Payton Wilson to be enshrined in NC State Ring of Honor this fall
NC State football will enshrine former linebacker Payton Wilson in the Wolfpack’s coveted Ring of Honor Nov. 2, the program announced Tuesday afternoon. The game-wrecking defender was a consensus All-American during his final season with the Pack.
Wilson finished his storied career as one of the most accomplished defensive players in program history. He was a captain and a vocal leader for the Pack, posting huge numbers that helped him win the Bednarik Award, which recognized him as the top linebacker in the country, and the Butkus Award— an honor for the nation’s best linebacker.
“I am so grateful to be inducted into the Wolfpack Football Ring of Honor,” Wilson said in a Pack athletics press release. “It was one of my goals to have a career at NC State that would result in my name being listed among the all-time greats and I’m proud that I accomplished it. I appreciate everything that Coach Doeren and Coach Gibson did for me.”
NC State will honor the linebacker with a ceremony prior to the program’s Nov. 2 home game against Stanford.
He led the ACC with 138 total tackles during the 2023 season, including 17.5 tackles for loss— also the top total in the league. As a sixth-year graduate student, he also recorded 6 sacks, 3 interceptions, including 1 returned for a touchdown, and 6 defended passes during the 2023 season.
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Less than a year later, his legacy will officially be cemented inside Carter-Finley Stadium and the Murphy Center. He will be the No. 13 former member of the program to receive this honor, joining Bradley Chubb, Russell Wilson, Marion Williams, Philip Rivers, Torry Holt, Jim Ritcher, Ted Brown, Bill Yoest, Dennis Byrd, Roman Gabriel, Dick Christy and Bill Cowher.
“Payton was the embodiment of ‘Hard. Tough. Together,'” Dave Doeren said in a press release. “Watching him develop as a player and as a person during his time at NC State was one of the most rewarding parts of my career. I am so proud of him and honored to have been his coach.”
Wilson finished his Wolfpack career with 403 total tackles, passing the 100-stop mark and leading the ACC on 2 occasions. The Pittsburgh Steelers picked. the 6-4, 242-pound playmaker in the third round of the NFL Draft. Through 6 games, Wilson has recorded 26 total tackles, including 18 solo stops for a 4-2 team.
