Jets rookie receiver Garrett Wilson had his first NFL 100-yard game and, more importantly, his first NFL win on Sunday in his home state of Ohio. After he scored the first touchdown of his career, he let the assembled Browns fans hear it, yelling “O-H!” (The usual response is, “I-O!”)
So why did Wilson do that?
“That’s just for all of the fans there,” Wilson told PFT by phone after the 31-30 win over the Browns. “I know a lot of them watching for the previous three to four years at Ohio State and I kind of felt the love in warmups. I kind of made my mind up if I scored that I wanted to do the ‘O-H.’ That’s all that was.”
I told him it seemed like he was sending the message to one specific person or group of people in the stands. He laughed before saying he wasn’t.
“I’m really competitive and I kind of can get out of body at some times when I celebrate,” Wilson said. “I can’t say I was doing it to anyone, it was just more throw up the ‘O-H’ and talk some trash. That’s just that’s just kind of how I go about my things.”
How big of a deal was it for him to get his first career win in his home state?
“I mean this is special,” Wilson said. “The moment I’ll never forget for sure, being back in Ohio. And something I’ll definitely tell my kids about. To get a win anywhere in this league is huge but definitely adds some flare to it being back where I played college ball.”
For folks like Wilson who grew up in Columbus, it’s roughly the same distance to Cleveland and Cincinnati. So was Wilson a Browns fan or a Bengals fan? He said it was neither; he grew up cheering for the Eagles.
Wilson isn’t playing for the Eagles, but he’s wearing green. And he also explained how he got open for the game-winning touchdown pass. I’ll post an item on that one later tonight.