Martez Jerome Wilson (born September 21, 1988) 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 ...

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, p ...

in the

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 ...

for 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 ...

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

and

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

. He also was a member of the

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 ...

in 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 ...

. 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 ...

at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

Early years

Wilson attended

Simeon Career Academy Neal F. Simeon Career Academy (formerly known as Westcott Vocational High School, Neal F. Simeon Vocational High School, Neal F. Simeon Career Technical Academy), locally known simply as Simeon, is a public four-year vocational high school locate ...

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, where he played as a

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

. As a junior, he collected 99 tackles (20 for loss), 18 sacks, 7 forced fumbles and one interception, while receiving All-metro honors. As a senior, he recorded 240 tackles, 7 sacks, one interception, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, 42 receptions for 1,005 yards and 9 touchdowns. He was an All-Public League, All-Area, All-State, All-American by ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'', ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

'', SuperPrep, PrepStar and also played in the 2007

U.S. Army All-American Bowl The All-American Bowl is a high school football all-star game, held annually at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Typically played in January, the All-American Bowl is played between all-star teams representing the eastern and western United S ...

. Regarded as a five-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 was listed as the No. 2 weakside defensive end in the class of 2007. He also competed in the 100 and

200 metres 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 ...

College career

Wilson accepted a football scholarship from the

. As a freshman, he appeared in 13 games as a backup at

strongside 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, p ...

, making 29 tackles (15 solo), 2 sacks, 3 tackles for loss and one pass defensed, while receiving Freshman All-American honorable-mention honors by

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 had 13 tackles (8 solo) against the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

. As a sophomore, he played in 7 of 11 games at

, recording 73 tackles (third on the team), 3 sacks, 5.5 tackles for loss, 3 passes defensed, one forced fumble, 2 fumble recoveries and one blocked punt. In the season opener of his junior year in 2009, although he had 9 tackles (2 solo), he suffered a herniated disc in his neck, which forced him to miss the remainder of the season. He was granted a medical hardship waiver and retained a year of eligibility. By 2010, he evolved into one of the best linebackers in the Big Ten Conference, ranking second in the conference in tackles (9.1 tackles per game) midway through the season. As a senior, he was switched to

middle 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, ...

and started 13 games. He collected 112 tackles (led the team), 11.5 tackles for losses, 4 sacks, one interception, 4 passes defensed, 3 forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and one blocked punt. He finished his college career with 21 starts in 38 games, 223 tackles (102 solo), 20 tackles for loss, 9 sacks, one interception, 8 passes defensed, 4 forced fumbles and 3 fumble recoveries.

Professional career

Pre Draft

Wilson announced his decision to forgo his senior season, and enter the

2011 NFL Draft The 2011 NFL Draft was the 76th installment of the annual NFL Draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York C ...

, on January 10, 2011.

New Orleans Saints

Wilson was selected by the

in the 3rd round (72nd overall) of the

. The pick used to select him was traded from the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

in exchange for

Jammal Brown Jammal Filbert Brown (born March 30, 1981) is a former American football offensive tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. He played college football for the University of Oklahoma, and received unanimous All-A ...

. As a rookie, he appeared in 13 games with one start at

, making 5 tackles, one sack and one forced fumble. His best game came in the NFC Divisional Playoffs 36-32 loss against 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 ...

, when he had 1.5 sacks. He was declared inactive in 2 games with a shoulder injury. In 2012, he appeared in 16 games as a backup

, registering 18 tackles (12 solo), 3 sacks, 2 passes defensed, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, 13

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

tackles (tied for second on the team) and one blocked punt. In 2013, the team switched to a 3-4 defense, but it didn't improve his playing time and was also injured to start the season. He was active in only 4 games as a backup and was declared inactive in Week 6. He was released to make room for

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Ryan Griffin on October 22. He had 3 tackles, one sack and one

tackle.

Oakland Raiders

On October 23, 2013, he was claimed off waivers by the

. He appeared in 3 games and did not record a tackle. On November 19, he was released by the

to make room to activate

Miles Burris from reserve/physically unable to perform list.

Dallas Cowboys

On November 26, 2013, he signed 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 ...

with the

, to replace

Everett Dawkins Everett Dawkins (born June 13, 1990) is a former American football defensive tackle. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the seventh round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He played college football at Florida State Seminoles football, Florida State ...

and provide depth because of injuries. He appeared in 2 games, had one quarterback pressure and was declared inactive in the last 3 games of the season. In 2014, he was switched from

during training camp. He was released on August 24.

Toronto Argonauts

On May 13, 2015, he was signed as a

by the

of the

, to play as a

. He suffered a neck injury in his debut and was lost for the year. He was not re-signed after the season.

References

External links

Toronto Argonauts bioOakland Raiders bioNew Orleans Saints bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Martez 1988 births Living people Players of American football from Chicago Players of Canadian football from Chicago American football linebackers American football defensive ends Canadian football defensive linemen American players of Canadian football Illinois Fighting Illini football players New Orleans Saints players Oakland Raiders players Dallas Cowboys players Toronto Argonauts players