Senior wide receiver Michael Wilson is one of the co-captains of the Stanford football team. At the start of the season, Wilson was placed on the Biletnikoff award watchlist. The Biletnikoff award is given annually to the most outstanding receiver in college football.
During his time with the Cardinal, Wilson made 89 catches for 1059 yards and seven touchdowns. He is also majoring in management science and engineering. Wilson noted how the culture of the Cardinal compliments his interests.
“I’m a Stanford guy, I realized this is my crowd, these are the guys that I fit in with the best,” Wilson said. “Walking down the street, they [say] ‘you play at Stanford?” yeah, just by the way I carry myself, my humility, the way I articulate my words. It’s just a perfect atmosphere for me.”
Wilson noted how his teammates were mild mannered and easy to talk to especially if they have to have a tough conversation.
“We’re all mature young men who are not going to get angry because someone is calling us out for making a mistake,” Wilson said. “We’re really even-keeled, levelheaded, just able to have good conversation with people.”
Stanford prioritizes academics which helps Wilson excel as a student athlete.
“One of the most special things about Stanford is the academics never get compromised,” Wilson said. “Then you look at people that get into Stanford, it’s just all around great intelligent, high-level intellectual people that are the best at whatever they do.”
Along with balancing his athletics and academics, Wilson is an intern for Yogi Roth, who is a broadcaster for Pac-12 Networks.
“That’s an avenue that interests me and he’s been a great resource,” Wilson said. “I’ve learned so much from him from media training to working with him on various projects, teaching me how to interview people, how to handle interviews.”
Wilson has earned a spot on the Pac-12 All-Academic Honor Roll for two consecutive years. He also won the Frank Rehm Award 2019 and 2020 for his outstanding performance during “The Big Game,” their rivalry game against California.
During the Big Game in 2019, Wilson made six catches for 63 yards. The next year, he made seven receptions for 88 yards and one touchdown against Cal.
After a nine-year winning streak, Stanford lost to Cal 24-20 in 2019. Wilson noted how the team puts some emphasis in performing well during the matchup.
“I think it’s preparation as usual, but there’s a little heightened excitement going in that game,” Wilson said. “We definitely had a bad taste in our mouth after breaking that streak. So going into that week we’re like we were not losing to Cal.”
Wilson was a four-star athlete during his years at Chaminade in West Hills, CA. In 2017, he was named Mission League MVP and Chaminade football MVP. When he graduated, Wilson was the high school’s all time leading receiver. He also played on the boys basketball team.
