Though Zach Wilson’s time with the New York Jets didn’t see the kind of on-field success he had hoped for, the BYU product and former No. 2 overall draft selection holds no bitterness or regrets about his three years in the Big Apple.
In fact, it’s an experience he still holds dear.
“It’s been a crazy ride, truly. I wouldn’t change any of it,” Wilson said on the “From the Logo” podcast hosted by Jimmer Fredette and Spencer Linton. “I wouldn’t have met my amazing wife if I didn’t end up going to New York.
“The experiences that I’ve had there, I feel like I wouldn’t be the player I am or have the understanding of the game that I have, if it wasn’t for all of that, that adversity that I went through and the failures, and being able to look back.”
Here are other highlights from Wilson’s appearance on “From the Logo with Jimmer Fredette.”
On marrying his wife Nicolette over the summer
“I would have never expected getting married in New York City, but it was a dream come true. It’s the complete opposite of what I ever envisioned in my mind, but it was amazing.
“We grew up entirely different, right? Her family, I think her parents are from Staten Island and Queens, and so her dad is pretty much Tony Soprano. They’re on the other side of the entire country, and the accents are strong, and the family owns an Italian restaurant.
“And then coming from Utah, it’s like a complete culture clash. But we hold so many of the same morals and values, which was so special for me. She’s very similar, and her family is very similar to my family, of just the importance of family.
“And she was honestly extremely valuable for me in my time in New York, especially as well, I felt like she hurt like I was hurting through that entire process, and just having her there with me also kind of made our relationship grow stronger as well.”
On spending 2024 with the Denver Broncos
“Amazing fan base. I mean, it truly stretches so far because there’s not a lot of NFL teams near there, right? Even in Utah, a lot of people from Utah are pulled to Denver as well.
“... It doesn’t matter if they win or lose, (the fans) show up, and what a great crowd and atmosphere that is to play for, and a great media base as well. Coming from New York, that was entirely different. The (Denver) media wasn’t huge, the fan base was huge. It’s exactly how you wanted it to be. It’s a winning culture and winning organization they have over there.”
On being coached by the legendary Sean Payton in Denver
“When he talks to you, it’s a little bit like, ‘Well, what’s he going to say?’ But then he also keeps it friendly and would joke around with you. (He is) truly a brilliant offensive mind as well.
“... He has such a feel of just being able to call it and get guys open. The amount of times in film room before the game, he would say, ‘Look, this is going to happen. This is going to happen. We’re going to get this guy wide open.’ And then it actually happens that way, and you’re like, ‘Wow, this guy really knows exactly what’s coming.’
“He does such a great job with that organization. You’ve seen how quickly he’s flipping it around and how he’s helping Bo Nix in his development as a young quarterback getting there. I loved my time just being there, it made me a lot better, too.”
On why he chose to sign with the Miami Dolphins as a free agent
“I feel like there was a lot of benefit. One thing I was searching for after leaving Denver was an offensive-minded head coach. I felt like that was important for me coming from New York.
“I also felt like that this offense is an extremely explosive offense. I know that last year they had some injuries, some things happened, but they have a lot of pieces and a lot of ability to be a really good offense. And having Coach (Darrell) Bevell, one, really wanting me there, and Coach (Mike) McDaniel, I felt like I was really wanted there as well.
“It obviously feels good to have a staff that wants you on the team and pushes hard to get you. So that was part of the decision-making there, and I felt like if I ever had an opportunity to play that it would be somewhere I could go in and succeed.
“I’ve met Tua (Tagovailoa) before, a little bit in the past, and he was a great person, just a great person to be around. That obviously still holds true. I think he’s awesome. He’s great to work with. So I felt like that QB room as well was something I was obviously excited about.
“And then after all the money I gave to the state of New York in taxes, it was nice to have no state income tax (in Florida) as well.”
On his complicated tenure with the Jets
“I probably shouldn’t have been playing in my first year and taking on all those scars and the trauma of just being on a team where we weren’t very good. Every single week, I was kind of putting that on my shoulders and feeling it, like everything was my fault.
“I hit a point where confidence-wise, I felt like I was getting worse every single week. It hit a point for me that mentally I had to get a lot stronger. I had to start focusing on other things. I had to start focusing on how to just improve my game, and I felt like it really helped me get to where I am.”
On how he dealt with the trials and pressure in New York
“Meeting my wife at the time and leaning on her. Then we slowly started to try and better our relationship with God. I felt like that was a big one for us spiritually, just like understanding that, ‘OK, if the worst part of my day is that I had a bad practice or I threw a bad pass, I have a pretty dang good life,’ and just the realization of it’s not the end of the world, I’m going to be OK either way. God has a plan and maybe that plan is to fail here because he has something entirely different for me in the future and trusting in that.
“I feel like that strengthened our relationship there as well. ... There’s a little bit of humility that comes with understanding you’re human and people make mistakes and you’re not always perfect. As long as you approach that every single day and say, ‘OK, I’m going to learn from this and get better, and I’m doing my absolute best, I’m giving it everything I got,’ I can live with that and I can be happy. I can understand where I’m at in life, and the things that I’ve been given, I’m so grateful for. It’s more than I could have ever hoped for in my life.”
On having Aaron Rodgers as a teammate in 2023
“He was phenomenal. He was the perfect mix of the cool sports guy, but also half hippie on the other side. He had both worlds.
“He’s exactly as described, but he had a great personality with the guys, the way he was able to almost be the old guy in the locker room that people still respected. He had a great balance. He was able to joke around with those guys.
“He just had a great personality in the QB room and was always keeping it lighthearted and fun.”
On his college recruiting experience and how he ended up at BYU
“My dad played at Utah and I grew up diehard Utah fan. Back when Bronco (Mendenhall) was the coach, I hated BYU and wanted nothing to do with those guys. It’s crazy how once you get into the recruiting process, the fan in you of just hating one place and loving the others, it goes away and you start to kind of look at the people that are there.
“I wasn’t a huge recruit coming out of high school and I was committed to Boise State for eight or nine months or whatever it was. At the time, Ty Detmer was the (offensive coordinator) at BYU, and he really didn’t pay me any attention. I think he came out to watch me throw like one time.
“(Detmer) had his nephew at the time already committed to BYU, and the same thing with Utah, they had Jack Tuttle, who was a huge recruit that was going to Utah. So I didn’t have much love from anybody instate, but I was happy about Boise State. I was like, ‘This is a great school to go to if you’re trying to be a good quarterback in the NFL.’
“... My first offer I ever received was from Fesi Sitake as the receivers coach when he was at Weber State. That was back when I was a sophomore and he was one of those coaches that always stayed in touch even though he knew I wasn’t going to go to Weber anymore. I had bigger offers than that, but he always stayed in touch, asked me how I was doing, where I was thinking about going.
“... Ty Detmer had gotten let go at the end of (2017) and Kalani called me and just said, ‘Look, we want you to come in here and play at BYU.’ And he brought in (Aaron Roderick) from Utah, who I knew really well from the Utah camps as a kid. And then he brought in Fesi from Weber State. So that was like, I had a really strong urge to want to stay in the state of Utah where I love being and that was home for me and be close to family and be around a lot of people. And the culture of just a family-first dynamic that BYU sets, I wanted to be around that.”
On representing BYU in the NFL
“(Other players and teammates) always are asking me obviously the typical questions everyone gets. It’s funny because it’s like, ‘Are you allowed to drink coffee or soda or caffeine?’ There’s all the different ones asking about some of the honor code rules, and if you’re allowed to have multiple wives. You’ve got to explain it a little bit too.
“The perception of the religion is very different, but it is cool to have people that are curious. You get to share some light on what it actually is about. It’s funny to me because people will be like, ‘Well, that sounds a lot like Christianity.’ And I’m like, ‘Well yeah, because it is.’ They think it’s just so far off the beaten path of what Christians believe, and I’m like, ‘It’s actually the same thing, believe it or not.’ But it’s fun to get in those conversations with people.”
On his favorite memory at BYU
“I would say when we beat Tennessee (on the road) in overtime, that fourth-quarter comeback of Micah Simon cutting back and getting tackled. We had the college rule of the clock stopping when you get the first down just in time to go down there and then kick a field goal (to force overtime).
“Then the very next week beating USC at home ... those two memories right there were probably the most fun I’d ever had playing football and being with the guys, and just that feeling of big-time football in big moments and coming up and getting some wins. Those were awesome.”
On BYU fans
“That’s the great part about being at BYU is you’ve got some of the most loyal fans that’ll ride and die with you to the end. No matter how your career shapes out, you can always fall back on the BYU loyal fans. I’m grateful for that. I’m grateful that no matter what happens in this league, I can go back home and be with the BYU guys and have that support anywhere we go.”
