ESPN RISE

PHILADELPHIA -- When he's asked about Chris Wilson, a player on his varsity football team, Abraham Lincoln High School coach Gene Kelly insists Wilson is just like any of his other guys. However, when pressed, Kelly eventually begins to unleash a string of special, one-word descriptions.

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Chris Wilson is an inspiration to his teammates.

Tremendous. Super. Amazing.

Really, who can blame him?

It should be noted that John Christopher Wilson, a first-year varsity senior at Lincoln who is known as Chris to his family and friends, was born with only half of his right arm -- the limb extends to the spot just shy of where the elbow would be. Despite his physical handicap, Wilson was one of the Railsplitters' strongest, fastest and most versatile players and played a key role in his team's successful 7-5 third-place finish in the Public League's AAAA division.

The 6-foot-1, 180-pound Wilson spent a significant amount of time at free safety for Lincoln, and also lined up on offense at both receiver and slot back. If that wasn't enough, Wilson also handled all of the place-kicking duties, a feat that was enough to impress a coach who demands all of his players be treated in the same light.

"When he came to try out for varsity before the season, I said to myself, 'I don't know how he's going to do this,'" Kelly said. "But he showed me he could catch the ball, and then he showed me he could hit. And if that wasn't enough, then I found out he could kick. His work ethic is just tremendous."

As far as Wilson is concerned, don't expect him to get caught up in all of the accolades and praise he has received this season. Incredibly soft-spoken, he almost shies away from the attention and offers only a few words whenever he's asked a question about himself.

When asked why he chose to play football, Wilson simply stated, "I just like the contact and it's fun to play."

Later, he was asked whether it has been difficult to prove himself to the naysayers and pundits who believe he might have been better off serving as the team's manager. His response? "Not really."

Or how about if he was ever worried about getting hurt on the field? A very concise, "No."

But Wilson's terse nature and quiet personality should not be mistaken for apathy. Rather, it's the mark of a humble teenager who has bounced around to three different high schools in search of his place in a game that most people believed he was physically unable to play, at least at such a high level.

In his second year at Lincoln, Wilson appears to have finally found his niche, but the journey was anything but easy.

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Wilson has exceeded the coaching staff's expectations this season.

"When I was growing up, a lot of people said there were things I couldn't do," said Wilson, who gave up on wearing prosthetics as a toddler because the artificial substitutes broke easily. "But I think playing football has helped me show people that even though I have a slight disability, I'm still able to do everything they can do."

"I consider myself so privileged to have been able to raise a child like him," said Vivian Stephens, Wilson's mom and biggest fan. "He doesn't let anything get to him and he learns from everything that he does. He uses each new experience as a stepping stone, and I'm so proud of him every time he steps onto that field."

Upon making Lincoln's varsity squad, Wilson had a new batch of skeptical coaches and teammates whose trust he had to earn. But he won them over quickly by earning the starting free safety spot in summer camp. In his first game as a varsity player, Wilson hauled in two catches (the only ones of his career) for 14 yards and kicked a 33-yard field goal in the Railsplitters' 7-3 loss against Public League foe Dobbins. And although a muscle injury in his leg ultimately forced Wilson out of the starting defensive backfield, he still performed all of his kicking responsibilities and frequently met opposing returners with crushing tackles that opened the eyes of his teammates.

Running back Chris Williams referred to Wilson as "an inspiration." When asked what Wilson's strengths are on the field, quarterback Joe McCausland paused before replying: "Everything. To see him out there doing what he does, it gave the rest of us a boost of energy just to see him play. He didn't care what position he played. He did it all."

Wilson's uplifting season has even resonated with the notoriously hard-to-please Philadelphia media. Veteran reporter Ted Silary, who has covered high school sports for the Philadelphia Daily News since 1977 and was the first to report on Wilson's unique condition, affirmed that the player's story was nearly second-to-none. Aside from a one-handed football reserve he remembered seeing in 2004 and a baseball player with a shortened left leg in the mid-90s, Silary struggled to think of other players that reminded him of Wilson.

"What Chris did this season was truly amazing," Silary said. "This kid was playing free safety, which is literally the last line of defense. Make even a hint of a mistake and the opponent is celebrating a touchdown. To think that Chris thrived in his role despite his disability … this young man deserves special praise."

While Wilson relishes his success on the football field, he also embraces the opportunity to serve as a role model for other kids with disabilities. He recalls a young boy with a similar disability he took under his wing in the charter school he attended before Lincoln. Like Wilson when he was younger, the young boy carried the weight of heavy insecurity resulting from other children teasing him.

"It's very important to be a role model because a lot of people in my situation don't really think they can do things that other people can do," Wilson said. "So I tell them, 'If there's something that you love to do, then go do it and you will succeed.'"

As for his future, Wilson wants to go to college to pursue a career in construction management. He also hopes the kickoff tackle he made in Lincoln's Thanksgiving game season finale wasn't his last, expressing a desire to continue his football career as a walk-on in college. Wilson lists Temple University, which is located just a few miles from his house, as his top choice.

"That next level is tough," Kelly said. "They get the stopwatch and the tape measure and the scale and that's what they use. But if anybody wants to measure heart, he'd be a tremendous asset to their team.

"At first I said, 'Yeah, you can do a lot of things in life if you have heart, but you can't play football with one arm.' Chris Wilson made a believer out of me."

He's not the only one.

Ed Morrone is a freelance writer in Philadelphia. He can be reached at edward.morrone@gmail.com.