Zach Wilson childhood: How did he become the player he is today?
New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson, a native of Draper, Utah, was born on August 3, 1999, under the zodiac sign of Leo. The 21-year old belongs to American nationality. He stands 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 meters) tall and weighs 210 pounds (95 kg).
How did he become interested in football?
Zach Wilson was curious about football and simultaneously eager to become his best self, right from his childhood. That’s why he used to obsessively watch the videos of Joe Burrow’s senior-year breakthrough at LSU as Wilson himself trained for his junior season at BYU.
According to reports, Zach had persuaded his father, Mike, to switch from Comcast to YouTube TV in order to take advantage of the service’s unrestricted DVR storage and download NFL and college football games. Soon, Zach managed to own a lot of LSU tape.
Apart from Burrow, he was also curious to know what made Aaron Rodgers an incredible player. He was eager to learn some of the stuff that Rodgers was doing on the field. It is a public secret that Zach had turned into a true football junkie at an age when most of his friends were busy watching cartoons.
Zach Wilson Childhood: His High School Years
Wilson, like Burrow, had a stunningly promising season in which he went from draft afterthought to one of the class’s top players. Wilson’s rise may have been expected by only a few, outside of Provo, Utah. Zach was a football and basketball player at Corner Canyon High School in Draper, Utah. He showed dual-threat talent as a junior, with 2,986 passing yards and 24 touchdowns to go along with 752 running yards and eight touchdowns. He finished in second place for Mr. Utah Football.
After completing his high school education, Wilson became a college football quarterback for Brigham Young University (BYU), which competes in the NCAA division.
View this post on Instagram
His Success in College
Wilson was in high demand as a number of colleges, including Boise State, Iowa, Syracuse, and Minnesota were eager to sign him. Interestingly, he committed to Boise State just a week before the Broncos were set to sign him. Eventually, Wilson committed to BYU nine days later.
In 2020, he was named to the Pro Football Focus All-America Second Team. That same year, he was also named to the Phil Steele All-America Honorable Mention and Co-Polynesian College Player of the Year. In the Heisman Trophy voting that year, Wilson finished at eight.
Apart from the above-mentioned achievements, Wilson managed to become a Manning Award Finalist. Moreover, he also ended up being a semifinalist of Walter Camp Player of the Year as well as Maxwell Award and Davey O’Brien Semifinalist in 2020. All of this, he achieved while serving as the team captain.
View this post on Instagram
PFF gave him a 96.5 Clean Pocket Score, the best in the nation, and he set a new PFF record with an overall passing grade of 95.5, surpassing Joe Burrow’s 94.9 in 2019. Finally, he could surpass his childhood idol in some areas.
Is Zach Wilson compensated for his time in college?
Per season, the top division I NCAA football teams bring in well over $100 million in sales. Surprisingly, the players who make college athletics do not get any compensation. Sure, players are sometimes awarded full scholarships to offset their college expenses. However, receiving direct compensation for participating in a sport is against NCAA rules.
