James Milligan Wilson (June 12, 1942 – February 2, 2009) was a professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

and a

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

. During his time as a wrestler, he attempted to start a

labor union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

for wrestlers, and continued his efforts after he left the sport. He is the co-author of a book called ''CHOKEHOLD: Pro Wrestling's Real Mayhem Outside the Ring'' which exposed certain unfair labor practices by various promoters, most of them

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA ...

members, but also including

Vince McMahon Vincent Kennedy McMahon (; born August 24, 1945) is an American media proprietor and retired professional wrestling promoter, executive, and performer. From 1982 to 2022, he served as the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of WWE, the w ...

and

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

Football career

He had been a good athlete from his early years, overcoming a spinal curvature problem and was offered a

football scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the United Stat ...

to the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

. Although recruited from high school as a fullback, because of his size he played both ways as an offensive and defensive lineman and was named All-American for his contributions as an offensive tackle during his time there; he was coach

Vince Dooley Vincent Joseph Dooley (September 4, 1932 – October 28, 2022) was an American college football coach. He was the head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs from 1964 to 1988, as well as the University of Georgia's (UGA) athletic director from 1979 t ...

's first

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n. Coach Dooley would comment at Wilson's funeral service that had he known of his accomplishments as a high school fullback, he would have handed Wilson the ball as well. In 1964, he was drafted by the then-

Boston Patriots Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most ...

of the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

and the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

of the established

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

; he signed with the 49ers. He was also voted into the 1965 All Rookie team. Wilson played in San Francisco for two seasons and then, at his request, was dealt to the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

, who were just starting up. It was during his time with the Falcons that he was approached by

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

wrestler and promoter

Ray Gunkel Raymond Fred "Ray" Gunkel (February 16, 1924 - August 1, 1972) was an American amateur and professional wrestler and promoter in the state of Georgia. Gunkel was a two-time AAU national champion and, as a professional, a three-time NWA Texas Hea ...

to wrestle during the football off-season. He agreed to do so, as most NFL contracts at that time did not pay during the off season. The Falcons did not approve of his off-season wrestling, and as a result, he was traded to the then-

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

for whom he played for three seasons, before injuries ended his NFL career in 1971. In 2001, he was inducted into the

Georgia Sports Hall of Fame The Georgia Sports Hall of Fame is located in Macon, Georgia. It is the largest state sports hall of fame in the United States at . Exhibitions The Hall of Fame houses over of exhibit space broken down into sections including Hall of Fame Induc ...

. Four years later, he was also inducted into the UGA Circle of Honor.

Professional wrestling career

Wilson attempted to reform professional wrestling and start up a union for professional wrestlers. He wrote the book ''CHOKEHOLD: Pro Wrestling's Real Mayhem Outside the Ring'', which was released in 2003 in which he claimed he had been blackballed from the sport. Wilson brought forward an antitrust case against the National Wrestling Alliance in 1980. In 1984, he also appeared on ''

20/20 Visual acuity (VA) commonly refers to the clarity of vision, but technically rates an examinee's ability to recognize small details with precision. Visual acuity is dependent on optical and neural factors, i.e. (1) the sharpness of the retinal ...

'', speaking out against the wrestling industry. In addition, in 2007, he attempted to convince the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

to hold hearings on the wrestling industry.

Personal life

Wilson was born to a fairly distinguished family living just outside

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. His father had been a decorated veteran of World War II and his mother's side traced its lineage back to the ''

Mayflower ''Mayflower'' was an English ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After a grueling 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, r ...

''. While at Georgia, he married Nita Jones,Wilson, Johnson (2003); p. 69 and the couple had six children together. Outside of professional wrestling, he worked in real estate for twenty years. On February 2, 2009, Wilson died at the age of 66 in Atlanta, following a battle with

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

References

;General *''CHOKEHOLD: Pro Wrestling's Real Mayhem Outside the Ring'' (2003). (Trade Paperback), (Hardback) (with Weldon T. Johnson)

External links

Georgia Sports Hall of Fame
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Jim 1942 births 2009 deaths Sportspeople from Pittsburgh American football defensive linemen American male professional wrestlers Deaths from cancer in Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia Bulldogs football players San Francisco 49ers players Atlanta Falcons players Los Angeles Rams players All-American college football players Professional wrestlers from Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pittsburgh