July 8, 2022 • 10 mins
Wayne Larrivee sits down with former Green Bay Packers defensive lineman C.J. Wilson to reminisce on the winning atmosphere in Green Bay (1:03), his impromptu piano playing while preparing for the Super Bowl (2:32), and how he applies his NFL experience to life after football (8:37).
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
For more than a century, the Green Bay Packers have
been a benchmark for football excellence. Thousands of players have
helped pave the way, and we're here to tell you
their stories. I'm Wayne Laravy. This is the Packers Alumni Spotlight.
(00:24):
Former general manager Ted Thompson liked big lineman with light feet.
Little did he know when he drafted C. J. Wilson
in the seventh round of the two thousand ten draft
that he was getting a big lineman who was not
only light on his feet, but had light fingers on
a keyboard as well. C. J. Wilson, seventh round draft choice,
(00:49):
two thousand and ten. So you come to a team
and these guys at the season opening welcome dinner and
all that, they're wearing hats and cowboy hat to the
whole thing. Because the Super Bowl is gonna be in Dallas.
Pretty heavy days for a rookie of the seventh round
to come in not only make that team, but to
be a part of it. Tell me about that. It
(01:09):
was a great time. You know. I think one of
my my greatest memories when I got here was the atmosphere.
You know, coming out of college, it was all about
one thing, and I heard it from everybody every day
when this is our year, and so you hear that
every day from coaches, players, and so I start to
believe that, wait, maybe this is our year and I'm
(01:32):
being a part of something special and just getting here
and seeing all the guys and trying to find out
where you fit in because as you know, as a
football player in the NFL, you don't it's not it's
not promised. The mar is not promised. So you just
kind of find out where you fit in and trying
to make the team. Who are some of the guys
that kind of took you under their wing influenced you
a great deal? And were there some teammates that a
(01:52):
lot of guys I would say a couple of guys
that I Ryan Pickett, Colin Jenkins, you know, Jared's winning
b J Rodger, all those guys like that. Was we
was very close, very close. And your coach was a Turgo.
Turgo had a lot of toys around Turgo. Turgo make
up some things, some drills you've never seen before, but
(02:14):
you out there, but it works. He was the hardest
working coach I've been around. You know, he worked hard,
watching film and just prepare you every day for the game. Yeah,
he was a tremendous guy. So you're in the Super
Bowl situation, and you made it through the playoffs. You're
in Dallas for a week and there's an ice everything.
(02:34):
But Saturday night before the game, you just granted there
was a piano, I guess. Tell me about what happened
with that little informal concert impromptu country you had, uh
where most of your teammates that I didn't know he
could play the piano. Tell me about that. Well, you know,
I just think, you know, you don't forget things we play.
(02:55):
But it was a piano out there beside our meeting
room and a couple of guys that play on every day.
We were just walked by and sit down. But that
particular day, you know, we was waiting for a meeting
to start, and so defense all was down there early,
and so we were sitting there and I just started playing,
just playing, and just started playing. They would play this,
play this, and then all of a sudden, more guys
(03:16):
come up, more guys come up, more guys come up,
and then all of a sudden it was Greg Jenny's
came up and he just took over and just started singing,
and we had a little church, I would say, and
it was great because we was laughing, tall king, you know,
just it was like at that moment, for five minutes,
we just didn't we wasn't thinking about football, We wasn't
thinking about none of the you know, the cameras, and
(03:40):
Just and Dallas was just thinking about each other and
just having fun with each other. It kind of broke
the pressure of I would imagined the night before Super
Bowl pretty tense. You know. I wasn't trying to do that.
It was just having fun. He was just, yeah, that's interesting. Well,
you know you had mentioned I had read that you
your parents, your jets a pastor. Your mom was kind
of a singer, and they had you playing the piano
(04:01):
with two two years old. And my mother was just
and she's doing it with my some of my nieces
and nephews. Now. She would go and just tell you, see,
can't you follow the tune to a lot of bars,
and and if you can, you know with your one finger,
and then you get the concept of how to play
by ear and and so she told me when I
was two, and she said I was able to pick
it up real fast. One of my other siblings, and
(04:24):
I was playing since I was two years old, and
then I took old plan from my dad's church since
I was thirteen. Wow, what an experience. That's correct, sir.
So tell me about your Super Bowl experience. I mean
you started the game from not mistakes because they and
an extra fourthfense flman um. The Steelers had a great
running game. Tell me about that when he stepped on
(04:45):
that field. Oh man. So we had a package called
hippo package and it was for goal line and short yardage,
and so I guess, and you know, the Pittsburgh thought
we had maybe they thought we can they can run
on us, I guess. And so you know games, I
wasn't not a starter, but I'm I'm in a hippo package.
So I'm gonna sign on looking up at the big
(05:06):
stream and I never forget this. And you know, normally
started off in bass with Nickel and coaches sitting there
yelling at me, Hippo, Hippo, hippo. And I'm sitting there like, oh,
because you know you don't start who started off hippo.
So I go in the game and it's the Super Bowl,
you know, just like every other game, and it comes
off ball to snap. It's true story. I get hit
(05:28):
right in the mouth by I can't think of the
guy named, but he he probably maybe going to the
Hall of Fame one day, but he was old office line.
He had it. He just punched right in the face
and it almost broke my jaw. So I run, Oh
my god, I almost broke my jaw. But just the
experience of being there, you know, And then after that,
it was just like, you know, we trying to win,
(05:49):
and they're like you said, from that day everything from
day one, win, win, win, and so just forget about
the super Bowl. We're just trying to win this game.
But it's just pretty heavy stuff for a guy as
a rookie, right, I mean, you're gotta be sitting there's wow,
where did this all come? You got understand coming in
from college, the most you're gonna play is maybe fourteen games.
We played twenty four games my my rookie year. Twenty
(06:09):
four games. Can you imagine that? Twenty four games? That's
like two college seasons. So it was just like, wow,
this is a grind, you know, But it was fun
because coach McCarthy did a great job getting this off
the field and just the guys, you know, commodity. It
was fun. You know. Um, you also played for Don
Caper's great defensive coordinator. Tell me about your remembrances of him.
(06:32):
Dom When you walk in the room, Don voices travels there.
I mean, his boy is so deep. Don is a
great coach. He really is a great coach. And he's
just gonna I don't know, just funny stories. I just
go on and on about Don. But one of the
things I would say that this boys, I think that's
one of the first experience you know, how you don't
see Jane is like, you know, rumbles and but Don
(06:53):
was good, good at what he did. You know he did.
He was a great DEFENSEI coordinator. Tell me about the
keep playing the Super Bowl fumble that mending all. Were
you on the field at that time? Actually, actually, I think,
if I'm not mistaken, we was in hip hop again
and I think he had been Clay and Ryan picking
to knock it out and I think Bishop picked it up.
It was a Bishop who I think. I can't remember
(07:14):
who picked it up, but I just remember that, you know,
playing football, they were trying to run on us and
we were just boring our back by that we just like,
we're not gonna run on us, and we just made
him play Clay and Ryan Pickett got the ball out
and I was on the field when that happened, and
and god he want of I think it was Bishop
had picked it up and it was down here from there.
It was. It was the key playing the game. It
(07:37):
really was when you're thinking about it all that one
of the key players the game that nobody recognized it.
And I gotta give my uh it's the D line.
We was. They was backed up and Howard Green hits
the has been hand and he throws, you know, wildly
uh ball and Nick Collins picks it off and interns
(07:57):
it for a touchdown. That was to me that because
that set the tone to the game to me, and
it was like, you know, that was we stole that play,
stole a touchdown because he hit that hit hit band
and made him throw that ball like that. So that
was to me, that was one of the key plays
besides the phone. Married the father of a little girl. C. J.
(08:20):
Wilson is now a head football coach on the high
school level in Greenville, North Carolina. I got into coaching,
so now I'm just I'm about to be the head
coach this year. They just gave me the head coaching
job at our local high school, one of the local
high schools there in Green with North Carolina. So I
am putting together our team, you know, and we we
(08:43):
actually want a playoff game. Went to the playoffs and
the we haven't been in the playoffs the last ten years.
But I was able to be a part of the
coaching staff there last year. So this will be my
first year as a head coach. Good luck with that's yeah,
your experiences in pro football on me and imagine you're
applying them every day every day. It's you know, because
it's a lot of kids that are the privilege that
(09:04):
that go to my school and they don't have fathers
that come from bad homes, and you're just trying to
instill that they can make it, you know, to not
just my pro professional football, but just to make it
in a life period because you know, a lot of
kids they don't have no kind of influence, They just
influenced by the the worst. And so it's it's pretty Uh,
(09:25):
it's a good situation. I'm like, what I'm doing. You're
still playing the piano? Yeah, every Suddy, I still playing
my dad's church down still play my dad's church. And
I just got into coaching, so that's what I'll be doing.
Playing in Green Bay was special for c J. You
know what, when you're here in Green Bay, you know,
(09:45):
it's it's like family. It's a family town, family team, everybody,
everything is family. And I got a chance and was
honored to go and play for a different organizations. But
I will say this, there's no place like at home.
And you find out out real fast, like when you
get there and like wow, like everything matters. You know,
the parking, you know the city, like how expensive it was,
(10:09):
Like you know, this is I would say, the perfect
organization to play for the best. And anybody that plays
here and go other places where they know what I'm
talking about. This is the best place to place, a
sentiment echoed by one Packers alumni after another
For more than a century, the Green Bay Packers have
been a benchmark for football excellence. Thousands of players have
helped pave the way, and we're here to tell you
their stories. I'm Wayne Laravy. This is the Packers Alumni Spotlight.
(00:24):
Former general manager Ted Thompson liked big lineman with light feet.
Little did he know when he drafted C. J. Wilson
in the seventh round of the two thousand ten draft
that he was getting a big lineman who was not
only light on his feet, but had light fingers on
a keyboard as well. C. J. Wilson, seventh round draft choice,
(00:49):
two thousand and ten. So you come to a team
and these guys at the season opening welcome dinner and
all that, they're wearing hats and cowboy hat to the
whole thing. Because the Super Bowl is gonna be in Dallas.
Pretty heavy days for a rookie of the seventh round
to come in not only make that team, but to
be a part of it. Tell me about that. It
(01:09):
was a great time. You know. I think one of
my my greatest memories when I got here was the atmosphere.
You know, coming out of college, it was all about
one thing, and I heard it from everybody every day
when this is our year, and so you hear that
every day from coaches, players, and so I start to
believe that, wait, maybe this is our year and I'm
(01:32):
being a part of something special and just getting here
and seeing all the guys and trying to find out
where you fit in because as you know, as a
football player in the NFL, you don't it's not it's
not promised. The mar is not promised. So you just
kind of find out where you fit in and trying
to make the team. Who are some of the guys
that kind of took you under their wing influenced you
a great deal? And were there some teammates that a
(01:52):
lot of guys I would say a couple of guys
that I Ryan Pickett, Colin Jenkins, you know, Jared's winning
b J Rodger, all those guys like that. Was we
was very close, very close. And your coach was a Turgo.
Turgo had a lot of toys around Turgo. Turgo make
up some things, some drills you've never seen before, but
(02:14):
you out there, but it works. He was the hardest
working coach I've been around. You know, he worked hard,
watching film and just prepare you every day for the game. Yeah,
he was a tremendous guy. So you're in the Super
Bowl situation, and you made it through the playoffs. You're
in Dallas for a week and there's an ice everything.
(02:34):
But Saturday night before the game, you just granted there
was a piano, I guess. Tell me about what happened
with that little informal concert impromptu country you had, uh
where most of your teammates that I didn't know he
could play the piano. Tell me about that. Well, you know,
I just think, you know, you don't forget things we play.
(02:55):
But it was a piano out there beside our meeting
room and a couple of guys that play on every day.
We were just walked by and sit down. But that
particular day, you know, we was waiting for a meeting
to start, and so defense all was down there early,
and so we were sitting there and I just started playing,
just playing, and just started playing. They would play this,
play this, and then all of a sudden, more guys
(03:16):
come up, more guys come up, more guys come up,
and then all of a sudden it was Greg Jenny's
came up and he just took over and just started singing,
and we had a little church, I would say, and
it was great because we was laughing, tall king, you know,
just it was like at that moment, for five minutes,
we just didn't we wasn't thinking about football, We wasn't
thinking about none of the you know, the cameras, and
(03:40):
Just and Dallas was just thinking about each other and
just having fun with each other. It kind of broke
the pressure of I would imagined the night before Super
Bowl pretty tense. You know. I wasn't trying to do that.
It was just having fun. He was just, yeah, that's interesting. Well,
you know you had mentioned I had read that you
your parents, your jets a pastor. Your mom was kind
of a singer, and they had you playing the piano
(04:01):
with two two years old. And my mother was just
and she's doing it with my some of my nieces
and nephews. Now. She would go and just tell you, see,
can't you follow the tune to a lot of bars,
and and if you can, you know with your one finger,
and then you get the concept of how to play
by ear and and so she told me when I
was two, and she said I was able to pick
it up real fast. One of my other siblings, and
(04:24):
I was playing since I was two years old, and
then I took old plan from my dad's church since
I was thirteen. Wow, what an experience. That's correct, sir.
So tell me about your Super Bowl experience. I mean
you started the game from not mistakes because they and
an extra fourthfense flman um. The Steelers had a great
running game. Tell me about that when he stepped on
(04:45):
that field. Oh man. So we had a package called
hippo package and it was for goal line and short yardage,
and so I guess, and you know, the Pittsburgh thought
we had maybe they thought we can they can run
on us, I guess. And so you know games, I
wasn't not a starter, but I'm I'm in a hippo package.
So I'm gonna sign on looking up at the big
(05:06):
stream and I never forget this. And you know, normally
started off in bass with Nickel and coaches sitting there
yelling at me, Hippo, Hippo, hippo. And I'm sitting there like, oh,
because you know you don't start who started off hippo.
So I go in the game and it's the Super Bowl,
you know, just like every other game, and it comes
off ball to snap. It's true story. I get hit
(05:28):
right in the mouth by I can't think of the
guy named, but he he probably maybe going to the
Hall of Fame one day, but he was old office line.
He had it. He just punched right in the face
and it almost broke my jaw. So I run, Oh
my god, I almost broke my jaw. But just the
experience of being there, you know, And then after that,
it was just like, you know, we trying to win,
(05:49):
and they're like you said, from that day everything from
day one, win, win, win, and so just forget about
the super Bowl. We're just trying to win this game.
But it's just pretty heavy stuff for a guy as
a rookie, right, I mean, you're gotta be sitting there's wow,
where did this all come? You got understand coming in
from college, the most you're gonna play is maybe fourteen games.
We played twenty four games my my rookie year. Twenty
(06:09):
four games. Can you imagine that? Twenty four games? That's
like two college seasons. So it was just like, wow,
this is a grind, you know, But it was fun
because coach McCarthy did a great job getting this off
the field and just the guys, you know, commodity. It
was fun. You know. Um, you also played for Don
Caper's great defensive coordinator. Tell me about your remembrances of him.
(06:32):
Dom When you walk in the room, Don voices travels there.
I mean, his boy is so deep. Don is a
great coach. He really is a great coach. And he's
just gonna I don't know, just funny stories. I just
go on and on about Don. But one of the
things I would say that this boys, I think that's
one of the first experience you know, how you don't
see Jane is like, you know, rumbles and but Don
(06:53):
was good, good at what he did. You know he did.
He was a great DEFENSEI coordinator. Tell me about the
keep playing the Super Bowl fumble that mending all. Were
you on the field at that time? Actually, actually, I think,
if I'm not mistaken, we was in hip hop again
and I think he had been Clay and Ryan picking
to knock it out and I think Bishop picked it up.
It was a Bishop who I think. I can't remember
(07:14):
who picked it up, but I just remember that, you know,
playing football, they were trying to run on us and
we were just boring our back by that we just like,
we're not gonna run on us, and we just made
him play Clay and Ryan Pickett got the ball out
and I was on the field when that happened, and
and god he want of I think it was Bishop
had picked it up and it was down here from there.
It was. It was the key playing the game. It
(07:37):
really was when you're thinking about it all that one
of the key players the game that nobody recognized it.
And I gotta give my uh it's the D line.
We was. They was backed up and Howard Green hits
the has been hand and he throws, you know, wildly
uh ball and Nick Collins picks it off and interns
(07:57):
it for a touchdown. That was to me that because
that set the tone to the game to me, and
it was like, you know, that was we stole that play,
stole a touchdown because he hit that hit hit band
and made him throw that ball like that. So that
was to me, that was one of the key plays
besides the phone. Married the father of a little girl. C. J.
(08:20):
Wilson is now a head football coach on the high
school level in Greenville, North Carolina. I got into coaching,
so now I'm just I'm about to be the head
coach this year. They just gave me the head coaching
job at our local high school, one of the local
high schools there in Green with North Carolina. So I
am putting together our team, you know, and we we
(08:43):
actually want a playoff game. Went to the playoffs and
the we haven't been in the playoffs the last ten years.
But I was able to be a part of the
coaching staff there last year. So this will be my
first year as a head coach. Good luck with that's yeah,
your experiences in pro football on me and imagine you're
applying them every day every day. It's you know, because
it's a lot of kids that are the privilege that
(09:04):
that go to my school and they don't have fathers
that come from bad homes, and you're just trying to
instill that they can make it, you know, to not
just my pro professional football, but just to make it
in a life period because you know, a lot of
kids they don't have no kind of influence, They just
influenced by the the worst. And so it's it's pretty Uh,
(09:25):
it's a good situation. I'm like, what I'm doing. You're
still playing the piano? Yeah, every Suddy, I still playing
my dad's church down still play my dad's church. And
I just got into coaching, so that's what I'll be doing.
Playing in Green Bay was special for c J. You
know what, when you're here in Green Bay, you know,
(09:45):
it's it's like family. It's a family town, family team, everybody,
everything is family. And I got a chance and was
honored to go and play for a different organizations. But
I will say this, there's no place like at home.
And you find out out real fast, like when you
get there and like wow, like everything matters. You know,
the parking, you know the city, like how expensive it was,
(10:09):
Like you know, this is I would say, the perfect
organization to play for the best. And anybody that plays
here and go other places where they know what I'm
talking about. This is the best place to place, a
sentiment echoed by one Packers alumni after another
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