It's once again Palindrome Day, but that's not as exciting as the fact that we're 6 weeks from the start of the 2012 football season.
We've got 44 days until kickoff in East Lansing, so today I'll highlight the Bronco that wears #44 on the roster—Jamal Wilson
#44, Jamal Wilson, RS Freshman, FB
Stats
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 233 lbs.
High School: A.B. Miller High School, Fontana, CA
How'd he get to The Blue™?
Jamal is a walk-on of the preferred variety in the class of 2011. He was a 3 year letter-winner at Fontana, CA's A.B. Miller High School, where he excelled at middle linebacker, tight end, and fullback. In Wilson's senior year, he was named to the All-Citrus Belt League first-team and the All-CIF second-team at MLB after racking up 119 tackles, 7 sacks, and 3 forced fumbles. He was named second team All-CBL as a junior at OLB after recording 81 tackles and 3 sacks. Wilson drew some small school scholarship offers, but wanted to compete at a higher level, so chose to go the walk-on route.
Nickname
"Goldie"
Goldie Wilson was the name of the mayor in Back to the Future and was therefore the first thing that popped into my head. Deal with it.
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Look-a-like
Career highlights
First-team All-CBL and second-team All-CIF as a senior. 3 year scholar-athlete.
2012 prospectus
I thought this might be Jamal's year. Probably not. Dan "The Man" Paul is back for senior season part deux and Wilson probably won't have that shot at the limelight he's been chasing, but that isn't to say that he won't contribute this year—he will. In case you've forgotten, we aren't exactly stacked in the fullback department. Sure, we have a mountain of a man by way of Dan Paul, but last year's injury cast a light on the fact that behind him, we don't have much. TE Chandler Koch can play FB in a pinch and Michael Atkinson is sometimes given the reins in goal-line situations...but Paul and (now) Wilson look like the only true FBs on the roster (albeit as converted LBs) which is why I was actually kind of surprised that Wilson didn't play last year...I think we definitely could have used him. But here we are on the doorstep of the 2012 season and Dan Paul is back, so what kind of snaps does that leave for Wilson? Probably not many...the fullback isn't on the field every down and you can afford to play a healthy one from whistle to whistle—Wilson could still see packages and garbage time, but his best bet for this year is special teams. Next year—Wilson will be locked in battle from Spring on with 2012 commit Armand Nance. It won't be the most intriguing off-season battle of 2013, but it's nice that we'll have more options (and depth) at FB moving forward.
Completely made up fact
Jamal was on an episode of Pawn Stars where he brought in a seemingly valuable Sumerian coin for appraisal. The coin turned out to be a rusted bottle cap from a Grape Nehi.