Under the Helmet – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/16/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 16, 2006
By Don Middleton
Complete Story in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
What do Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Terrell Owens and Ohio State defensive end Lawrence Wilson have in common? Besides both of them growing up playing football and basketball, they’re both avid Michael Jordan shoe collectors, and ironically enough, they both wear a size 14 shoe.
The life of a college football player is demanding. Many football players find it difficult to have the time to enjoy any sort of hobby, but for those who do, it is a way to break up the rigors of a brutal schedule of football and academics. Some people play video games, collect coins or baseball cards, but Wilson’s collection of sneakers is definitely a unique one. The Akron, Ohio, native currently owns a collection of more than 80 pairs of shoes. He claims to own about every pair of Michael Jordans known to man., which includes more than 20 different styles of Jordans made to go along with dozens of colors for each pair.
“My parents say I have too many shoes and spend too much money on them, but they’re still OK with it,” Wilson said.
The 6-foot-6-inch sophomore even waited about a year and a half to get an exclusive pair of retro Jordan’s not available in some states because they were his favorite color – light blue.
Wilson loves shoes so much he searches the Internet and tries to buy a new pair every couple of weeks. He still has shoes from basketball tournaments he played in when he was a kid, his oldest pair being some old-school Nikes from when he was in the fifth grade.
“I never throw any away. They’re all still at home,” Wilson, who played prep basketball at St. Vincent-Saint Mary’s High School with current Cleveland Cavalier Lebron James, said.
Where does Wilson keep all of his shoes? He keeps them all in their original boxes and they are neatly stacked in his closet. Some will never be worn while others may be worn once or twice before it’s time to put them on the shelf for good. He is fortunate enough to have a roommate who doesn’t mind a closet full of shoe boxes.
“My roommate is my brother Eugene,” Wilson said. “I don’t think he minds because I let him borrow my shoes.”
While it’s hard for Wilson to pick out a favorite pair, he said he has two pairs in particular that standout as the most valuable: a pair from Lebron James’s high school all-star game and a rare green pair of game-worn Lebron James shoes given to him by his former high school teammate.
The defensive end is not really sure why he likes collecting shoes or how he got started. Maybe it was his cousins who always had a lot of shoes and would give them to Lawrence. Or maybe it was from playing AAU basketball when he was growing up. He got to play in various kinds of shoes including adidas, Reebok and Nike. It could also be because when he was watching a show on ESPN they showcased Terrell Owens’ closet.
“He had two of every pair of Jordans,” Wilson said of Owens. “He would wear one pair and leave the other pair for show.”
Wilson is like many other students at age 19. He is not sure what he wants his major to be or what he wants to do after graduation, but one thing is certain – his love for shoes.
