Caleb Brandon Wilson (born July 15, 1996) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense (sports), offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide ...

who is a free agent. He played college football at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

and was selected by the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division, an ...

with the final pick of the

2019 NFL Draft The 2019 NFL Draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee. The first round was held on April ...

, making him that draft's

Mr. Irrelevant Mr. Irrelevant is the nickname given to the last pick of the annual National Football League Draft. Although NFL drafts date back to 1936, the first person to be called Mr. Irrelevant was Kelvin Kirk of the 1976 NFL Draft. History "Mr. Irrel ...

. He has also been a member of the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

College career

Wilson originally committed to play football at Old Dominion as a quarterback, but later joined USC as a walk-on tight end so he could play for his father, and took a redshirt year. After his redshirt year during which his father was fired, Wilson transferred to UCLA. Wilson played in all 12 games during his first year. In the season opener in his second year in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, Wilson had 15 receptions for 203 yards to help lead the Bruins to a school-record 34-point comeback in a 45–44 win over

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M Unive ...

. His season ended prematurely after five starts when he injured his foot against

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

. As a junior in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, Wilson had a season-high 184 yards in the season finale against

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, and finished the year with UCLA single-season records for a tight end with 60 receptions and 965 receiving yards. He led all tight ends in the

NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). A ...

in receptions per game (5.0), receiving yards per game (80.4) and receiving yards. Wilson was voted a second-team All-American by ''

Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

'', and was named first-team All-Pac-12, the only first-team selection for the Bruins, who finished the season with a 3–9 record. On December 6, 2018, Wilson announced that he would forgo his final year of eligibility to declare for the

Professional career

Arizona Cardinals

Wilson was selected by the

in the seventh round (254th overall) of the

, earning him the title

as the final pick in the draft. He was waived on August 31, 2019, but the Cardinals re-signed him to their practice squad the next day.

Washington Redskins

On December 13, 2019, Wilson was signed off the Cardinals' practice squad to the active roster of the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) ...

. He was waived on August 3, 2020.

Philadelphia Eagles

Wilson was claimed off waivers by the

on August 4, 2020. He was waived on September 4, 2020, and re-signed to the practice squad two days later. He was elevated to the active roster on November 14, November 21, and November 30 for the team's weeks 10, 11, and 12 games against the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

, and

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 a ...

, and reverted to the practice squad after each game. He was signed to the active roster on December 26, 2020. He was waived on August 14, 2021.

Washington Football Team

Wilson was claimed off waivers by the

Washington Football Team The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) E ...

on August 15, 2021. He was waived on August 31, 2021.

Denver Broncos

On November 3, 2021, Wilson was signed to the Denver Broncos practice squad. He was released on November 9. He was re-signed on December 21. His contract expired when the team's season ended on January 8, 2022.

Personal life

Wilson is the son of Chris Wilson, who was selected by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine ...

in the 12th round of the

1992 NFL Draft The 1992 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 26–27, 1992, at the Marriott ...

. Chris was also a member of the USC coaching staff while Caleb was a player.

References

External links

*
UCLA Bruins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Caleb 1996 births Living people People from Gardena, California Players of American football from Dallas Sportspeople from Los Angeles County, California Players of American football from California American football tight ends UCLA Bruins football players Arizona Cardinals players Washington Redskins players Washington Football Team players Philadelphia Eagles players Denver Broncos players