Cowboys’ safety Donovan Wilson’s journey from Woodlawn to the NFL

SHREVEPORT, La. ( KTAL/KMSS ) — Former Woodlawn defensive backs coach Derwin Wilson knew that Dallas Cowboys safety Donovan Wilson was a hungry, hardworking athlete the first time they met him his sophomore year.

“Nothing that he does on Sundays surprises me,” explained Coach Derwin. “If you go back, he’s well documented on. The things that he’s doing in the league he did in high school.”

Donovan was like a sponge who soaked up as much knowledge as he could to become a better player.

“There was tremendous growth every year,” recalled Coach Derwin. “He had a mom that provided for him and did whatever she needed to do.”

“During his senior year (Donovan) had 13 interceptions, and part of him not having 17-20 is probably my fault.” added Coach Derwin. “There were a lot of ballgames where I took him out early that he could have had six or seven interceptions in a ball game. He was just that fanatic.”

When Donovan went to play on the college level at Texas A&M, Coach Derwin still played a big part in coaching Donovan on and off the field.

“Anytime he had issues going on with practice, or anything that he wanted to talk about we continued to stay in his ear,” said Coach Derwin. “During the offseason, I trained him. There were numerous times I went to Texas A&M and trained him. He always knew that I was going to be honest with him on what he needs to do to get better.”

As the years went by, Coach Derwin noticed a lot of similarities between him and Donovan. They were so alike that sometimes it felt as if they could be family, well it turns out, the two are actually related.

“I would just see myself in him a lot,” reflected Coach Derwin, “I would go home thinking, ‘What is it about this guy? What is it about this guy that’s so hungry and wants to get better and want to continue to get better and soak up the knowledge?’ I finally realized that it was the bloodline.”

Coach Derwin and Donovan didn’t realize they were related until Donovan’s senior year of high school.

“His mom said she thought we already knew it,” Coach Derwin remembered. “His family is from Blue Goose and mine is too. Everybody knows that its very small, so us Willsons are very tight. However, we didn’t have family reunions or anything, so we didn’t know the extension of our family and how big that tree is.”

For Coach Derwin, it means a lot to see Donovan shining on the biggest stage there is. It truly feels like a job well done as a coach.

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