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'Standing out:' Career ended by horrific accident, Parish Episcopal assistant inspires, leads from wheelchair

Corey Wilson pulls out his phone and navigates his way to his Facebook app. A few feet away, Parish Episcopal varsity football players run through drills.

Wilson is searching for a post he made on the social media site two months ago. He spots it, then clicks on the photos within the post.

The first picture is of a young Wilson listening intently to former Carrollton Creekview assistant coach Matt Lawrence, who has both hands on Wilson's shoulders trying to calm him down.

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The second picture is of a 27-year-old Wilson sitting in his wheelchair talking to Parish Episcopal receiver Ty Bennett, who is taking a knee as he absorbs his coach's advice.

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This is a full-circle moment for Wilson. Six years ago, a horrific car accident ended his ability to play football, and the sideline became the place that caused him the most pain.

Wilson has discovered new aspects of himself during his recovery, and in doing so, he finds himself back on a football sideline coaching wide receivers at Parish Episcopal.

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"It still haunts me being on a sideline," Wilson said following a recent Parish victory over Grapevine Faith. "There were moments where I got hype and I wanted to be out there, but then I remembered that I'm not a football player anymore. ... That's a hard thing to let go of."

Former Creekview High School' wide receiver Corey Wilson (87, center) .
Former Creekview High School' wide receiver Corey Wilson (87, center) .(File photo)
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Wilson is easy to spot along the Parish Episcopal sideline. Not because he's sitting in a wheelchair, but because he's usually by himself. While the other coaches and players congregate, Wilson seeks a different vantage point.

For the Carrollton native, standing out is a victory in itself.

A middle child, Wilson explained that his brothers, Travis and Ryan, "were always the momma's boys." That resulted in Corey always trying to stand out. It didn't work -- especially when it came to football.

Travis and Corey both wore No. 4 and played wide receiver at Carrollton Creekview, but Corey's all-district honors paled in comparison to Travis' school-record stats.

Both played at Oklahoma, but it was Travis who ended his career with the second-most touchdown catches in Sooners history.

No matter where Corey went, people often referred to him as "little Travis" or Travis' little brother. That's exactly why he didn't want to coach at Parish Episcopal when he was first approached about the idea.

"That's Travis' thing, and I didn't want to follow him around," said Corey, who spends two hours every Thursday at REACT, a gym for clients who have suffered spinal cord injuries.

Travis has coached wide receivers for three years at Parish Episcopal, so Corey attended many games. At the first junior varsity game this season, coach Scott Nady and Corey were breaking down what was happening on the field when it occurred to Nady that Corey should be coaching.

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"I...feel like I put a seal in the back of my pickup truck and drove him back to the ocean and let 'em go," Nady said. "It's where he should naturally be."

Corey acknowledged he didn't want to be in Travis' shadow. Corey needed to determine if he was mentally and emotionally ready to be back on the sideline. He didn't make the decision in haste, but Corey felt that there were kids he could impact.

For Travis, who has wanted to coach kids since 2005, it's an added bonus to get to work with Corey on the football field. The two have worked side-by-side on off-field ventures and Travis was a huge part of Corey's recovery process.

Once Corey decided to help coach, he made an immediate difference. The detail he notices when watching players is the same when he's piecing together film for review.

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"He was on the side of the coin of wildly gifted, now he's on the side of the coin of extreme limitations," Nady said of Corey. "From a coaching standpoint, that's a blessing.

"There's not a college in the country that has more detailed film breakdown than we do. It's insane."

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Redshirted as a freshman in 2007, and out of shape as a redshirt freshman, Corey believed his sophomore season at Oklahoma would be a breakout.

Corey decided to come home Feb. 27, 2009, the last day before spring practice began. Ryan, his younger brother, had a track meet Corey wanted to attend, so Corey asked his coaches and teacher if he could attend her 11:30 a.m. class instead of his usual 1:30 p.m. session.

Something about that day just didn't feel right. Corey packed up his bags and started driving only to realize he forgot his charger. Then he turned around because he didn't lock the door to his apartment. The road he usually took to get on I-35 was under construction, and Corey almost got lost on the detour before eventually finding his way onto I-35.

Former Oklahoma wide receiver Corey Wilson believed his sophomore season would be a breakout...
Former Oklahoma wide receiver Corey Wilson believed his sophomore season would be a breakout year.(File photo)

A red truck tried to merge behind Corey's car, clipping Corey's Chevy Trailblazer and causing his car to fishtail.

He remembers the first flip, but the next thing Corey recalls is lying in the grass. He tried to turn his head to the right, but couldn't. From his chest down, his body felt like it was on fire.

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When the helicopters arrived, the medic asked Corey if he could feel what he was doing; Corey responded, "You're not doing anything."

"The timing of it was really the most devastating thing to me," said Corey, who suffered a spinal cord injury, fractured neck and broken rib in the wreck.

After quickly learning his playing days would be over, Corey decided he wouldn't let his handicap define him. He proved that on Nov. 28, 2009, when he took 15 steps in the middle of Memorial Stadium before the Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State game.

He further proved that three years later when he earned a degree in human relations.

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But he didn't stop there. Corey started Good or Great, LLC in 2011 and poured himself into his non-profit organization. Through the organization, Corey has run a football camp, become a speaker and started working toward creating an apparel line.

Corey Wilson wheels himself to a therapy session at REACT Spinal Cord Recovery on Thursday,...
Corey Wilson wheels himself to a therapy session at REACT Spinal Cord Recovery on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2015, in Addison. The former Carrollton Creekview and University of Oklahoma wide receiver was paralyzed from the waist down in a 2009 car wreck when he was thrown about 45 feet from an SUV. He is now working as an assistant coach at Parish Episcopal. (Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News)(Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer)

A few years ago, Travis and Corey were Christmas shopping when Corey decided he was going to use the escalator for the first time. Travis was on crutches after a knee surgery, and he and Corey were headed to the car.

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Corey realized the elevator was out of the way, so he wheeled his way to the escalator, grabbed the rails and eased his way to the top. By contrast, Travis rushed to get behind his brother and ended up dropping the bags.

That same resilience is apparent to Parish Episcopal players, who frequently yell, "Good or Great?" during practices. The team has been great in many regards: It is 10-1, has made it to the state quarterfinals in the TAPPS Divison II playoffs and Bennett's 10 touchdowns led all receivers in the team's district.

A victory over Grapevine Faith (10-1) on Saturday could set up a rematch against Fort Worth Christian the following week. Fort Worth Christian, which faces Austin Regents in another TAPPS Division II state quarterfinal this weekend, handed Parish its lone loss this season.

Parish Episcopal will draw inspiration from Corey, who will be on the sideline. And while he struggled in the past articulating what he had to offer outside of the white lines, now he doesn't have to.

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"Corey Wilson is good enough," Nady said. "Not Corey Wilson the OU Sooner. Not Corey Wilson the tragic car accident victim. Just Corey Wilson the human being is of tremendous value.

"I hope that's what he learns out here. I hope that's what he gets from this. What he did at OU will hopefully be the smallest accomplishment of his life, and the fact he's in a chair is an oh-by-the-way side note.

"I hope and pray he [falls in love with coaching,] because if he does, there's gonna be hundreds and hundreds of boys that are going to be better men because of him."

Twitter: @InstantRHIplay