Ben Ivery Wilson (born March 9, 1939) is a former professional

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 ...

fullback in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

High school

Wilson attended Aldine Carver High School where he played football and was also the state champ in the shot put. While at Carver, he was a Jones scholar who was offered an academic scholarship to attend the University of Cincinnati, but he wanted to play football. Although he was an exceptional football player, he did not receive a scholarship offer from any white college in Texas because of segregation.

College career

The superintendent of Wilson's high school had contacts at USC and Wilson received a scholarship to attend USC. He played for 3 seasons, rushing for 1,035 yards and four touchdowns, while also catching 7 passes for 73 yards. While at USC, Wilson became the starting fullback and team captain of USC's 1962 national championship team.

Professional career

Wilson played running back for five seasons in the NFL. He was traded from the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC Wes ...

to the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the th ...

prior to the 1967 season. Wilson started the season as the team's #2 fullback behind

Jim Grabowski James Grabowski (born September 9, 1944) is a former American football player and broadcaster. He played college football at the University of Illinois and professionally in the National Football League (NFL) for the Green Bay Packers and the C ...

, but eventually became the starter when Grabowski suffered a season-ending injury. Wilson finished the season as the team's second leading rusher with 453 yards and caught 14 passes for another 88, but suffered injuries of his own in the final month, leading

Chuck Mercein Charles 'Chuck' Mercein (born April 9, 1943) is a former professional American football running back in the National Football League for seven seasons for the New York Giants, Green Bay Packers, and New York Jets. He was drafted in the third ro ...

to take over his starting spot for the Packers playoff wins against the

and

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...

in the postseason. But just 15 minutes before the opening kickoff of

Super Bowl II The second AFL-NFL World Championship Game (known retroactively as Super Bowl II) was an American football game played on January 14, 1968, at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. The National Football League (NFL)'s defending champion Green Bay P ...

, Wilson was named the starter at fullback, where he was the game's leading rusher with 62 yards in 17 carries. Late in the game he lost a contact lens on the sidelines after being tackled, and missed the rest of the game. Wilson missed the following season as a result of knee surgery. He attempted a comeback in 1969, but failed the team physical and decided to retire.

References

External links

NFL.com player page
1939 births Living people American football running backs Green Bay Packers players Los Angeles Rams players USC Trojans football players Players of American football from Houston {{Runningback-1930s-stub