GOLD & BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 4 37 37 GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED
BY KYLE CHARTERS
KCharters@GoldandBlack.com
M
inutes before the start of a
football game last season,
Coach Ron Bellamy looked
over his shoulder.
There, he saw his 6-foot-4,
270-pound defensive lineman wearing
his full uniform, including shoulder
pads, singing the national anthem
with the West Bloomfield High School
choir. It was a sight — Bellamy didn't
even know that Wilson was in the
choir — to behold.
The pregame performance, accord-
ing to Wilson, spurred his best game
of the season. Maybe that was because
he was at his most relaxed, having
mixed the dual sides of his personali-
ty: The thoughtful artist with the fero-
cious football player.
"Being in Michigan and a lot of us
being Lions' fans, we compare Eddy to
Ndamukong Suh," Bellamy said of the
Detroit defensive lineman and former
star at Nebraska. "If you know, Nda-
mukong, he's a quiet, humble guy off
the field. On the field? He's a force to
be reckoned with.
"That's the thing with Eddy, it's like
two different personalities. He doesn't
say much off the field, but on the field,
he's a natural leader. He's a big-time
football player, a kid who is going to play
his tail off and is going to encourage ev-
erybody else to play on his level."
Purdue's lucky to have him.
In the days before signing day,
Coach Darrell Hazell and Co. had to
fight off a couple 11th-hour charges
for Wilson's services, when Iowa and
Pittsburgh offered following his com-
mitment to the Boilermakers. But Wil-
son spurned their efforts, not even giv-
ing in to being lured into taking visits
to either of the schools.
"When I went there, I felt at home,"
he said of his reason for sticking with
the Boilermakers. "But in the recruit-
Split Personality
Wilson trying to be best on, off field
Ken Dettloff / The D Zone
Eddy Wilson felt he was undervalued in recruitment and says he'll use that as
motivation for his career at Purdue.
