Garrett Wild
Garrett Wild saw something. Thank goodness he was right.
When the Mercyhurst College true freshman linebacker called a fake punt against city rival Gannon this season, his older brother, Ian Wild, was the long snapper.
The youngest Wild, who was the up man on the play, took the snap and completed a 31-yard pass to Todd Wingate for a first down.
“I made the call,” said Garrett Wild, who is the youngest of three brothers who went to Mercyhurst. The oldest, Zac, finished his career there in 2008.
“We put than in earlier in the year. (Assistant coach Tom Herman) gives me the responsibility. If I see anything that’s open, you take it. You make the call. I glanced. I saw him. I just called it and threw the ball out there.”
Thank goodness he made the right one.
“He saw the uncovered gunner,” Ian Wild said. “He makes on the calls on punt. It was a pretty bold call for a freshman to make it.”
Big brother had to trust the call.
“He must see something,” Ian Wild said. “If he’s calling it, someone must be wide open. I just snapped it to him and it was a good play.”
When asked what would have happened had the play not worked, Ian Wild did something he rarely does during interviews – laugh out loud.
“I would have wanted an explanation,” said a laughing Wild. “‘Was he open or not?’”
