Cedrick Wilson Sr. (born December 17, 1978) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He was selected by the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

in the sixth round of the

2001 NFL draft The 2001 NFL draft was the 66th draft annual of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft, which is officially referred to as the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at the Th ...

. He was picked up by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2005. Wilson earned a

Super Bowl ring The Super Bowl ring is an award in the National Football League given to the team members of the winning team of the league's annual championship game, the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl ring offers a collectible memento for the actual players and t ...

with the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

Super Bowl XL Super Bowl XL was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2005 Seattle Seahawks season, Seattle Seahawks and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Pittsburgh S ...

, beating the

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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

. With that achievement, he became one of very few football players to earn a championship ring at all three levels of football – high school, college, and professional. His son Cedrick Wilson Jr. has played in the NFL for the

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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

, and

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

Early life

Wilson played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

at Melrose High School, in Memphis, where he earned a state championship in 1996 as the starting quarterback topping off a 15–0 record. In high school, he was teammates with Kindal Moorehead, who made it to the NFL and played for the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

and the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

. He was teammates with Andre Lott in high school and in college.

College career

Wilson played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

under head coach

Phillip Fulmer Phillip Edward Fulmer Sr. (born September 1, 1950) is a former American football player, coach, and athletic director at the University of Tennessee. He served as head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers football team from 1992 to 2008, compiling ...

. Wilson played with the Volunteers from 1997 to 2000. At the University of Tennessee, he converted to the wide receiver position from quarterback. He earned a national championship in the

1999 Fiesta Bowl The 1999 Fiesta Bowl, the designated BCS National Championship Game for the 1998 season, was played on January 4, 1999, in Tempe, Arizona at Sun Devil Stadium. The teams were the Tennessee Volunteers and Florida State Seminoles. Tennessee enter ...

defeating

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

by a score of 23–16, topping off an undefeated season, 13–0.

Professional career

San Francisco 49ers

Wilson was selected in the sixth round with the 169th overall pick of the

by the

. As a rookie, Wilson appeared in six games and only contributed on special teams, primarily as a kickoff returner. In his second season in 2002, Wilson became a part of the receiving game for the 49ers. In Week 6, against the

, he had his first two receptions for 18 yards. He had his first professional touchdown in Week 9 against the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

. He finished with 15 receptions for 166 receiving yards and one touchdown. In Week 9 of the 2003 season, Wilson had a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to start the game against the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

in a 30–10 victory. He won NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his game against the Rams. In the 2003 season, Wilson had 35 receptions for 396 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns while contributing as a kickoff returner. Wilson posted career highs in receptions (47), receiving yards (641), and receiving

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

(3) for the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Pittsburgh Steelers

On March 8, 2005, Wilson signed with the

and had considerably less success in the 2005 regular season. Wilson's breakout for the Steelers came during the 2005 NFL playoffs. Having caught only 26 passes for 461 yards and two touchdowns during the regular season, Wilson became a reliable option for the Steelers on their path to

. In the

Wild Card Round A wild card (also wildcard or wild-card and also known as an at-large berth or at-large bid) is an invitation to a tournament or a playoff berth awarded to a team or individual that does not qualify via an automatic bid. In some events, wildcards ...

against the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

, he had three receptions for 104 yards. In the

AFC Championship The AFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the American Football Conference (AFC) and one of the two semifinal playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American football league in the wo ...

against the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

, he had five receptions for 92 yards. In Super Bowl XL against the

, Wilson had one reception for 20 yards on three targets. In the 2006 season, Wilson appeared in 15 games and started 12. He finished with 37 receptions for 504 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown. In the 2007 season, Wilson finished with 18 receptions for 207 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown in 16 games and one start.

Assault incident

Wilson was charged with assaulting his ex-girlfriend at a Pittsburgh restaurant on March 19, 2008. According to the complaint, Wilson allegedly entered the restaurant and, upon seeing his ex-girlfriend, approached her, pushed her and punched her in the face. Wilson was to be arraigned on charges of simple assault,

harassment Harassment covers a wide range of behaviors of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behavior that demeans, humiliates, and intimidates a person, and it is characteristically identified by its unlikelihood in terms of social and ...

, and

disorderly conduct Disorderly conduct is a crime in most jurisdictions, such as the United States and China. Typically, "disorderly conduct" is a term used to refer to any behavior that is considered unacceptable in a formal, civilized or controlled environment. ...

. On March 20, 2008, the Steelers released Wilson just hours after the incident. The next day, Wilson's ex-girlfriend said Wilson only pushed her, not punched. She added, "It was misconstrued apparently by the people around us."

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Personal life

In 2008, Wilson began serving as

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

at Douglass High School in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

. Dee Montgomery, Wilson's former coach at Melrose High School, is also on the staff. Wilson's son, Cedrick Wilson Jr., is currently a wide receiver for the

of the

. Wilson later moved to

White Station High School White Station High School is a four-year state school, public Secondary education in the United States, high school located in Memphis, Tennessee. White Station High is a member of the Shelby County Schools (Tennessee), Shelby County Schools syst ...

in Memphis as a volunteer coach, and became a substitute

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

teacher in the

Memphis City Schools Memphis City Schools (MCS) was the school district operating public schools in the city of Memphis, Tennessee, United States. It was headquartered in the Frances E. Coe Administration Building. On March 8, 2011, residents voted to disband the ...

system. However, in October 2012, Wilson was indicted on federal charges of fraud for hiring two people to take his teacher certification exams in his place. This was part of a massive scam orchestrated by longtime Memphis educator Clarence Mumford in which dozens of teachers in Tennessee,

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

, and

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

paid Mumford as much as $3,000 to hire people to take teacher certification exams for them. Wilson was named the head football coach at Melrose, his old high school. Wilson was not retained as the head coach following the 2021 season.

References

External links

Tennessee Volunteers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Cedrick 1978 births Living people American football wide receivers Pittsburgh Steelers players Players of American football from Memphis, Tennessee San Francisco 49ers players Tennessee Volunteers football players