Florida Gators: Marco Wilson On the Shoe That Launched A Lifetime Of Lessons
Marco Wilson would rather just forget about the shoe.
He doesn’t want to reflect on a play that arguably took the game out of his team’s hands and subsequently derailed a season.
He doesn’t want to rehash the mistake that turned nearly an entire fan base against him and tarnished a legacy he’d spent four years making.
He doesn’t want to constantly live in one of the worst moments of his life.
But at this point, it’s too late. Marco Wilson has made his peace with the fact that at this point, he’s going to be forever linked to that shoe. And as he continues through meetings with NFL teams in preparation for the NFL Draft (beginning on April 29), Wilson knows he’s going to have to address the play that launched 1,000 meme’s.
“Sometimes the LSU play kind of gets brought up. But I don’t run away from it. It’s part of my life, and things happen,” Wilson explained to reporters following his Pro-Day on March 31.
We won’t continue to hammer on Wilson with a complete history of the “LSU shoe toss” but a quick summary in case you’ve been living under a rock: in the regular season finale (a make-up game since the October game had been rescheduled due to COVID-19), the No. 6 Florida Gators (8-1) were tied with the LSU Tigers (3-5) at 34-all with two minutes to play. On 3rd and 10, Wilson stopped Kole Taylor to force a punt. In the act of the tackle, Taylor’s shoe came off. Wilson, in exuberant celebration of the stop, picked up Taylor’s shoe and threw it.
It lead to an unsportsmanlike flag, giving the Tigers a fresh set of downs and the field room to kick the game-winning field goal.
The vitriol was quick and swift…and expected, as Wilson understands.
“I mean, I was getting just disgusting messages in my Instagram, stuff like that. Just seeing how quick people can turn on you and how negative they can really be in a tough situation, and how people could really not understand how things may play out in life. But it’s understandable. I learned that lesson.
“I was upset after the game. Next day I woke up, I sit there and try not to dwell on … obviously I was getting hundreds of messages. But I tend not to look at that stuft, just continue to move forward with my day, move forward with my life. I can’t get caught up in the opinion of people who don’t matter, who are not working on the field with me, who are not putting blood, sweat and tears in the weight room and everything with me and working every day at practice. I’m not worried about that. Those people don’t know me personally, so I don’t blame if you’re mad.”
The locker room was surprisingly supportive, according to Wilson—“the brothers I had on this team they’re really here for me. They didn’t like beat me up or anything in the locker room. They just talked to me”—and they then began to prepare for the SEC Championship.
That game was also a close loss, but somehow felt much more positive than the previous week. Wilson then opted out of the Cotton Bowl against the Oklahoma Sooners, along with a majority of starters. It was time to step away, get his mind right after sinking to one of the darkest times of his life.
“I just learned especially early your mental health is just as important as your physical health, because if you don’t have mental health you’re not going to be able to just accomplish the things you want to accomplish.”
He modified his social media accounts, but knew he needed to keep his face in public. So he shifted the majority of his social focus to YouTube and Twitch, where he’s developed a following and community as a gamer. It’s that community that helped provide support when it felt like the rest of his foundation had been shattered, even if by his own accord.
“I’ve always really loved playing video games. I can sit, other than studying film, playing football, I can sit and play video games for hours. So rather than sitting there playing video games for hours for no reason, I just feel like I can make a big deal out of it. There’s a lot of money to be made in the streaming industry, in the YouTube industry. And I also built a really a good family on Twitch. I have kids who are coming into my streams daily and I’ve build a real good connection with them and really I motivate these guys and they watch my videos and watch my streams. It’s something really cool to do while doing something I enjoy.
“If I stay off social media, my face won’t be in there, that’s why I still try to do YouTube videos. I still try to do all types of stuff. I’m trying to grow on and off the field. So I’m not going to let any little situation just make me disappear from the presence of social media.”
As mentioned, Wilson knows the question will arise in meetings about the shoe toss. It has to; these general managers and coaches are getting ready to make decisions involving a lot of futures and even more money. Every bit of homework is required, including making sure they’re inviting a mentally mature individual into their organization.
With his answer to the question he never wanted to hear again, Wilson hopes to assure them he’s more than his worst moment…while also addressing another one of his less than ideal games.
“The A&M game was just a mix of miscommunication on the back end. No problem with play-making ability there,” Wilson says in reference to the Texas A&M loss in which he gave up a couple of big touchdowns.
But it’s the shoe toss teams really want to know about.
“I just answer them in the way I need to, which is the LSU game, had a lot of energy. Made a good play. I was excited and just made an unfortunate mistake. That’s how that is. I wished it never happened, but things happen. Everything’s not going to go your way. Are you going to face adversity in life and see how this can affect my team, affect me, affect my family, stuff like that.
“It opened my eyes to a lot of things. Certainly not something I’d ever do again. If you watch my play, people might think I have mental issues, like, character issues, but that’s never the case. I’ve never gotten a personal foul like that in my life. You can cut the film break down and see that. I’m unhappy that it happened but happy at the same time, because it taught me a lot of lessons for moving forward in my life.”
It’s a well-rehearsed answer, a stump speech if you will, indicating Wilson entered this draft process knowing he’d have to address the play. But scripted or not, it doesn’t shy away from it either. He embraces the pain and with it, the growing pains of learning from ones mistakes.
“I’m the kind of person who’s going to try to elevate the people around me as well as myself. I’m going to try to make sure everyone’s doing the right things and doing what’s right and doing things that are going to help you, elevate who you are spiritually, mentally, physically, all types of things. I’m not someone who is going to cause you issues off the field. I’m just a straight-up guy who’s going to mind my own business and just work hard to help others.”
Wilson made the most of his Pro Day; he completed 26 reps on the bench press, which would have led corners if the NFL Combine had been held this year (it wasn’t due to COVID-19). He ran a 4.37 in the 40-yard dash and he hit 43.5 on the vertical jump, going over the measuring device itself.
“It was pretty exciting, to perform these numbers I did” Wilson admitted after his performance.
"The work doesn’t stop here. I’ve got a lot more work to do, preparing for eventually having to go to an NFL camp. But I’m excited. I’ll take this one today and continue to work.”
Marco Wilson would rather just forget about the shoe.
It’s part of his story now though; it shaped him, it forced him to grow up, it taught him many a valuable lesson. But as he prepares to become the next Florida Gator in the NFL, the shoe will not define him.
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