Michael Ruben Wilson is a former professional American football wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers from 1981 to 1990 and is only one of a few NFL players to be a member of 4 Super Bowl championship teams.
Education
Wilson attended Carson High School where he played in a run-oriented offense and received All-Los Angeles City honors. He graduated in 1976 and moved on to Washington State University where he struggled with dropped passes as a sophomore. The next year quarterback Jack Thompson graduated and the offense changed to a ground attack, with him playing the role of a blocking wide receiver in his last two seasons.
Career
He played football collegiately at Washington State University. Dallas Cowboys
Wilson was selected by the Dallas Cowboys ninth round (246th overall) of the 1981 NFL Draft. At the time of his arrival, the team already had in its roster Drew Pearson, Tony Hill, Butch Johnson and also drafted Doug Donley in the second round that year.
He was waived on August 24, after the team decided to keep only four wide receivers.
San Francisco 49ers
On August 27, 1981, he signed as a free agent with the San Francisco 49ers, where he earned the team"s third wide receiver role behind Dwight Clark and Freddie Solomon. On September 9, 1982, he was placed on the injured reserve list.
In the 1983 NFC championship game, he had one of his best performances after replacing an injured Clark and finishing with 8 receptions for 57 yards and 2 touchdowns in a losing effort. He became a starter in 1988 after Clark retired, but the next year he was passed over by John Taylor who would remain the starter playing alongside Jerry Rice.
His combination of size and strength was not common at the time for a wide receiver, so he was also used as a tight end in selective passing situations.
Wilson retired in 1991, after the team did not offer him a contract. He began his coaching career at Stanford from 1992-1994 where he coached wide receivers and tight ends on the staff of former 49ers coach Bill Walsh, followed by two seasons as wide receivers coach of the Oakland Raiders (1995-1996). From 1997-1999 he served as wide receivers coach at University of Southern California. After four years in private business (2000-2003) Wilson joined the Arizona Cardinals as tight ends coach in 2004.
From 2005-2006 he coached the Cardinals wide receivers.
Wilson was the wide receivers coach for the Las Vegas franchise of the United Football League. He was the Cleveland Browns wide receivers coach from 2011-2012.