James Curtis Wilder Jr. (born April 14, 1992) 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 ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

who played five seasons in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL) for the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...

and

Edmonton Elks The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division (CFL), West Division and plays their home games at Commonw ...

, winning the Grey Cup in 2017 and the

CFL's Most Outstanding Rookie Award The Most Outstanding Rookie Award is annually awarded to the player judged to be the best player in his first year in the Canadian Football League. The two nominees for the award are the Frank M. Gibson Trophy winner from the East Division, and t ...

for 2017. Wilder 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 ...

for the

Florida State Seminoles The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University (FSU) located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I, prima ...

, where he was part of the team that won the

2014 BCS National Championship Game The 2014 BCS National Championship Game (branded as the 2014 Vizio BCS National Championship Game for sponsorship reasons) was the national championship game of the 2013 college football season, which took place on Monday, January 6, 2014, whi ...

. He was also a member of 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 ...

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

, and

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

but did not appear in any games for those teams.

Early life

He attended

Henry B. Plant High School H.B. Plant High School is a public high school located in the neighborhood of South Tampa in Tampa, Florida, United States. It opened in 1927 between South Himes Avenue on the east and Dale Mabry Highway on the west. The school is named after ra ...

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

. Wilder was considered the No. 1 athlete recruit in the nation in his class by '' Rivals.com''. In 2009, Wilder ran for 1,004 yards and 15 touchdowns, while registering 136 tackles (66 solo) and 19

quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackle (football move), tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the l ...

s on defense. He was named the High School Junior of the Year by ''Rivals.com'', as well as 2009 ''USA Today'' All-American. Wilder was selected to play in the 2011

U.S. Army All-American Bowl The All-American Bowl (currently branded as the Navy All-American Bowl for sponsorship reasons) is a high school football all-star game, held annually at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Typically played in January, the All-American Bowl is p ...

College career

Wilder attended

Florida State University 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 ...

from 2011 to 2013. He selected Florida State over the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

and the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

. In 2012, Wilder had a breakout season, running for 635 rushing yards (5.8 yards per carry) and 13 touchdowns. Wilder won Offensive MVP for the

2012 ACC Championship Game The 2012 ACC Championship Game was the eighth football championship game for the Atlantic Coast Conference. It featured the winners of the ACCs two divisions, the Atlantic Division's Florida State Seminoles and the Coastal Division's Georgia ...

. In 2013, Wilder averaged 7 yards per carry. Wilder was named All-ACC Honorable Mention. Wilder rushed for 1,363 yards with 20 rushing touchdowns during his career at

. He entered the

2014 NFL draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

after his junior season.

Professional career

Cincinnati Bengals

On May 12, 2014, Wilder was signed as an undrafted free agent by the

. On August 30, 2014, he was waived by the Bengals. He was signed to the Bengals' practice squad after clearing waivers. On January 14, 2015, Wilder signed a reserve/future contract with the Bengals. On September 5, 2015, he was waived by the Bengals. On the following day, he was signed to the Bengals' practice squad.

Buffalo Bills

On January 20, 2016, Wilder signed a reserve/future contract with the

. On September 2, 2016, he was waived/injured by the Bills. He was then placed on injured reserve. He was released by the Bills on September 27, 2016.

Toronto Argonauts

Wilder signed with the

on March 14, 2017, reuniting head coach

Marc Trestman Marc Marlyn Trestman (born January 15, 1956) is an American professional football coach. He led the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL) to back-to-back Grey Cup victories in 2009 and 2010, and another as head coach of the T ...

with the family, as Trestman was a former Tampa Bay Buccaneers assistant coach when Wilder's father was a running back on the team. Following an injury to starting running back Brandon Whittaker, Wilder made his first professional start on July 24, 2017, against the

Ottawa Redblacks The Ottawa Redblacks (officially stylized as REDBLACKS) (Canadian French, French: ) are a professional Canadian football team based in Ottawa, Ontario. The team plays in the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL ...

. Wilder took over the starting running back role in September, earning consecutive player of week honors in weeks 13 and 14, gaining 257 and 218 yards from scrimmage in each game, respectively. He amassed 872 yards and 5 touchdowns on 122 carries, as well as 467 yards on 51 catches, and was named the CFL's Most Outstanding Rookie on November 23, 2017. While largely contained in both playoff games the Argonauts played in, Wilder rushed for a touchdown in the final game of the year, helping Toronto secure a

Grey Cup The Grey Cup () is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested between the winners ...

championship. In late January 2018 Wilder announced that he was planning to sit out of the Argos' 2018 season in the hopes of pursuing a return to the NFL in 2019. Wilder noted that his current contract of $56,000 (around US$45,000) in 2018, combined with the risk of career ending injury, does not give his family comfort about the future were he to play in 2018. The Argonauts issued a statement in response to Wilder's comments, stating their expectations of him to fulfill his contractual agreement with the organization. Failure to report to the team in due course will likely result in him being placed on the team's suspended list for his decision as per his contractual commitments with the organization. By February 27, 2018, the Argos had reportedly offered Wilder a contract extension which would make him one of the highest-paid running backs in the league. On March 3, 2018, the Argos and Wilder agreed to a two-year contract extension, keeping him in Toronto through the

2019 season Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' Dici ...

. The deal is reportedly worth $100,000 per year, with no signing bonus. Wilder played in the first 13 games of the season for the Argos, before suffering a leg injury in Week 16. Wilder, who began the 2019 season as the Argos' starting running back, was listed as a healthy-scratch by the Argos during the team's August 16, 2019 loss to the

Eskimos ''Eskimo'' () is a controversial Endonym and exonym, exonym that refers to two closely related Indigenous peoples: Inuit (including the Alaska Native Iñupiat, the Canadian Inuit, and the Greenlandic Inuit) and the Yupik peoples, Yupik (or Sibe ...

: The loss pushed the Argos record to 1–7. He finished the 2019 season playing in 14 games, rushing 92 times for 464 yards and one touchdown and catching 47 passes for 415 receiving yards and four touchdowns. Prior to entering free agency, Wilder was released upon his request on November 25, 2019.

Montreal Alouettes

On January 30, 2020, Wilder signed a one-year contract with the

. It was a self-negotiated contract, reportedly for $90,000. In late June 2020, at age 28, due to uncertainty over the

2020 CFL season The 2020 CFL season would have been the 67th season of modern-day Canadian football. Officially, it would have been the 63rd season of the Canadian Football League. It was originally scheduled to begin on June 11; on April 7, the start of the ...

amid the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, he announced his retirement from playing before being able to play a game with Montreal; he had already received a $25,000 signing bonus from his contract. He accepted a coaching position at his former high school in Tampa, Florida.

Edmonton Elks

On February 9, 2021, Wilder came out of retirement to sign a one-year contract with the

. Wilder played in 12 games for the Elks in 2021, serving as the team's starting running back carrying the ball 142 times for 770 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught 28 passes for 226 yards and one receiving touchdown. On January 24, 2022, Wilder and the Elks agreed to a one-year contract extension. Wilder played in only three games during the 2022 season as his season was cut short by a neck injury which will require surgery in order to play professional football again. On March 29, 2023, the Elks released Wilder. GetWilder

Personal

His father

James Wilder Sr. James Curtis Wilder Sr. (born May 12, 1958) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Redskins, and the Detroit Lions. Early life W ...

was an NFL running back for the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

. In January 2014, James Wilder launched his clothing line, I Am Wilder Apparel. Wilder Jr. and Wilder Sr. also announced that they would be opening and lending their names to a training facility in Tampa Bay, which helped prompt Wilder's initial retirement, stating, "I have a lot of tread on the tires, but it's a decision I have to make right now." Wilder has also participated in activism. He was a frequent protester in Houston during Black Lives Matter demonstrations following the

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

George Floyd George Perry Floyd Jr. (October 14, 1973 – May 25, 2020) was an African-American man who was murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest made after a store clerk suspected Floyd had used a counterfeit tw ...

. Wilder also started the #RunWILDERForACure hashtag once he assumed the starting tailback role in 2017, challenging other CFL running backs to donate a dollar for every yard they gained and $100 for each touchdown they scored towards breast cancer research. Several NFL rushers also joined in the initiative. He was previously the head football coach at Chamberlain High School in Tampa.

References

External links

Florida State Seminoles bioRivals.com Recruiting ProfileScout.com Recruiting Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilder, James Jr. 1992 births Living people American football running backs American football linebackers Canadian football running backs Florida State Seminoles football players Players of American football from Tampa, Florida Players of Canadian football from Tampa, Florida Cincinnati Bengals players Buffalo Bills players Toronto Argonauts players Canadian Football League Rookie of the Year Award winners Edmonton Elks players Montreal Alouettes players High school football coaches in Florida Coaches of American football from Florida