In the week leading up Sunday's rivalry game against Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin challenged the rangy rookie linebacker, recognizing that when speedy pass catching running back Justice Hill was in the game, the Ravens would target Wilson. Sure enough, with the Steelers clinging to a 15-10 lead with just over eight minutes remaining, Hill raced out of the backfield on a wheel route, using a pick from receiver Rashod Bateman to get free.
Recognizing the play from film study, Wilson took off and intentionally went under the pick in an attempt to bait Jackson into throwing the ball in his direction.
"Once you go under a pick route," Wilson said, "you're in chase mode."
Using his 4.43 speed, the 6-foot-4, 233-pound linebacker ate up ground with his long legs. Hill jumped to make the catch and initially looked like he secured it with both hands. But Wilson never stopped. He fought through the running back's hands, snatched the ball with one hand and wrestled it free as both tumbled to the ground.
"That's not normal," fellow inside linebacker and former Raven Patrick Queen said. "To know Justice, run with him step for step and make a play like that? That's All-Pro stuff."
The interception swung the momentum in a critical spot, introduced Wilson to the rivalry and helped lift the Steelers to an 18-16 win over their AFC North foe and an 8-2 record. The play also encapsulated who Wilson is as a person and a player, with his all-out, play-through-the-whistle approach.
"I say it all the time: If I have to go out there and pass out or die on that field, I'm willing to do that," Wilson said earlier this year. "I'm literally willing to die on that field."
How does an athlete create this type of mentality? This is the story of how a tough-love father, a brother who now pitches for the Milwaukee Brewers and a series of career-defining injuries created his hair-on-fire, win-at-all-costs playing style.
Growing up on a dirt road next to a farm in Hillsborough, N.C., where Wilson credits chasing dogs for building his young speed, a self-proclaimed country boy was raised on competition.
His father, Chad, grew up without a father figure and eventually went into the Army, where he learned lessons about discipline that he instilled in his two boys, Bryse and Payton.
"He wanted a different life for us," Payton said. "That's something that he just was very persistent on.
"If we're going to play sports, we're going to try to go to the very top," he continued. "We weren't going to play sports just to have fun. We're going to play sports to be the best."
Each practice, Payton knew exactly where to find his father watching each play and making sure his son was giving 100 percent effort. If he took a play off, he knew an earful would be waiting for him during the car ride home.
Payton's older brother, Bryse, who was selected by the Atlanta Braves in the fourth round of the 2016 MLB Draft, got it, too. Once, Chad caught Bryse goofing off during a baseball camp at the University of North Carolina, much like a normal kid would. After the camp, each player received a blue and white Tar Heels hat.
"He said, 'I paid the money and took the time to bring you this. You're at least going to give 100 percent effort,'" Bryse said over the phone. "He took my hat, and he threw away."
With his father pushing him and his mother, Tracey, cooking meals and videotaping every game, Payton grew into a dominant three-sport athlete.
A relentless lacrosse player, he once scored six goals in a game. On the wrestling mat, he honed his competitive fire on the road to a state championship in the 220-pound weight class. He thrived in the "dungeon"-like environment of a dingy, sweaty wrestling room and loved the nature of the sport. On the football field, the coach chooses to put you in the game. In wrestling, you compete head-to-head for the roster spot in each weight class.
"Wrestling just taught me so much and made me who I am today, the way that I play the game," Wilson said. "I think a lot of that comes from wrestling and the mentality that was instilled in me."
While Wilson thrived in any athletic endeavor, the football field became his passion.
Before each football season, former Orange High coach Van Smith called the middle school coach, Aaron Carr, and asked for a scouting report on incoming players.
"Let me tell you about Payton Wilson," Smith remembers Carr saying. "He's going to be the player you love the most and he's going to be the player you hate the most at the same time."
Puzzled, Smith needed to hear more. Carr explained that Wilson was unbelievably talented and would make every play on the field.
"But if you take him out of the game?" Smith recalls Carr saying. "He's going to stand behind you on the sideline and tug your shirt sleeve and constantly say, 'Coach, I can run better than that. Coach I can catch better than that. Coach, I can throw better than that. Coach, I can make that tackle.' And he was absolutely right."
In the first game of his junior season, against a nearby rival, Wilson racked up 244 punt return yards in a single game.
"I was scratching my head saying, 'Why do they keep kicking him the ball?'" Smith remembers. "Go for it on fourth down. Do something."
Wilson became the catalyst for a suffocating defense that allowed just 3.3 points per game on the way to an 11-0 season. Before long, college scouts began lining the sideline at Orange High.
Clemson defensive line coach Dan Brooks attended one game to scout Wilson. Early in the first quarter, the opponent ran an option play away from Wilson, who turned, outran the other linebacker -- who was closer to the play -- hit the quarterback as he was pitching the ball and then bulldozed the ball carrier as he was catching the football.
"Dan Brooks turned and looked at us and said, 'I've seen enough, Coach. He can play for us,'" Smith remembers. "And he left. That was in the first quarter."
In the offseason entering Wilson's senior season of high school, the entire football team was enrolled in a weightlifting class for the final period of the day. Routinely, the coaching staff took players to the track to put them through grueling workouts. Coincidentally, another class with students with special needs was also on the track.
"Payton, the way he would interact with those kids, it was incredible," Smith said. "He has heart for people in that situation."
On days when players complained about the work, Smith would tell them to look around for a dose of perspective.
"These kids, they'd give their right arm to be able to do what you do, to get out of that wheelchair for one day and run," he said.
When the homecoming game came around, one of the girls with special needs made the homecoming court. In his grass-stained uniform, Wilson -- who pursued special education at NC State -- escorted her to midfield for the emotional halftime ceremony.
That senior season, the Orange's starting quarterback went down. In a pinch, the staff lined Wilson up in the backfield as a wildcat quarterback, where he terrorized defenses with his speed and natural instincts.
Ahead of the playoffs, Smith expected a blowout win against cross-town rival Cedar Ridge and planned to rest his starters in the second half -- a decision he knew would irk the linebacker who almost refused to come off the field.
"Of course, Payton was mad at me, like, 'You're gonna take me out?'" Smith said with a laugh.
Wilson wouldn't make it to halftime. On the opening kickoff, out of nowhere, he collapsed in a heap. His ACL was torn, his season over. The hope of a deep playoff run went out the window, and along with it, Wilson's chance to compete in the U.S. Army All-America Bowl and other showcase events.
An athlete who poured everything into his sport now had it taken away. It was a feeling that became all too familiar.
NC State coach Dave Doeren still remembers Payton Wilson getting up after making a tackle with both of his arms hanging at his side.
The linebacker had played through one dislocated shoulder for most of the 2020 football season. But in the regular-season finale against Georgia Tech, he wrapped up a ball carrier and felt both shoulders pop. Somehow, he finished the game with 11 tackles and won ACC Defensive Player of the Week.
"His pain tolerance is through the roof," Doeren said. "To say he has a warrior's mentality is an understatement. There's been times where he wanted to return to play and the trainers had to put the leash on him."
That happened much more often than anyone hoped, as Wilson endured repeated injuries, especially to his shoulders and knees, undergoing double-digit surgeries since high school.
Wilson entered college still rehabbing his high school knee injury. His college debut was delayed again when he tore the ACL in the same knee a second time in the summer ahead of the 2018 season, forcing him to undergo a revision surgery.
With a relentless attitude, Wilson attacked his rehab and quickly ascended the depth chart.
"Every rep that he took in practice, it was like the last play he's ever going to be on the football field," NC State defensive coordinator Tony Gibson said. "He's a creature. I've coached 30 years of college football, including 23-24 years at the Power 5, Division I level. I've never seen anything like it.
"There are certain guys that like football. There are guys that play football for different reasons in their life. This dude loves football. He needs football."
The combination of all-out effort and unique speed made Wilson a versatile chess piece in Gibson's defense, allowing the coach -- who calls Wilson "the eraser" -- to deploy him in a varied role. Perhaps the best example of his range was when Gibson would drop Wilson as the deep safety, allowing the five defensive backs to play man coverage against almost any offensive formation or concept.
"If somebody screws it up, you know this guy's going to track it down and go get it," Gibson said.
Wilson eventually had surgery on both shoulders following the 2020 season. Preseason accolades flowed in ahead of a 2021 season that reshaped his career and tested his will. He was named to the watch lists for the Chuck Bednarik Award (for the best defensive player in college football) and Butkus Award (top linebacker).
Wilson figured if the season unfolded how he hoped, he'd be ready to jump to the NFL. Two games in, that plan hit a major roadblock.
In Week 2 against Mississippi State, Wilson raced to make a tackle when an offensive lineman landed on top of him, breaking his shoulder blade. He was distraught in the locker room.
He had been injured often. But this felt different.
"He was really down about it, thinking, 'Maybe football's not for me,'" Smith said. "'Maybe God has another plan for my life. Maybe I'm not supposed to play anymore.'"
His brother, Bryse, remembers the hard phone call when Payton told him he'd be out for the season. This was the low point.
"He was about ready to just hang it up, just because he couldn't stay healthy," Bryse said. "I pretty much told him, 'At this point, there's really not much for you to lose. You have one more serious injury, it's probably going to be over for you, and it's going to be out of your hands anyways, so you might as well keep going and keep working.'"
Payton, who in almost every interview mentions God or Jesus Christ, turned to his faith and leaned on his now-fiancée, Lilah Ivey, for support. The injury forced him to take a critical look at his career and his life. He came to believe it was a blessing in disguise.
"I learned that I was taking it for granted," Wilson said. "We take everything for granted, including the simple ability to walk and breathe. Some people aren't able to.
"I was just coming up to practice every day just regretting practicing and didn't realize how fast something can be taken away from you. And when it did, it was the best thing that ever happened to me."
Wilson decided at that moment he was going to approach every play like it was his last. So many players preach this mantra, but only someone who has nearly had his passion taken from him can truly live it.
Wilson tweaked his training with a little inspiration from Steelers great Troy Polamalu. Well, sort of.
Scott Emerson, a strength and conditioning coach in North Carolina, is a former powerlifter who once could bench press 525 pounds and squat 720. However, he began to alter his approach to focus on type II fast-twitch fibers with the Shock Method, a German training approach first popularized in the U.S. by Marv Marinovich, who famously trained his son and later worked with the Steelers' star safety.
Instead of heavy barbell movements that were a staple in the 1990s and 2000s (and still are in many programs), the approach focuses on plyometrics and other ballistic movements.
"What we do really improves intent, so when you get on that field, it's second nature," Emerson said. "You're moving around like a damn gazelle because you're stimulating those fast-twitch fibers."
Over time, Emerson watched as Wilson's Jekyll and Hyde approach -- a soft-spoken man of faith off the field and a menace on it -- to training took shape. His natural athleticism, his workman-like attitude and the science-based approach helped take Wilson to another level. Videos that went viral ahead of the draft depicted Wilson jumping over 42-inch hurdles and leaping onto a 44-inch box.
"Payton was probably putting four times his body weight into the ground, which would be over 1,000 pounds," Emerson said. "Nobody's squatting that."
Wilson stayed mostly healthy and thrived in his final two seasons with the Wolfpack. In 2022, even though he missed two games due to injury, Wilson racked up 88 tackles. He could have jumped to the NFL but felt he had unfinished business in college. He returned in 2023 to put up video game-like numbers, including a whopping 138 tackles, almost double the total of any teammate.
"If you ever ask him why he plays so hard, his answer is going to be, 'Because I feel like, if I don't make this tackle, it's going to score,'" Gibson said. "That's the mentality he approaches it with every single rep."
That season, Wilson also produced a play that summed up his college career.
Against Notre Dame, quarterback Sam Hartman found receiver Matt Salerno in a soft spot in the Wolfpack's zone defense. Salerno turned up the field with nearly 10 yards' head start on Wilson. But with determination and freakish speed, Wilson chased down Salerno from behind the save a touchdown. The Wolfpack GPS monitors clocked Wilson at 23.7 mph.
"He just flies around the field and plays until he's totally exhausted," Doeren said. "All coaches say, 'Play until you've left it all on the field.' He does it every day."
Yet, Wilson's college coaches say the defining moment of the linebacker's career happened off the field. During the 2023 season, the Wolfpack fanbase turned on struggling quarterback Brennan Armstrong.
After a win over Marshall, Wilson stood at the podium for his normal postgame interview. After the questions were complete, Wilson re-emerged from the locker room. He had something else to say.
"We've got to stop booing Brennan," Wilson said. "He is hard-nosed (player). He's a great person. Just imagine if that was your kid out there on that field in front of 70,000. Stay behind him, Wolfpack nation."
That season, Wilson won all of the awards he was nominated for ahead of his trying 2021 season, taking home All-America honors, ACC Player of the Year, the Butkus Award and the Bednarik Award. But to the Wolfpack staff, the moment when he stuck up for his teammate was most revealing of his character.
"That was the coolest thing I've seen a player do," Doeren said. "It was a unifying moment, and it took a defensive player to stand up for an offensive player to do it."
The Wilson family gathered inside their home in Hillsborough on draft weekend, a humble celebration with only the closest members of the linebacker's circle present.
On paper, Wilson had the measurable and the resume of an early-round pick. He swept all possible awards after a super productive final season. And at the combine, he wowed with eye-popping numbers, including the fastest 40-yard dash of any linebacker.
Many teams saw the bright red flags on his medical report and stayed away. However, in the third round (pick No. 98), Steelers GM Omar Khan pounced.
"We just saw him as an opportunity in the third round to catch a player that, ability-wise, we saw better than that," assistant GM Andy Weidl said. "Credit to Omar (Khan) pulling the trigger on it and doing the due diligence on him."
For Wilson, joining a defensive-minded organization known for high-level linebacker play was the perfect marriage.
"I truly believe that you're placed everywhere for a reason, especially something major like this," Wilson said. "I truly think that I made it all the way to the third round to end up here, where I call home now."
When the TV screen flashed and the Steelers announced they were picking Wilson, his father stood up and wrapped his son in a hug.
"We did it, buddy," Chad said, a simple message that meant so much. "We did it."