State Bulldogs football players Mississippi State Bulldogs men's basketball players Murdered African-American people People murdered in Alabama Players of American football from Birmingham, Alabama 21st-century African-American sportspeople