Jeffery Wilson, Jr. Honored by Elkhart
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
ELKHART – One thing about living in a small town, everyone knows your business. On the flip side of that, when someone does something special, the towns people are the first to celebrate your success.
Such was the case for Jeffery Wilson, Jr. on Saturday, Feb. 22 as the city of Elkhart held a parade and celebration in his honor. Wilson a 2014 graduate of Elkhart High School had recently played in Super Bowl LIV as a running back for the San Francisco 49ers. He had one catch for 20 yards in the game.
After Wilson graduated from EHS, he attended the University of North Texas where he finished his career fourth all-time on the program’s rushing list with 3,205 yards, third in career rushing touchdowns with 32 and fourth in program history in all-purpose yards with 4,009.
He was undrafted after college but signed with the 49ers in 2018.
Despite coming up on the losing end as San Francisco fell to Kansas City by a final score of 31-20, Wilson said it was an experience he would never forget.
“Just being there, being there and getting the whole experience, everybody asks me how does it feel, what did you do, what was the experience like? It’s just one of those things that you had to be in it to really experience it, you know,” Wilson said.
“I try to paint a picture as perfect as I can for people to kind of take that journey with me,” he continued, “but at the end of the day it was a wonderful kind of dream, you have to be in it to really get an example of it.”
Wilson explained being from a small town makes his appearance in the Super Bowl even more special because “… because we don’t get a lot of opportunities out here. We don’t get a lot of looks like other places, like the Dallas kids may get. So, every time we get exposure coming from these small towns, making it and playing on the biggest stage there is – I mean words can’t explain that.”
“It was everything I dreamed of, as a little kid. It was everything I dreamed of.” Wilson said.
COURTESY PHOTO
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
