Former Lions Defensive Back Stanley Wilson Jr. Dies at 40
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Stanley Wilson Jr., a defensive back for the Lions from 2005-07, has died at the age of 40. The team confirmed Wilson’s death to the Detroit Free Press on Wednesday afternoon.
Wilson collapsed and died while being transferred to Metropolitan State Hospital in Norwalk, Calif., on Feb. 1, according to TMZ. He had been arrested for vandalism in August 2022 but was ruled unfit to stand trial.
Wilson played collegiately at Stanford from 2001-04, recording five career interceptions for the Cardinal. The Lions drafted him in the third round in 2005.
From 2005-07, Wilson played in 32 games for Detroit and started nine. An Achilles injury ended his career in August 2008.
Wilson was arrested three times from 2016-17, twice for attempted break-ins and once for walking around a Portland, Ore., neighborhood naked, according to the Free Press.
His father, Stanley Wilson Sr., played for the Bengals from 1983-88.
