Lawrence Jamel Wilson (born November 16, 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 wi ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

. He finished his collegiate career second in tackles all-time for the Huskies. In both his junior and senior seasons, he led the Big East in tackles and was selected to the All-Big East First-team. He finished his collegiate career second in tackles all-time at UConn. Lawrence was drafted in the sixth round of the 2011 NFL Draft at pick number 166 by the

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. ...

. He has also been a member of the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their hom ...

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 ...

, Chicago Bears,

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

and the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

Early career

Despite playing high school football in

Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Alabama's fifth-largest city, it had an estimated population o ...

Paul W. Bryant High School Paul W. Bryant High School serves grades 9 through 12 and is located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, forming part of the Tuscaloosa City Schools. The school is named after former Alabama Crimson Tide football head coach Paul William "Bear" Bryant. The ...

, Wilson received only one scholarship offer; from the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...

, partially because his father lived in the state. He committed to play football for the

Huskies Husky is a general term for a dog used in the polar regions, primarily and specifically for work as sled dogs. It refers to a traditional northern type, notable for its cold-weather tolerance and overall hardiness. Modern racing huskies that mai ...

on January 16, 2006.

College career

After red shirting during his freshman season at Connecticut, Wilson began his playing career as the starting weakside

in 2007, due to an injury to incumbent starter, Ryan Henegan. He would start all 13 games and set a freshman UConn record with 113 tackles. His sophomore season was highlighted by a game winning

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...

returned for a

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

against

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

. He would earn

Big East The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

Defensive Player of the Week honors for his performance in that game.
Wilson led the Big East in tackles and was named to the All-Big East First-team during both his junior and senior seasons. He scored his third career touchdown off of a tipped pass against South Florida. It was the only touchdown the Huskies scored in the victory, and helped them clinch their first trip to a BCS bowl game.

Professional career

After his senior season, Wilson was invited to play in the

Senior Bowl The Senior Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game played annually in late January or early February in Mobile, Alabama, which showcases the best NFL Draft prospects of those players who have completed their college eligibility. Pr ...

where he was fourth on the north team with six tackles. In preparation for the 2011 NFL Draft, Wilson was also invited to 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 Foo ...

. Wilson was drafted by the

in the 6th round (166th overall). On September 5, 2011, he was signed to the Panthers' practice squad. On November 8, 2011, after being cited for speeding and marijuana possession, the Carolina Panthers released Wilson from the practice squad and team. Lawrence would eventually end up with the

before being cut May 1, 2012. Two weeks later, he was signed to the

. By July, the NFL suspended Wilson one game and fined him an additional game check for violating the league's substance abuse policy attributing to the November 2011 incident. On August 31, 2012, the Saints released Wilson during final cuts. On January 10, 2013, Wilson was signed by the Chicago Bears. He was waived on August 25. On October 9, 2013, Wilson was signed by the

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

to a practice roster agreement. He was released by the Argonauts on October 12, 2013. On November 19, 2013, the Chicago Bears signed Wilson again, this time to the practice squad. Wilson was cut by the Bears on June 5, 2014. On July 22, 2014, Wilson was signed by the

. He was waived during final cuts on August 30. 2014.

References

External links

Chicago Bears bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Lawrence 1987 births Living people American football linebackers Players of American football from Tuscaloosa, Alabama UConn Huskies football players Carolina Panthers players New Orleans Saints players Chicago Bears players