NC State football linebacker Payton Wilson surprised with Butkus Award presentation

Payton Wilson, who always tries to anticipate everything when it comes to football, never saw it coming.

Wilson was told that N.C. State’s football captains would be recognized Wednesday just before halftime of the Pack’s men’s basketball game at Reynolds Coliseum. He was there. Cheers began. But it became crowded on the court, quickly,

Suddenly, he saw Pack coach Dave Doeren coming out. And more teammates. And a trophy.

It was the Butkus Award trophy, given annually to the nation’s best college linebacker. Matt Butkus, son of legendary NFL linebacker Dick Butkus, the award’s namesake, was on hand for the secretly well-planned festivities and presented the trophy to Wilson.

“It was awesome,” Wilson said in an N&O interview. “It was a surprise. Everybody held it together good. It’s an honor to get the trophy and a great way to get the trophy, with Wolfpack Nation here.

“Growing up as a linebacker that’s what you dream about, winning the Butkus, being the best linebacker in the country. It’s a humbling thing.”

Wilson was one of five finalists for the award that was first created in 1985, Matt Butkus said. It was hard passing on a player who plays with that fire and sideline-to-sideline intensity much like his father, a feared figure in the NFL when he was with the Bears and smacking people.

“He has all the traits,” Butkus said. “The speed and the violence. He’s stacked up in all the criteria of the position. He’s all-out on every play, trying to make every play like my Dad did with the Bears.”

Wilson also was a finalist for the Bronko Nagurski Award, given to the year’s best defensive player, and was in Charlotte on Monday. Safety Xavier Watts of Notre Dame was the winner, disappointing a crowd at the ceremony filled with a lot of Wolfpack fans.

But Wilson again had his father, girlfriend and other hometown friends from Hillsborough with him Wednesday. The cheers thundered at Reynolds as a beaming Doeren and the football players came on the floor..

“It was an honor just to be up for consideration for this trophy, much less win it,” Wilson said.

Wilson considered entering the NFL draft after last season, but made a late decision to return for one last year, delighting defensive coordinator Tony Gibson. His leadership, his voice in the locker room, his maturity, was vital as the Pack rebounded during the season and won its last five games to finish 9-3.

As for the next level, Wilson now is ready for it. He also has played another season injury-free, which had to catch the eyes of NFL scouts who may have had questions about the often-injured player whose intensity at times worked against him.

“To be able to show people I can stay healthy for two years probably takes that ‘X’ off, at least for some people,” he said. “More so, it was just about coming back to finish what I started, to be with my teammates. What an awesome finish to my sixth season.”

Finish? Does that mean he will sit out the Pop-Tarts Bowl against Kansas State?

“Still thinking it over,” he said, smiling. “I’ll know in the next few days.”