Larry Wilson

Lawrence Frank Wilson (March 24, 1938 – September 17, 2020) was an American professional football safety who spent his entire 13-year NFL career with the St. Louis Cardinals. He was selected to eight Pro Bowls and remained on the team’s payroll until 2003, well after the franchise relocated to Phoenix in 1988. Wilson entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1978, his first year of eligibility. He was also named to the NFL’s 75th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1994 and its 100th Anniversary All-Time Team in 2019.

Wilson was born and raised in Rigby, Idaho. His mother died when he was young, and his father, who worked as a truck driver, raised Wilson and his brother. Wilson helped care for his younger brother while his father was away, and as a teenager he worked long days harvesting potatoes. In 1967, Rigby held a Larry Wilson Day in his honor.

At Rigby High School, Wilson earned 16 varsity letters. His football team won a state championship, and he set state records in the high jump and high hurdles. In 1956, he was state champion in both the 120-yard high hurdles and the 180-yard low hurdles. A Hometown Hall of Famer plaque from the Pro Football Hall of Fame now hangs at the school.

The school’s stadium was named for Wilson until the school moved, and a $20,000 monument was erected at the new site in 2021. His jersey number 7 is permanently retired, and the Larry Wilson Sharpening the Axe Award is given annually to one offensive and one defensive player. A scholarship in his name is awarded each year to a senior who reflects Wilson’s kindness, humility, and respect among peers. During the 2021 ceremony, the committee chair noted that Wilson’s character transcended politics and religion, calling him someone the community could unite behind.

After graduating high school in 1956, Wilson played college football at the University of Utah. He started at both halfback and cornerback under coaches Jack Curtice and Ray Nagel. In 1959, he was a third-team All-American and first-team All-Skyline Conference running back, averaging 5.7 yards per carry. He rushed for over 1,200 yards and 11 touchdowns in his college career and averaged 26.1 yards on kick returns. Wilson played more minutes than any other player in school history. He was inducted into the Crimson Club Hall of Fame in 1985 and was the first Utah player ever inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Despite his skill, Wilson’s size—he stood just six feet tall—caused him to fall to the seventh round of the 1960 NFL draft, where he was selected by the Chicago Cardinals. (The draft took place in November 1959, and the franchise moved to St. Louis before the 1960 season.) He was also chosen by the Buffalo Bills in the first American Football League draft. During his first Cardinals training camp, Wilson struggled at running back and cornerback and was nearly cut. In the final preseason game, coach Frank “Pop” Ivy and defensive coordinator Chuck Drulis moved him to safety, and he made the team there. As a rookie in 1960, he started 11 of the Cardinals’ 12 games at safety.

In Wilson’s second season, Drulis introduced the “safety blitz,” a maneuver designed to use Wilson’s skills. Instead of dropping back to cover passes, the safety would rush the line of scrimmage to sack or hit the quarterback. In the 1961 season opener against the New York Giants, Wilson sacked the quarterback twice on safety blitzes, helping the Cardinals pull off an upset. His aggressive play transformed the safety position.

According to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Wilson “did not invent the safety blitz, but he did capitalize on the maneuver to a degree not reached by any other pro player of the decade.” Wilson’s nickname became “Wildcat,” and the safety blitz was called “Wildcat” because of its close association with him. Drulis had earlier crafted the play but didn’t think he had a player capable of running it until Wilson arrived. Drulis persuaded the Cardinals to convert Wilson to free safety, and the blitz became so effective that it helped set up modern defenses where a blitz can come from any position. (Drulis had first tried the safety blitz in 1960 with All-Pro safety Jerry Norton.)

In 1966, Wilson had at least one interception in seven straight games, tying an NFL record at the time, and finished the season with 10 interceptions, leading the league. That year he was named first-team All-Pro by the Associated Press, the Pro Football Writers of America, the Newspaper Enterprise Association, the New York Daily News, and United Press International, and he finished second in Most Valuable Player voting.