Ethan Hyman/The News & Observer , via Associated PressRussell Wilson amassed 76 passing and 17 rushing touchdowns during his three years as the starting quarterback at N.C. State. 
MADISON, Wis. — The legend of Russell Wilson as a Wisconsin quarterback began with a dare from Badgers receiver Nick Toon on the 30-yard line of Camp Randall Stadium: “Bet you can’t hit the crossbar from here.”
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Russell Wilson is ringing in a new era of Wisconsin football. Wilson flashed a quick smile before unleashing a 40-yard spiral that collided with the crossbar with such force that the sound — DOINGGGGGGG! — echoed through Camp Randall.
“I just shook my head,” Toon said of his reaction that July afternoon.
With his arrival as a one-year transfer from North Carolina State, Wilson is ringing in a new era of Wisconsin football, which has always been heavy on steak and light on sizzle. The addition of the dynamic Wilson marks an evolution for the Badgers from their between-the-tackles roots.
Wisconsin will still have plenty of tight ends and fullbacks lumbering onto the field, but the skills Wilson displayed in amassing 76 passing and 17 rushing touchdowns during his three years as the starting quarterback at N.C. State will add a shot of third-down innovation to the methodical Badgers.
“He’s so accurate on the move; that’s the part that amazes me,” Wisconsin Coach Bret Bielema said. “It’s kind of overwhelming.”
Wilson’s most notable pass may have been forgoing the chance to play in Auburn’s productive spread offense for the Badgers’ pro-style attack, a choice that puts No. 11 Wisconsin on the outskirts of the national title conversation. Wilson arrives as a complete package: athletic enough to be picked in the fourth round of the baseball draft, magnetic enough to be elected a Wisconsin captain after less than two months on campus, and smart enough to graduate from N.C. State in three years.
He is also preparing for his final college football season in the aftermath of a difficult year, one in which he struggled to hit minor league fastballs, endured a public break from N.C. State’s football program and buried his father.
But the legend of Wilson is growing here. Asked about the crossbar strike, he said with a smile: “I thought I was standing on the 40. But whatever.”
A Positive Upbringing
Wilson’s grandfather Harrison Wilson Jr. served as the president of Norfolk State. His father, Harrison Wilson III, attended Dartmouth and bypassed a chance to play in the N.F.L. to attend law school at Virginia. After law school, he went to training camp with the San Diego Chargers and earned the nickname Professor before being released when the team made its final roster cuts.
Harrison Wilson III and his wife, Tammy, sent their three children to the prestigious Collegiate School in Richmond, Va., a K-12 private school with an annual tuition that starts at more than $17,000. Russell’s older brother, Harrison IV, said that he and Russell “stuck out like sore thumbs” because they were African-Americans in a school in which about 90 percent of the students were white.
So when Charlie McFall, who coached Russell and Harrison IV, received a complaint that he recruited Russell to play sports there, he replied, “If I recruited him, I did when he was in kindergarten.”
The tales of Russell Wilson’s athletic prowess began in fifth grade, when he was the ball boy for his brother’s high school games. During a game, a referee hollered over to the Collegiate sideline for a ball, and Russell responded by throwing a laser across the field.
“The official said, ‘Oh my goodness.’ And I thought to myself, I’m going to hang around for Russell,” said McFall, who retired as the coach and athletic director after Wilson led Collegiate to three straight state titles and a 31-2 overall record. “He’s very accurate with a great touch, and he’s been that way since elementary school.”
Wilson watched his older brother go to Richmond and play baseball and football, the sports their father played at Dartmouth. (The brothers claim the family’s best athlete is their sister, Anna, a 14-year-old eighth grader at Collegiate who Russell said was considered one of the best point guards in her age group nationally.)
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: September 4, 2011
A chart last Sunday with an article about quarterback Russell Wilson and his transfer to Wisconsin from N.C. State described incorrectly quarterback Cam Newton’s transfer when he was in college. Newton, now with the Carolina Panthers, transferred from the University of Florida to a junior college and then to Auburn; he did not go directly to Auburn from Florida.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: September 4, 2011
An earlier version of this correction erroneously stated, as did the original article, that Cam Newton transferred directly to Auburn from Florida.
View the original article here
Published: January 17th, 2011 | Tags: Cam Newton, 2011 NFL Draft, Donovan McNabb, JaMarcus Russell, Josh Freeman, Steve McNair, Vince Young