May 27, 2016
If he wanted, C.J. Wilson could begin each day with a chorus of ‘why me’s?’ He could look down at his right hand – the one doctors almost amputated last year after a firework accident cost him his index and middle fingers – and curse his misfortune.
Instead, the 26-year-old defensive back is doing the silver-lining thing about the whole situation, thanking the man upstairs and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers for at least the chance to prove he can still be a dominant football player.
Even with just eight fingers.
“I’m just missing two fingers,” said Wilson with a shrug after the third day of Bomber rookie camp. “Everything else is pretty much fine. I’m functioning and using it. I can still catch a ball. I can still use it effectively.
“I tell people all the time, ‘It’s the best three-finger hand I’ve ever seen.’”
C.J. Wilson
Wilson stepped onto the field for the first time on Friday after getting a medical release from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He’s already one of the more intriguing stories as main camp approaches and as the former North Carolina State star tries to reclaim his career.
He’s fought and beaten these kind of odds before, signing with the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent and making their roster in 2013 and doing the same a year later with the Bucs.
And then came that fateful moment last July 4th.
“It was an unfortunate firework accident. A lot of people thought I was just playing around with fireworks,” Wilson explained. “It was something I did all the time. I never had the firework in my hand, it shot out of the canister the wrong way and unfortunately an accident happened.
“God works in mysterious ways. I don’t look at it as an accident, I look at it as the next step in life. I had to grow from that and it made me become a better man and hopefully a better football player.”
Wilson credits his father Curtis for intervening when the doctors were contemplating amputation.
“When I was in the hospital and when they saw it, at first they were going to go ahead and amputate my whole hand,” he said. “But luckily my father was there… he saw me moving the fingers I had and said, ‘No. Y’all are going to put this hand back together.’
“I’m grateful that God brought my dad in that room and had him see that because if it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t have a right hand right now.”
So now Wilson must begin to address the obvious questions: how will this affect his ability to effectively play the position?
“I was working out at home… it took some adjusting learning how to catch the football again. But my strength was my speed, my legs,” said Wilson. “I still focus on my catching with the gloves… it’s an adjustment, but I’m coming around with it.
“I always think I have to prove myself. Every time I step on the field I have to prove myself. That’s been since I was a little kid. I was always the smallest guy. I come out here with the same chip on my shoulder, to prove to these coaches, to prove to this organization and prove to the players I’m still the same kid.
“It was just a minor setback for a major comeback.”
ROOKIE CAMP DAY 3
COMINGS/GOINGS:
The Bombers made official the signing of DB C.J. Wilson while releasing DB Jarrid Bryant.
As well, the team moved receiver Solomon Patton – considered one of the leading contenders for the vacant kick-return gig – to the retired list.
Bombers coach Mike O’Shea on Patton:
“He came to me this morning and I’ll say this: I’ve been around a long time and run across a few guys that weren’t the type of men that he is, that don’t take care of business at home. He just said he had to get home because he had people that relied on him and he had to go start work and make money and take care of his family. You’ve got to respect that.”
A SECOND CHANCE:
Johnny Patrick has been all smiles through three days of Bomber rookie camp. And with good reason. A former third-round draft pick of the New Orleans Saints with 37 games under his belt, the 27-year-old defensive back has just got clearance from a neurologist to return to the football field after two years away due to concussion issues.
“I didn’t know anything about the CFL before I got here,” said Patrick. “When I got out of college I was a Top 100 pick in the draft, a third-round pick, and to me I was going to be an NFL player. Injuries were not a concern to me because I had never been hurt in college or high school. I wasn’t thinking about that, I wasn’t thinking about life after football.
“I’m here now and it’s a great opportunity.”
QUOTABLE:
O’Shea on Bombers defensive lineman Rupert Butcher, who is listed at 6-5, 320 pounds: “You don’t find too many humans like that, right? He is a very large man.”
SATURDAY: Medical day, no practices.
SUNDAY: Day 1 of main camp. Practice begins at 10:00 a.m. at Investor Group Field and is open to the public.
