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Oakland runningback RB Geoff Wilson sits in front of a monitor, going over the film from last year's games, play by play. He looks up at us with barely a notice of the cameras and says, "See Shinkle right there? He's already called the play. See him head to the weak side?" He is of course referring to SLC's OLB Vinny Shinkle during Oakland's 38-24 loss to the Stallions. "He knows it's a 48dive", Wilson adds. It goes on and on like this for an hour. He has a stained, dilapidated, old notebook in which he is furiously scribbling notes after hours of film study. We look to the side and notice four cans of red bull, three cups of half consumed coffee and about five other notebooks, full of Wilson's, hard to read, scribbled notes.
This is the time of year most players are hard at work. Well....hard at work fishing, hunting, taking the kids to Disney World, spending time with the family, barbecuing and playing golf with friends. But when we arrive, the security guard at the Oakland Alameda complex gives us a sideways glance, and ushers us through. We take a chance to ask him about Wilson. Is he for real? Are the rumors true? How much work does he actually put in? How often is he here? With half a snicker, the security guard tells us, "Ya wanna know? That sonofabitch makes me get here at 5am every day. I mean, shiiiit, the season's over dude, what ya doing here anyway? Ya ain't going to the playoffs, enjoy the summer. But no, that stubborn sonofabitch is here, every day of the damn week. He don't get here till round 8 on Sunday's, but the rest of the week, 5am, right on the nose. He don't leave till round 3...sometimes 4. I dunno if he even eats. Never seen anyone deliver here".
We drive through, intrigued by what we know so far. The league called Jave, the general manager and owner of the Oakland Devildogs, early this morning to notify him that Geoff Wilson had swept the awards voting this year. Winning "All League First Team Running Back", "Offensive Player Of The Year", and the IFL's "Player Of The Year" puts Wilson in the leagues elite, joined by only a select few, including Chris "Spider" Webb, Wilford Timmerman, former Oakland "ALL WORLD" QB Gene Hamilton and Tobias Stanfield. Geoff Wilson was now all but assured a place in the IFL's elite. Jave laughed and told us we could find Wilson at the facility, where he was, year round. We jumped in the cars and immediately headed for the Oakland training complex excited at the chance to see Geoff's response.
However, he didn't seem all that interested. We asked him if he had heard the results of this years voting. His response? "Ahh, no, really busy this morning". Eager to show us film of his idols, he loads up the DVD player of whom HE considers the best of the best...none other than Oakland's all time nemesis, retired SLC runningback James Tart.
"Look at him spot the holes before the ball is even snapped", or "Once he hits the hole, look at him in the open field". Wilson has nothing but praise for what could possibly be Oakland's all time, most HATED player in the IFL, James Tart.
While Tart never had the large numbers or impressive stats that Ken "DH" Singleton has, Tart ran with passion and heart and was one of the most difficult runners in the entire league to bring down. Only missing 4 games in his 9 year career, he started 140 games, rushing for 12,126yds with 50 touchdowns, averaging 4.2yds per carry. He single-handedly carried the Stallions during their first four years in the league and was a nightmare for Oakland.
"I called him last year to congratulate him on being the first IFL player ever elected to the Hall Of Fame and we talked for about an hour. He's very intelligent and didn't mind talking to me at all, despite my uniform haha".
We can only imagine the wars between these two giants had they played on the same field. Wilson has all but made everyone forget about Singleton since his arrival to the league. It hasn't been his dominance rushing the ball or his ability to catch the ball; it's been the combination of both. Probably the most versatile runningback ever in the IFL, Wilson, in just 3 years, has rushed for 4323yds 30 touchdowns, averaging 4.63yds a carry, but more importantly, gives Donovan a great "last resort" as a receiver, catching 255 passes for 2265yds 14 touchdowns. And the really impressive part? Oakland hasn't put the offense on Wilson's back, instead letting the game come to him. In his career, Wilson has 933 attempts, compared to Singleton's 1068 attempts his first 3 years in the league.
"We don't want teams focusing on Wilson, we have tried to create a balanced offense giving Wilson much more freedom to make plays on his own", said head coach Timmy Haith. "Tulsa ran that offense and had good success with it, but with Donovan and the corps of receivers we have, it's just not necessary, not to mention you just can't get away with that with teams like SLC who FEAST on runningbacks".
So what's next for Wilson? After winning league MVP and Offensive Player Of The Year, how do you top that? "I don't worry about awards, I just go out there and do the best I can. Leave the awards for the media, I just want to win games". Ironically, that's exactly what Tart said when I asked him the same question. Coincidence?
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