Damien Wilson (born May 28, 1993) is an

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, ...

who is a free agent. He played college football at

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, and was selected by the

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 divi ...

in the fourth round of the 2015 NFL Draft. He has also played for the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

and the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...

Early years

Wilson attended Amite County High School in

Liberty, Mississippi Liberty is a town in Amite County, Mississippi. It is part of the McComb, Mississippi Micropolitan Statistical Area. It has a population of 728 according to the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Amite County. The town can be accessed via I-5 ...

, where he was a teammate of

Gabe Jackson Gabriel C. Jackson (born July 12, 1991) is an American football guard who is a free agent. He was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the third round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He played college football at Mississippi State. Early years A nati ...

. He accepted a scholarship from Alcorn State University, but transferred to

Jones County Junior College Jones College is a public community college in Ellisville, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and serves its eight-county district consisting of Clarke, Covington, Gre ...

after his freshman season.

College career

As a sophomore

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly dif ...

, Wilson was named the Region 23 Defensive MVP, after ranking fourth in the nation with 122 tackles (6 for loss), 2 sacks and 2 passes defensed. As a sophomore, he registered 119 tackles (10.5 for loss). At the end of the year, he transferred to 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 land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

. As a junior, he was converted to

, finishing with 12 starts, 78 tackles (second on the team), one sack and 5.5 tackles-for-loss. In his last year he registered 12 starts, 119 tackles (led team), 4 sacks (tied for team lead), 10.5 tackles-for-loss (led the team), one interception, 3 passes defensed, one forced fumble and 2 fumble recoveries.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

The

selected Wilson in the fourth round with the 127th overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. He was the 13th linebacker selected in 2015. On May 28, 2015, the Dallas Cowboys signed Wilson to a four-year, $2.74 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $466,315. As

Anthony Hitchens Anthony Hitchens (born June 10, 1992) is an American football linebacker who is a free agent. He was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the fourth round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Iowa. Early life Hitch ...

did before him, the coaches decided to make Wilson learn all three linebacker positions in

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...

. On

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 ...

he tied for the team lead in tackles (9) with

Kyle Wilber Kyle Wilber (born April 26, 1989) is a former American football linebacker and coach who is the special teams quality control coach for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the four ...

and

Jeff Heath John Geoffrey Heath (April 1, 1915 – December 9, 1975) was a Canadian-born American left fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played most of his career for the Cleveland Indians. He was one of the American League's most promising power ...

. As a rookie he registered a total of 16 tackles. Against 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 ...

, he saw extensive play and performed well replacing an injured Andrew Gachkar. He played the season mostly on special teams. In 2016, he suffered a serious offseason injury on his right eye while playing

paintball Paintball is a competitive team shooting sport in which players eliminate opponents from play by hitting them with spherical dye-filled gelatin capsules called paintballs that break upon impact. Paintballs are usually shot using low-energy a ...

, missing the first two weeks of

after being placed on the non-football injury list. In week 6 of the season, he passed Kyle Wilber on the depth chart and went on to start 5 games at strong-side linebacker. He posted 35 tackles (4 for loss). In 2017, he began the season as the backup at strongside linebacker, before passing Wilber on the depth chart in the seventh game against the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

. He tallied 39 tackles (eleventh on the team), five quarterback hurries, one sack and seven special teams tackles (sixth on the team).

Kansas City Chiefs

200px, Wilson playing for the Chiefs in 2019. On March 14, 2019, Wilson signed a two-year, $5.75 million contract with the Kansas City Chiefs. Wilson won

Super Bowl LIV Super Bowl LIV was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2019 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Kansas City Chiefs defeated the National Football Conferenc ...

with the Chiefs after they defeated 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 ...

31–20.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Wilson signed with the

on April 2, 2021. He had a career year in 2021, starting all 17 games, finishing second on the team with 106 tackles, along with three sacks, five passes defensed, an interception and a forced fumble.

Carolina Panthers

On March 17, 2022, Wilson signed a two-year, $6.9 million contract with 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 played in 17 games with five starts, recording 38 tackles and two sacks. On March 10, 2023, Wilson was released by the Panthers.

Personal life

On July 4, 2017, Wilson was arrested at Toyota Stadium on two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon during an Independence Day celebration. He was then released on a $10,000 bond for each count. On April 19, 2022, Wilson was arrested in Frisco, Texas for allegedly threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend. He was released on a $5,000 bond

References

External links

Kansas City Chiefs bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Damien 1993 births Living people Alcorn State Braves football players American football linebackers Carolina Panthers players Dallas Cowboys players Jacksonville Jaguars players Jones County Bobcats football players Kansas City Chiefs players Minnesota Golden Gophers football players People from Gloster, Mississippi Players of American football from Mississippi