Roman Wilson, Michigan WR

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Access to direct deposits up to two days early depends on the timing of the submission of the payment file from the payer. We continue this Zach Gelb show coast to coast on CBS Sports Radio. Michigan is eight and oh number two in the country as they do enter their bye week and now joining us on the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio is a man that's made a living this year in the end zone and he had another touchdown his 10th of the season up against Michigan State and that of course is wide receiver Roman Wilson. Roman appreciate the time. Thanks for it. How are you? I'm good. I'm good. I appreciate you having me today man.

Well thanks so much for coming on. So this has been such a successful season for you individually. 27 receptions, 446 yards and 10 touchdowns. I know you've been given more of an opportunity this year but why have you been able to really take that baton and take it to the level of dominance that you've been able to? I don't know maybe at the end of the day maybe it's a big secret but one thing I like to think about is just you know focusing on like having good team success you know winning each week not thinking about next week or just focusing on our you know doing everything I can to make the team better whether that's being blocking giving good effort trying to be a better leader you know taking my focus to the next level I think all those things they all add up and then you start to have a lot of success by yourself. And there's no ego on this team. You guys have a lot of mouths to feed. We know who the quarterback is.

We know who the two running backs are and there's a wide receiver each and every week that pops off for you guys. What is that camaraderie with the team like because it seems like you guys all feed off each other's success. Yeah I mean I feel like this is the definition of a team. Everyone really loves each other. There's not really individual like cliques throughout the locker room. Everyone kind of hangs out with each other.

We all have a good time. We all bond really well so I think it's just knowing that I feel like each person on this team knows that the person right next to you is very good too just like you like you're looking at yourself like hey I'm really good but then I also understand that the guy next to me is also really good so I mean it's just you never know what's going to happen each week whether it's going to be my turn or his turn or the guy next to him you know just keeps going someone's going to have a big week and when it does I feel like this team does a really good job of understanding that you know everyone's going to eat. It's not just going to be one guy every week. There's a lot of unfinished business with this team even with you guys winning the last two Big Ten championship games. So many people make the Penn State game and the Ohio State game right as the big talking points for this program.

How do you guys block out all that noise and get to this elite level week in and week out where there's really not many hiccups for you guys? Yeah well especially in college football if you lose one game that could be your season so just understanding that you got to win every single week just to even just just to silence the fans sometimes because the fans or whoever on Twitter or the internet or the media those try to find anything could try to tear like what we build up here down and and kind of hate on it so just understand that we got to come out every week and every day and you know not take anything for granted and just give it all whenever we have the chance. Talking to Roman Wilson right now for you individually with the team success and your individual success more attention gets brought your way people start talking about your future in the NFL I'm just wondering if an NFL GM came to you and said Roman Wilson what could you bring down the road to an NFL team what would that answer be?

Just a guy who's ready to give it all like everything I got just to win a game man you know I love the win that's all that matters in my heart I'll do anything I'll go out there and block I'll play special teams you know you need me to do something crazy like I'm all for it like you want to put me on defense I'll play defense whatever you got to do like I'm ready to win a game so that's what I want. Roman Wilson here with us from the Michigan Wolverines undefeated ranked second in the country they're in a bye week right now I want to hear more about your upbringing I know your background growing up in Hawaii you won four state titles you guys won 38 straight games in high school but tell me a little bit more about the high school version even before that of Roman Wilson. Yeah so I was born and raised on the island of Maui I grew up in a Kihei I'm a Kihei boy that's what we like to call it I went to St. Louis high school it's got some big names there Tula and Marcus Mariota went there yeah I mean there's not much students all boys Catholic school was very hard very dedicated it was on a different island from where I was born so it's very hard for me to be like I got to leave all my friends behind everything and just move to the school and kind of start a new life for myself and it was hard. Did that help you though adapt to the college lifestyle because going from Hawaii to Michigan is totally different.

Yeah I mean that definitely helped me like moving on from from certain schools when I was younger and kind of having to like adapt into new cultures and meet new friends so it made this transition from Hawaii to Michigan a little bit easier. We've seen so many people from Hawaii go on to dominate college football and also have successful NFL careers who were some of the players though when you were growing up as a kid paying attention to football that you really gravitated towards and kind of looked up to? Yeah for me like in middle school it was Marcus Mariota a lot just watching him go out there and win the Heisman I remember being in like seventh grade or eighth grade and watching him get drafted after school I was like that was a big deal for me and then right after that was Tula I mean I remember I still remember this I was in a driver's ed class and I was in the back of my computer watching a national championship game and I saw him come in and do his thing and to me like that's when I knew that you know I really wanted to go and play college football because man the what he did like made me feel like that's what I wanted I wanted to replicate that and you know I kind of want to give back to the community like both those guys do and kind of way they step up for Hawaii and be a role model for them. Based off you saying what you just did it was great answer Roman Wilson here with us from the Michigan football team why did you ultimately choose to spend your college career at Michigan?

Just the school and the culture and everything coming here I think we're ranked six at the time and that's something I want to be a part of you know I want to be a team that can win the national championship I want to be a team that is a brotherhood for life not just I'm just going to go through the cycle and get kicked out once my years are over but you know once I'm done here like I can always come back you know they always welcome me back they they want me back you know I'm going to be a Michigan man for life so that's what I want to be a part of. Let me ask you about your quarterback JJ McCarthy he's having a sensational season just with your time being his wide receiver and seeing the work that he puts in how have you seen him over the years grow as a player? I mean just stepping into to that leadership role and becoming a leader of this team he even when he was a younger guy he's still a leader like he's our he's our guy like there's no other way to put it like that's my guy like if I need something I'm going to call him up like he he gives back to our team a lot more than probably anybody does or has to he's a cool like cool vibey guy to be around very chill very I feel like I can come to him and talk to him about whatever and he's also like just fun to be around he's always a he's never a negative guy I feel like every time I come to him like we're always laughing having a good time and he also puts in a lot of work and something that I like to do too so I feel like we bond over that a lot. He has put himself right in the conversation to go win the Heisman he's right now I know you can't participate in this but he's the betting favorite to win the Heisman trophy if you had to make a pitch like I'm a Heisman voter why should people vote for JJ McCarthy to win the Heisman this year? Yeah I mean he's just the best of everything I think somebody asked him about the trophy he's just like I don't even care about it like that's how locked in he is on this team like he's the best leader he's the best thrower he's the best like on his legs he's best at everything like reading conferences all that like he's the best of both worlds not just one category like he has everything. How did you find out this off season by the way when Blake Coram was coming back because that was a big piece of news for the Michigan team and a big jolt of energy for your program?

I found out just like everybody else I was at home watching it but you know I kind of had a feeling he was coming back he's got a little little itch he's got a scratch so I mean it was great to have him back he's an elite player probably one of a kind you don't see him like too too often so it was very very good very exciting to see him come back. Wrapping up with Roman Wilson I gotta ask you about the scandal right now that's going on with the sign stealing allegations people are now calling Michigan cheaters they're calling your coach into question just how do you respond to that and when you hear those things just how do you process it? Someone in this building like said it perfectly we're whatever and oh right now they're a good team someone's gonna try to do something to tear us down no matter what it is and you just gotta block it out it is what it is someone's gonna try to tear us down you gotta leave it alone.

Were there were the allegations at all when they were made public did they come to a surprise to you or like wow I wasn't expecting this to happen? No I feel like every year I've been here something's always come up with someone trying to like make some allegation or some scandal so it's not a big surprise I mean we are Michigan we're a big name so it comes with it too. Last thing I'll ask you just when you take a look at this college experience so far and I know that you have your eyes set on going undefeated right winning the national championship game beating Penn State, Ohio State, win another Big 10 championship and winning it all but when you reflect on your career so far at Michigan just what are some of the memories that come back to mind with what you've already been able to accomplish? For me probably just growth I mean coming in here in 2020 and having a really really hard year and seeing the the culture and the just the rise of this team go from 2020 to 21 and then it's like oh how better how much better can we get from 21 to 22 and now it's oh how much better can we get from 22 to 23?

I mean people keep saying we're such a good team but we still have so much more like space to go and so much time to get better like you know what I mean? What's your favorite hardball story by the way? Oh probably let's just turn off. It's all right you can continue it's good we can still see favorite hardball story is probably probably seen him in the cold tub with his khakis on. Wait he has the khakis on in the cold tub? Yeah yeah khakis in the cold tub. Man that's someone that never breaks character well hey Roman Wilson you have an incredible season 10 touchdowns we're excited to see what keeps on happening with the football team appreciate you doing this and good luck today. Yeah thank you so much for having me.