Returning to the scene of many of his greatest football memories, former Wolfpack quarterback Russell Wilson delivered the commencement speech Friday evening at Carter-Finley Stadium for new NC State grads, inspiring the students with a message built around Wilson’s definition of vision.

Wilson was an instant success at quarterback for NC State, winning first-team All-ACC as a redshirt freshman. By his third year, the school briefly launched a Heisman Trophy campaign for Wilson.

It all came to a sudden end after that season was over in an infamous decision by then-head coach Tom O’Brien to move on from Wilson rather than let the two-sport star play baseball that spring in the Colorado Rockies organization.

Wilson never mentioned O’Brien in the speech, but he did make a joking reference to that abrupt departure early in his remarks.

“I hope you know how lucky you are to graduate from such a special school,” Wilson said. “And if you can’t believe your time here at NC State is over so soon, well, trust me, I know exactly how you feel.”

Wilson warmed up the crowd with a chant of “Wolf-Pack,” and he noted how Carter-Finley will always feel like home. He stated that it was not always easy being a two-sport athlete trying to graduate in three years while dealing with personal adversity after his father was diagnosed with what proved to be a terminal illness soon after Wilson arrived in Raleigh.

He credited former teammates like Wayne Crawford, Darrell Davis, Owen Spencer, J.R. Sweezy, Jarvis Williams and Willie Young for helping him. He noted administrators like football sports information director Annabelle Myers and football assistant equipment manager Wayne “Smoke” Hubert.

Wilson also gave a shout out to the football coach that originally recruited him, Chuck Amato, and his former baseball coach, Elliott Avent.

“The two of them saw this kid from Richmond, Va.,” Wilson noted. “They took a chance on him and offered him a scholarship to come here to Raleigh.”

It was another administrator, however, who has a special place in Wilson’s heart, DD Hoggard, the director of student-athlete welfare.

Wilson’s definition of vision wasn’t about planning to do something, he explained, but rather, “vision is what you are called to do.”

“When you are living with vision, you are not just being successful, you are achieving exactly what you were put on this earth to achieve,” Wilson added.

He learned three lessons about living with vision while at NC State, he said, starting with discipline. He recalled throwing a touchdown pass to Spencer against Miami. Back on the sideline after the play and feeling good, offensive coordinator Dana Bible ringed down from the press box to compliment Wilson on a great throw before proceeding to chastise him for the play prior to that.

“Coach Bible was teaching me a lesson,” Wilson explained. “Greatness isn’t just about the big moments. Greatness is consistent play: every moment, every play, every second.”

The second lesson of vision was resilience. Wilson saw that firsthand from his mother being a caretaker for his father, who was battling his illness with everything he had.

“When people ask me how did you get here, it actually isn’t that complicated,” Wilson noted. “I just didn’t give up.”

Wilson noted his belief that life is less about facing obstacles rather than preparing for them. He recalled former NC State basketball coach Jim Valvano’s speech at Reynolds Coliseum in 1993 that proceeded what would become his more-famous speech at the ESPYs on ESPN shortly before his death from cancer.

“When people don’t become successful, 99 percent of the time it’s because they give up,” Wilson said. “So graduates, as you go out into the world, take every single chance you can. Sometimes you’ll win, sometimes you’ll lose, but don’t be the one who quits.”

That was Wilson’s approach when faced with doubts in his athletic career.

“I was told I would never play college baseball and football at the same time,” he noted. “I was told I would never play quarterback. I was told I would never make it to the NFL. But for me, I just couldn’t wait to prove them wrong.”

Then there was the final lesson he learned about vision: it takes faith.

“So many times you try to control everything, but faith, you just have to let go,” Wilson noted. “It allows you to say, ‘Okay, it’s not in my hands.’”

Which brought Wilson to why Hoggard, who was in attendance at the commencement address, means so much to him, and then the quarterback touched on his departure from NC State before his transfer to Wisconsin.

“I didn’t want to leave,” Wilson said. “This place meant a lot to me. It was a really tough time. So one day, I go see DD in his office, just to talk about everything going on. I poured my whole heart out, had tears in my eyes.

“I never forget, DD. You looked right at me, and you said, ‘The one thing I know, the one thing that I will always know, is that I believe in Russell Wilson.’ Every Sunday morning since, to this day, before I step out onto the field, I still get a text from DD Hoggard, ‘I believe in Russell Wilson.’”

Wilson’s final message to the graduates was to follow Hoggard’s example.

“I believe in people like DD Hoggard, people who lift up everyone around them, who use their talent and heart and time on this planet to change someone else’s life, and I know all of you can do to somebody what DD Hoggard did for me,” Wilson said.

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