From the age of seven until he was 10 Wilson lived on a compound in the Ivory Coast with children whose families were victims of the Liberian Civil War because his parents had to leave for the United States after his father, Henry, suffered a stroke. While his parents worked to save up enough money to get him across the Atlantic, Wilson had to stay positive, if nothing else, to keep hope that he would be reunited with his parents sooner rather than later during that three year period.
Wilson eventually made it to the United States and all the way to Haltom City, Tex. in northeast Fort Worth where he eventually developed into an All-American football player, a Texas Longhorn commit and the No. 1 prospect on the Inside Texas 2010 Top 100.
The transformation from a young man who mistakenly went out for the football team because he thought he would be playing soccer did not happen overnight. It took many hours, days, months and years for Wilson, who is still learning the game, to develop into the player he has become, a process helped by Wilson’s positive frame of mind.
So when Wilson saw Haltom players hanging their heads during the Buffalos’ playoff loss to Arlington Martin last Thursday night at Cowboys Stadium, Wilson was quick to step in a help everyone stay up and hold their heads high despite a dreary situation.
“That’s the attitude in the past that when the team gets down they get their heads and they get beat down. I wasn’t going to let that happen,” Wilson said. “All through the season we kept our positive attitude no matter what, we fight to the end. I want the young guys on the sideline to see that whenever you get down you can still come back and fight. I want to keep them encouraged.”
In many ways Wilson’s success story on the field mirrors that of the Haltom football program. The Buffalos do not have a rich tradition like some other Fort Worth area schools but hard work paid off for Haltom in 2009 as Wilson and the senior class led the Buffalos to their first playoff berth in nine years this season.
“I can say we did it,” Wilson said. “Even though the score didn’t show it, to us this was a big deal. This senior class was great. We need to keep our heads up because we did something nobody had done at Haltom in nine years.”
The playoffs ended early for Haltom but the Buffalos worked like crazy to get to the postseason winning four of their last five games to overcome a 1-4 start and make the Class 5A Division I playoffs. Wilson came away feeling good about what the team accomplished this season.
“This year we went 5-5 and lost some close games but we got it done and got in the playoffs,” Wilson said. “We’re disappointed, but what I wanted to do was let these young guys follow that and see that it can be done and we can win here. Hopefully we laid the foundation this year for these young guys to follow.”
Like Wilson’s early life times have been tough at Haltom – especially when talking about the football program.
Most prospects of Wilson’s caliber from the area play at schools like Allen, Cedar Hill, Euless Trinity or Southlake Carroll but the 6-foot-4, 240 pound defensive end with an explosive first step and tremendous work ethic made his mark at Haltom High School, a school not known for football and a school that had a bad rap when Wilson stepped on campus as a freshman.
“It started since I came as a freshman,” Wilson said of the personal mission he went on to try and build something positive at Haltom. “We had a losing record every year. The school had a bad reputation. Nobody wanted to let their kids go to Haltom.”
Nobody apparently included Wilson’s parents.
“Even my parents when they heard about Haltom they didn’t want me to go there,” Wilson said. “I remember forcing my mom to get me there and I told I wouldn’t get into trouble and she allowed me to go there.”
Wilson recalled of his early memories of what it was like when he first got to Haltom while standing on the star at the 50-yard-line at Cowboys Stadium. While reflecting on the past and present, Wilson closed one chapter in his life and touched on one he is about to open in just a few weeks when enrolls at Texas for the spring semester.
“This is the most people I have ever seen at a Haltom football game. It’s great finishing in Cowboys Stadium – this is a nice stadium,” Wilson said. “I’m honored, no lie. Now I want to go down to Austin and do what I can to help the Longhorns win a national championship.”
When he arrives for classes and spring football in Austin, don’t expect Wilson’s positive frame of mind to change as he sees his experience at Haltom as something he can use in a good way at Texas, where losing is not expected and barely tolerated.
“I’m going there with some great players and I know some guys there haven’t lost too many games in their life,” Wilson said. “But that’s what I bring because if we do lose or things are going bad, I tell everyone to look at what I went through. I went to a place where they never won and because of staying positive and hard work we won and hopefully that will help the team to not get down and keep a positive attitude.”
As long as Wilson is around, things will always be positive no matter how bad they may look on the outside.
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Jeff Howe has watched every state of Texas Longhorn commit in person this fall at a high school game. Here are his exclusive, in-person evaluations you won't find on any other site:
Playoff Evaluations: Byndom, Cotton and Wilson
Week Ten Evaluation: Taylor Bible
Week Ten Evaluation: Chris Jones
Week Nine Evaluation: Adrian Phillips
Week Nine Evaluation: John Harris
Week Nine Evaluation: Tevin Jackson
Week Eight Evaluation: DeAires Cotton
Week Eight Evaluation: Case McCoy
Week Seven Evaluation: Connor Wood
Week Six Evaluation: Greg Daniels
Week Four Evaluation: Reggie Wilson
Week Four Evaluation: Darius White
Week Three Evaluation: Carrington Byndom
Week Two Evaluation: Dominic Espinosa
Week Two Evaluation: Ashton Dorsey
Jeff's Thoughts From the Road: Week Two
Week One Evaluation: Bryant Jackson
2011-2012 Prospect Evaluations: Week One
Zero Week Evaluation: Traylon Shead
Zero Week Evaluation: Aaron Benson
Zero Week Evaluation: Adrian White
Zero Week Evaluation: Darius Terrell
