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NC State Football

Payton Wilson: "There's More Fuel To The Fire"

July 23, 2021
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Going into the 2021 season NC State will have a deep, talented linebacking corps, led by Payton Wilson. Wilson is coming off a First-Team All-ACC season, is third in the conference in career tackles and is a finalist for the Chuck Bednarik Award, given annually to the top defensive player in the country. He’ll look to solidify his NFL draft stock this season. 

Wilson spoke to the media during breakouts at ACC Media Kickoff this week, and here’s some highlights of what he had to say!


You said you’re healthier than you’ve ever been. Has anything changed in how you play the game or how you approach the game? 

I think it actually just makes me hungrier. I didn’t get a chance to do spring ball yet again with my brothers. So I think missing out on spring ball and not playing since Georgia Tech last year has just put more fuel in the fire for me to play even harder. 

What are some lessons that you’ve learned from some of the older guys on defense who came before you that you’re trying to apply to be being a leader for the young guys this year? 

When I first got to college, I was more of a see ball get ball type player. I wasn’t really a student of the game. I think that’s something that Germaine Pratt and Isaiah Moore and even Drake Thomas, who’s younger than me, have really helped me with. They’ve really helped me understand the game, learn the game. That’s just something I’m trying to preach to these new guys coming in. You can be as talented as you want, but you’ve got to know what you’re doing, you’ve got to know where to be to make these plays. 

After last year, expectations for this year’s team are really high. As you know, that scares NC State fans. What can you tell them to ease their fears that you guys have the capability to live up to those expectations?

I would say to the fans that they’ve had some tough luck being an NC State fan, but this team is closer than any team I’ve ever been on at NC State. It’s got more talent coming back than I’ve ever seen, a great coaching staff. We got a new coaching staff last year. So we’ve all bonded and gelled really well together. We’ve worked so hard, harder than I’ve ever worked at NC State, the whole team, everybody.

What did you focus on in the offseason? 

Obviously getting back healthy. My tackling, I had some missed tackles last year and it ate me alive. That’s something that doesn’t usually happen, and I don’t want to miss any tackles. I want to make every tackle. And also just becoming more of a student of the game, becoming smarter, learning plays.

How do you guys embrace higher expectations?

Like I tell most people, I don’t think anyone has higher expectations for us than we do. I think that people have expectations for us but they don’t know what we’re truly capable of. They’re not with us every day, so they don’t know that our expectations are a lot higher than anyone has set for us. We want to be the best. Living up to that expectation, it’s not pressure, it’s more excitement. We want to be there. We want to knock that big man off that table. 

What gives you guys the confidence you can meet those expectations? 

NC State’s always had talent, but I think we’ve ever had a team that’s this close. No other NC State team has had to go through COVID together. That brought us so close and made the whole team a brotherhood. Grant Gibson’s on the offensive line and I talk to him every day. The offense loves the defense, the defense loves the offense. So I think it’s just that brotherhood and being willing to sacrifice everything for your brother that really drives us. 

How have you guys been adjusting to name, image and likeness?

It only started July 1, so it hasn’t even been a month yet. It’s awesome, we’re able to make a little bit of money, help our families out and help ourselves out. But for me, I’m trying to keep the main thing the main thing and play football. If stuff comes my way, I’m definitely willing to work with people and advertise some stuff, but I’m honestly focused on football.

Has the university helped you at all in terms of helping you guys learn about NIL?

We actually have classes once a week from 5-6 just going over rules and regulations. Because I don’t know anything about taxes being in college, and we have to do stuff with taxes being in college, so we have educational programs that are really helping us out and keeping us eligible so we don’t do anything dumb. 

How do you, Drake Thomas and Isaiah Moore compliment each other? 

We definitely all compliment each other. Drake and Isaiah are definitely smart, smart players who know the offense. They help me out a lot knowing the offense and knowing what’s coming. They make me the player I am. They’re always boxing runs back to me so I can make tackles. And then in certain games, people game plan against me so they run to Drake the whole time. If you want to run to drake, you’re going to get tackled over there too. And then we also have people like Levi Jones who can come in and change the game, someone who can make plays, make sacks, block punts. 


 

 
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