Raiders QB Wilson Didn't Live Up to His Promise

Quarterback Marc Wilson is the sixth-leading passer in the history of the Oakland-Los Angeles-Oakland Raiders, but it’s safe to say that longtime fans of Raider Nation and even Wilson himself, believe there could have been more.

The Raiders drafted the 6-6, 205-pound Wilson in the first round (No. 15 overall) of the 1980 NFL Draft out of BYU, where he was the Cougars’ first-ever consensus All-American, won the Sammy Baugh Trophy, and was selected Most Valuable Player of the Senior Bowl.

Wilson passed for 3,720 yards and 29 touchdowns as a senior. The Cougars went 11-0 during the regular season before losing to Indiana, 38-37, in the Holiday Bowl, where he shared the MVP award with the Hoosier quarterback Tim Wilbur.

In 1998, Wilson was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, but his pro career didn’t live up to the promise he showed at BYU.

“I was best (in high school) at baseball, next was basketball and, by far, football was the thing I was least good at,” Wilson said a few years ago when he admitted his pro career was not what he hoped it would be. “Football was the one I liked the least. It was the only game, and I don’t want this to sound wrong, that I felt like I couldn’t control. It used to drive me crazy.

“ … I think I’d be less than honest if I didn’t say I had moments of sadness over my pro career and wished it had turned out different. I don’t know what else I could have done. I really felt I did all I could do.”

What Wilson did in eight seasons with the Silver and Black was complete 871-of-1,666 passes for 11,760 yards and 77 touchdowns with 86 interceptions, while compiling a 31-19 record as a starter. He also played for the New England Patriots in 1989 and 1990, where he was only 1-9 as a starter.

Wilson has two Super Bowl rings but was on the sidelines as quarterback Jim Plunkett led the Raiders to a 27-10 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XV after the 1980 season and a 38-9 rout of the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII three years later.

Plunkett, who was voted Most Valuable Player in that first game, replaced injured starter Dan Pastorini who sustained a broken leg during the 1980 season, but in 1983 Wilson became the starter in the middle of the season only to be knocked out of action by a broken shoulder before Plunkett took over again and led the Raiders to another Super Bowl victory.

Wilson also was the starter for 10 games in 1984 before going out because of a broken thumb, so bad luck had at least something to do with him not becoming a star with the Raiders, even though he led the Raiders to the AFC West title with a 12-4 record in 1985.

However, Wilson passed for only 135 yards and threw three interceptions in a 27-17 loss to the Patriots in an AFC wild-card game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum that season to end his last real opportunity with the Raiders, and the next season he was booed by the home fans.

“The first time we ran out, I heard the boos,” said Wilson, who lost the starting job to Plunkett again in 1985 and 1986. “I didn’t pay any attention to them. You reach the point where you can’t control what people say and what fans think. I decided all I could do was go out and play the best I can.

“ … What I try to do is the best I can. I don’t know if I have a chance (to start) or not. I’ve decided that I can’t end up worrying about what Jim is doing rather than what I’m doing.

“That’s how I approach the season and how I walk out the (locker room) door.”

Coach Tom Flores still had Plunkett and the Raiders added young quarterback Rusty Hilger, whom the fans wanted to get the call, so in 1988 Wilson went out that door for the last time.

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