Kyle Wilson (born May 30, 1987) is a former

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 ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for Boise State. He was drafted by the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

in the first round of the

2010 NFL Draft The 2010 NFL Draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, with the firs ...

and also played with the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

High school career

A native of

Piscataway, New Jersey Piscataway () is a township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. It is a suburb of the New York metropolitan area, in the Raritan Valley. At the 2010 United States Census, the population was 56,044, an increase of 5,562 (+11.0%) fr ...

, Wilson attended

Piscataway High School Piscataway High School is a four-year comprehensive community public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Piscataway in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of the P ...

, graduating in 2005. He helped the football team to three straight state championships, including undefeated seasons in 2002 and 2004, and a 33-3 overall record. He was named first-team all-state as wide receiver while also garnering all-area, all-county, all-conference and all-division honors. Wilson also lettered in

track & field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

at Piscataway, running the

100-meter dash The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contest ...

in 10.8 seconds and the

200-meter dash The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

in 22.49 seconds. Considered just a two-star recruit by ''

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 ...

'', Wilson received only few scholarship offers. He picked Boise State over

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...

and

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

College career

After redshirting the 2005 season, Wilson played in 10 games and finished 10th on team with 41 tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss, five pass breakups, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and an interception. He started final five games at cornerback and delivered an impressive performance at the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, finishing with 10 tackles in Boise State's 43–42 upset win over Oklahoma. Wilson was named honorable mention Freshman All-America by ''

Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

''. As a sophomore, Wilson started all 13 games at cornerback, finishing the season with 41 tackles, eight pass breakups, two interceptions, two tackles for loss, one sack and a blocked kick. His season-high six tackles came against

East Carolina East Carolina University (ECU) is a public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a teacher training school, East Carolina has grown from its orig ...

in the

2007 Hawaii Bowl The 2007 Sheraton Hawaii Bowl was a post-season college football bowl game between the 2007 Boise State Broncos football team, Boise State University Broncos from the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) and the East Carolina Pirates football, East ...

. Wilson earned second-team All-WAC honors. In his junior season, Wilson led Boise State with five interceptions, 10 pass breakups and 15 passes defended. He recorded 35 tackles, 26 of which were unassisted, and returned 33 punts for 470 yards and three touchdowns. Wilson started each game of the season, making his current streak of 31 consecutive starts the longest active streak on team. He was named first-team All-WAC cornerback and second-team all-conference punt returner. Also, ''

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

'' named him to their 2008 All-American Second-team. In 2009, ''Rivals.com'' listed him at No. 3 of their preseason cornerback power ranking. In October, he was named a midseason All-American by ''

'', and in early November he was named one of twelve semifinalists for the 2009

Jim Thorpe Award The Jim Thorpe Award, named in memory of multi-sport athlete Jim Thorpe, has been awarded to the top defensive back in college football since 1986. It is voted on by the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame. In 2017, the award became sponsored by Paycom ...

Professional career

2010 NFL Draft

Wilson was considered one of the best cornerbacks available in the

, and drew comparisons to

Dré Bly Donald André Bly (born May 22, 1977) is a former American football cornerback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eleven seasons. He played college football for the University of North Carolina (UNC), and earned All-American ...

. According to ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

′s'' Tony Pauline, Wilson was "graded as a fringe middle round pick by NFL scouting services" prior to his senior season, "but has since cemented himself as a top 100 choice." He was only the second defensive back from Boise State to be selected in the first three rounds of an NFL Draft, following

Gerald Alexander Gerald Alexander (born June 28, 1984) is an American football coach and former safety,. He played college football at Boise State, and was selected by the Detroit Lions in the second round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He also played for the Jacksonvil ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

New York Jets

Wilson was taken 29th overall by the New York Jets. At the 2010 Jets minicamp, Wilson impressed the coaching staff, many of whom considered Wilson a "steal." On July 31, 2010, Wilson signed a five-year, $13 million contract with the Jets. He served as the #3 CB behind

Darrelle Revis Darrelle Shavar Revis (born July 14, 1985) is an American former football cornerback who played in National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons, primarily with the New York Jets. He played college football at Pittsburgh and was selected in th ...

and

Antonio Cromartie Antonio Cromartie (born April 15, 1984) is a former American football cornerback and current cornerback coach for the Texas A&M Aggies football team. He played college football at Florida State and was drafted in the first round by the San Diego ...

going into training camp. Wilson intercepted the first pass of his professional career on October 23, 2011 against

Philip Rivers Philip Michael Rivers (born December 8, 1981) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons, primarily with the Chargers franchise. He played college football at NC State and was sele ...

. It came at a critical point during the game as the

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

attempted to regain the lead, ultimately losing to the Jets 27–21. Going into the 2013 season following the draft of University of Alabama cornerback

Dee Milliner DeMarcus Armon "Dee" Milliner (born September 14, 1991) is a former American football cornerback. He was drafted by the New York Jets in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He played college football at Alabama Crimson Tide football, Alabama, ...

, Wilson was again projected as starting as the nickel CB.

New Orleans Saints

On April 1, 2015, the

signed Wilson to a one-year, $825,000 contract with a signing bonus of $80,000. On March 7, 2016, the Saints signed Wilson to a one-year, $840,000 contract with an $80,000 signing bonus. On June 24, 2016, the Saints placed Wilson on the Reserved/Injured list.

NFL statistics

Key * GP: games played * COMB: combined tackles * TOTAL: total tackles * AST: assisted tackles * SACK: sacks * FF: forced fumbles * FR: fumble recoveries * FR YDS: fumble return yards * INT: interceptions * IR YDS: interception return yards * AVG IR: average interception return * LNG: longest interception return * TD: interceptions returned for touchdown * PD: passes defensed

Personal life

Wilson graduated from Boise State with a degree in communication.

References

External links

*
New Orleans Saints bioNew York Jets bioBoise State Broncos bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Kyle 1987 births African-American players of American football American football cornerbacks Boise State Broncos football players Living people New Orleans Saints players New York Jets players People from Piscataway, New Jersey Piscataway High School alumni Players of American football from New Jersey Sportspeople from Middlesex County, New Jersey 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people