Stanley Wilson Sr.

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Stanley Wilson
Date of birth	August 23, 1961
Place of birth	Los Angeles, California
Position(s)	Running Back
College	Oklahoma
NFL Draft	1983 / Round 9/ Pick 248
Statistics	Pro Football Reference DatabaseFootball
Team(s)
1983-1984, 1986, 1988	Cincinnati Bengals

Stanley T. Wilson, Sr. (born August 23, 1961 in Los Angeles, California) is an American former professional football player, a running back, who played for the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals. He attended college at the University of Oklahoma and selected by the Bengals in the ninth round of the 1983 NFL Draft.

Contents 1 Drug problems 1.1 Super Bowl XXIII and subsequent ban 2 Later years 3 Family

[edit] Drug problems

Primarily used as a fullback, Wilson's career was marred by two suspensions for use of cocaine, which is banned by the NFL, in 1985 and 1987. Wilson's suspensions cost him both the 1985 and 1987 seasons in their entirety.

[edit] Super Bowl XXIII and subsequent ban

Inarguably, the most notorious instance of Wilson's relapse into cocaine usage was on the eve of Super Bowl XXIII, where the Bengals were to play the San Francisco 49ers. On the evening of January 21, 1989, the night before the game, Wilson told the coaching staff that he had left his playbook in his hotel room before a team meeting. He never returned for the meeting. Reportedly, he was found hiding in the shower in the midst of a cocaine binge.^{[citation needed]} Other reports say that he was found on the floor of his Miami hotel room by running backs coach Jim Anderson and that he was unconscious.^{[citation needed]} In either case, Bengals head coach Sam Wyche had little choice but to leave him off the roster.Wyche has often cited the absence of Wilson as a reason that the Bengals lost the game. Wyche claims Wilson excelled in damp conditions such as the ones that night at Joe Robbie Stadium and that he would have been a valuable asset in the running game.^{[citation needed]}

Later, Stanley Wilson was permanently banned from the NFL.

[edit] Later years

In the years after his relapse and banishment, Wilson was in and out of rehabilitation on several occasions. In 1999, he was convicted of stealing $130,000 in property from a Beverly Hills, California home to support his habit. He was sentenced to 22 years in Lancaster, California state prison for burglary.^{[citation needed]} During his trial, Wilson's lawyer contended that Wilson suffers from bipolar disorder.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Family

His son, Stanley Wilson, Jr., who was six years of age in 1989, was taken to the game by his paternal grandparents. Later, Wilson, Jr. attended Stanford University on scholarship as a running back, but was later moved to cornerback. He was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the third round of the 2005 NFL Draft.