Super Bowl Dreams Come True for Fordham Grad

Super Bowl Dreams Come True for Fordham Grad
Returns to Metropolitan Area as a Denver Bronco

By Howard Goldin

BRONX, NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 2- Millions of residents of the New Jersey/New York metropolitan area will be watching the 2014 Super Bowl between the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night. Tens of thousands of those football fans will be in the MetLife Stadium viewing the game live.

One 2013 graduate of Fordham University in the Bronx, Greg Wilson, will have a unique experience. On January 16, less than three weeks before the date of the Super Bowl, Wilson signed a contract to be on the practice squad of the Broncos.

On Media Day, Wilson described his excited reaction, “I stood up from my job, said, ‘Hey, I’m out of here’, left, went home, packed a bag, flew out that night.”

His experience with the Broncos since his signing has been just as thrilling to him, “Going from a desk job [as a salesman at Sunrun, a solar electricity provider in San Francisco] and sitting at home watching the games on the weekend to being out here and playing with the guys, it’s just been great. It’s been a blessing. It’s been crazy.”

How did a relatively small pro football player, 6’ and 185 pounds, get that rare opportunity. The Danville, California native played football in high school and for two years at Diablo Valley Community College.

In 2011, Wilson transferred to Fordham University, where he played two seasons of Division I football as a wide receiver. His on-the-field accomplishments in each of his years at Fordham were almost identical. As a junior, he caught 26 passes for 535 yards and scored four touchdowns. He also returned eight punts for 57 yards and three kickoffs for 60 yards. In his senior season, he caught 41 passes for 549 yards for another four touchdowns.

Wilson described his current goal of helping to prepare the defense of the Broncos by playing as a Seattle wide receiver in practice and how it can affect his future in football, “I’m just working to give the defense a good look. If that leads to a contract in the future, that’s great.”