Wilford's GI Joe Attitude Fits Well In Miami

[DolFan619]

http://www.miamidolphins.com/newsite/news/top_story.asp?contentID=5750

Wilford's GI Joe Attitude Fits Well In Miami

April 24, 2008
   
Based on Ernest Wilford's nickname growing up -- "GI Joe," the former Virginia Tech and Jacksonville Jaguar wide receiver should fit right in with the tough new Miami Dolphins regime that preaches discipline, hard work and leadership.

So often football is compared to the military, with lots of military terminology woven into the playbook, and Wilford, 29, was a tried and true military buff all the way up to his senior year in high school at Franklin/Armstrong Military Academy in Richmond, Va. His mother, Janice, recalls how naturally her son took to the daily regimen there.

"Ernest was a very, very good military student, and we thought that he was going to lean toward a military career," said Janice Wilford, who described Ernest as a very rambunctious child always full of energy. "As a matter of fact, Ernest would wake up at four o'clock in the morning and he would clean all his medals and press his uniform to the 'T'; we thought he was going to be the next Colin Powell."

From an early age, Wilford exhibited a will to overcome whatever obstacles were placed in his path, conquering the club foot that hampered him as a baby and becoming a top-notch track and field athlete. In fact, the 6-foot-4, 218-pound Wilford didn't start playing football until his junior year at Franklin and picked it up very quickly.

The offenses at Franklin and Wilford's next stop, the college preparatory school Fork Union Military Academy, were more run-oriented, so he didn't have too many opportunities to showcase his receiving skills. As a senior at Franklin, Wilford caught 15 passes for 247 yards and three touchdowns, and then in 1998, he reeled in 25 passes for 297 yards and seven touchdowns at Fork Union, drawing the attention of head coach Frank Beamer at Virginia Tech.

A dropped two-point conversion against Miami that would have tied the game and stalled the Hurricanes' national title hopes in 2001 nearly defined Wilford's college career, but he bounced back from it.

"Unfortunately, I dropped the pass, and from that point on that one missed catch solidified my career," Wilford said of his sophomore moment. "I vowed to not let that situation happen again, and those following two years my career just blossomed and got me into the NFL. Although that situation was a negative, I turned that negative into a positive."

By the time he was finished in Blacksburg, Wilford owned Virginia Tech's record for career receptions with 126, surpassing Antonio Freeman's 121 from 1991-94, and compiled 2,052 yards and 11 touchdowns. He was a first-team All-ACC as a senior, when he caught 55 passes for 886 yards and three touchdowns, and then patiently waited for his name to be called on draft weekend. The Jaguars selected Wilford in the fourth round and he received much less hype than the receiver taken before him in Jacksonville, Reggie Williams, who was the ninth overall selection.

The following year, the Jaguars took another receiver in the first round, Arkansas' Matt Jones with the 21st pick, but Wilford never lost focus and never got down on himself. His confidence and his work ethic eventually paid off in the eyes of head coach Jack Del Rio, and the ball started coming Wilford's way more often, culminating last season when he caught 45 passes for 518 yards and three touchdowns.

"He's a physical guy that is willing to do anything to help the football team win," said Del Rio at the NFL owners meetings earlier this month. "He's got the ability to make some acrobatic catches. He compensates for a lack of top-end speed with his ability to jump and use the strength of his body."

Wilford gave the New England Patriots fits in their AFC Divisional playoff meeting at Gillette Stadium, catching a 6-yard scoring pass from David Garrard in the second quarter that allowed the Jaguars to go into the half tied with the unbeaten Patriots, 14-14. He finished with two catches for 21 yards, with his 15-yarder making the highlight reel.

But after finishing 11-5 and coming so close to reaching the AFC Championship for the third time in franchise history, the Jaguars decided to go after more speed in the offseason. So after four seasons they parted ways with Wilford, and Miami swooped in and signed him on March 1. His size fits the mold of a Bill Parcells-type receiver, like Keyshawn Johnson with the Jets and Cowboys when Parcells was head coach, but Wilford has his own identity.

"I think I best describe myself as myself. I don't want to be compared to anybody because the most important thing you have is your name," said Wilford, who caught 141 passes for 1,994 yards and 14 touchdowns in Jacksonville. "What I bring personally to the game is that I'm a physical receiver, one who can get off the line of scrimmage and somehow make separation. I'm not the fastest but I can get open and you can depend on me on third down and in the red zone, and when the ball is in the air it's mine."

Because of his experience, and with the Dolphins presently having a young group of receivers, Wilford also is going to be counted on to serve as an example and even a mentor to second-year wideout Ted Ginn, Jr., and third-year receiver Derek Hagan. He points to his blocking ability, leadership skills and desire to do whatever's asked of him as attributes that the young receiving corps can emulate.

There is only one man Wilford credits with turning him into the player and person he is today, and it's not his high school coach, his coach at Fork Union, Beamer or Del Rio, but it's the man whose name he proudly carries – his father, Ernest Wilford, Sr. By all accounts, the patriarch of the Wilford family is the epitome of a working man, having sweated and bled on a farm as a teenager before becoming a truck driver, which he still does to this day.

"My father is a guy who didn't graduate from high school, a guy who provided for seven kids not having a high school education," Wilford said. "He's definitely been the biggest influence in my life as a man, as a father, as a son, and I'm just so excited to have him as my father. I'm so thankful to have him as a father and he's the one I get all of my energy and all my success from."

[YoFuggedaboutit]

Earnest Wilford may very well prove to be a good pickup for this new regime. 

Derek Hagan needs to get it in gear or he'll find himself on the unemployment line come season's end.

[DolFan619]

Earnest Wilford may very well prove to be a good pickup for this new regime. 

Derek Hagan needs to get it in gear or he'll find himself on the unemployment line come season's end.

  Ernest Wilford isn't flashy but he can move the chains, and is good blocker.  As for Hagan, this is definately a make or break season for him.  However, Coach Sparano said that Hagan was one of his hardest workers in the offseason program.  So, we'll see if it can carry over to the field.  Hopefully, Hagan has also been doing some routes and catching passes from Beck.

[Guru-In-Vegas]

I wouldn't be surprised if Wilford turns out better than Ginn.