MOULTRIE – James Wilson, an outstanding football player and a member of the Clark-Atlanta University and Colquitt County sports halls of fame, died at age 72 on March 28, in Miami.
After his playing career, Wilson became a longtime high school football and basketball coach in the Miami area.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, April 9, at New Jerusalem Baptist Church, 777 Northwest 85th Street, Miami, Florida.
A burial service will be held at noon, Saturday, April 12, at Strong Memorial Gardens, Sixth Avenue Northwest, Moultrie.

One of his high school players, Rondesha Williams, went on to a long and successful career as the head coach of the Colquitt County girls basketball team.
She had the most wins, 302, in Lady Packers history when she retired in 2024.
“Coach Wilson was a deeply influential figure who genuinely cared for each of his players,” Williams said. “He made it a priority to involve us in summer league basketball, ensuring we stayed focused and out of trouble.
“He would pack the entire team into his van and transport us wherever we needed to go.”
Born April 4, 1952, in Moultrie, he became a big offensive tackle playing for head coach Ralph Taylor and helping lead the Bryant High Rams to a region championship in 1969.
His line coach while with the Rams was Dad Small.
Wilson also was a member of the Bryant High basketball team coached by Sam Stewart.
Taylor, Small and Stewart also are members of the Colquitt County Sports Hall of Fame.
Wilson gave much of the credit for his football success to Taylor.
“Ralph Taylor was a great motivator for me,” Wilson said in an interview before his 2003 induction into the Colquitt County Hall of Fame.
Gerard Burke, who played quarterback for the Rams, in 2003 called Wilson “a big, strong one. He was a super run blocker. He had good feet and you could see he would be a good pass blocker too.”
A photo of Wilson taken while wearing his No. 65 Rams maroon-and-gray uniform shows him with the word “blood” printed on his forearm pad.
The name stuck and on the Clark-Atlanta Athletics Hall of Fame website, he is listed as James “Blood” Wilson.
But his on-field persona was different from the man he was away from the game.
Burke remembered Wilson as “such a good person. He was mean (on the field), but he was a respectful guy. He wasn’t soft. He was all football player.”
Following his career with the Rams, Wilson went to Clark College, now Clark-Atlanta, in the fall of 1970.
There he became a two-time All-Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference guard playing for coach Curtis Crockett.
He was named to the Black College All-America team by the Pittsburgh Courier and in 1998 was inducted into the Clark-Atlanta University Hall of Fame.
He was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the ninth round of the 1975 draft, the 231st player selected.
He was released that summer and also went to the Detroit Lions camp in 1976. He spent some time in the Canadian Football League before a knee injury ended his playing career.
Wilson settled in Miami where he had a long career as a teacher and a coach.
At Dade County’s Norland High, he became one of the school’s most successful girls basketball coaches.
He also was the school’s offensive line coach for several years, including 2003 when he missed the Colquitt County Sports Hall of Fame induction banquet because he was on the sidelines for a Norland High Homecoming football game.
He also coached Norland’s girls softball team.
“His presence will will be truly missed,” Williams said. “Thanks to his guidance and support, his former players have gone to to become successful individuals, making a positive impact in communities everywhere.”