First he returned to the city where he first made his name. Then he returned to being the kind of player he once was, earning another job in the NFL.
O’Connell graduate Terrence Wilkins, out of the NFL the past two seasons, has once again become a solid returner for Indianapolis. He’s averaging 12.6 yards per punt return, helped by an 82-yard runback for a touchdown; and 22.1 yards on kickoff returns.
It’s what he did after making the team as an undrafted free agent in 1999. After three seasons, he was traded to St. Louis in 2002. For the next year and a half, he bounced from the Rams to the Panthers back to the Colts and then the Dolphins. Then it was up north to the CFL.
This summer, Wilkins told reporters, “I’m better. You’re a lot wiser and the game slows down more after playing for a while. You understand it more.”
“He’s really given us a lift,” Colts coach Tony Dungy said. “He called us up and said he was ready to come back. We lost Troy Walters in free agency and we said we’d give it a shot. Terrence was really special in the preseason. He’s running hard, breaking tackles and making good decisions. He looks like he did 5 years ago.”
