He played for the Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints, Dallas Cowboys, and Oakland Raiders in a seventeen-year NFL career from 1981 to 1998.
The son of a football coach, Wilson became a standout quarterback and punter at Commerce High School, after initially quitting the team during his sophomore season.
[2] As a senior, he led the Tigers to a 10-win season and a district championship, while running a wishbone offense and receiving All-district honors.
[3] As a senior in 1980, he completed 116-of-227 passes for 1,978 yards and 19 touchdowns, while the Lions finished tied for first with Angelo State University among NAIA schools in the Lone Star Conference.
He appeared in 4 games, with his only start coming in place of an injured Tommy Kramer against the Philadelphia Eagles, in which he led the team to one of the greatest comebacks in franchise history.
He was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week in the season finale 33–17 win against the New Orleans Saints, after replacing an injured Kramer and having the best game of his career at the time, throwing for 361 yards and 3 touchdowns.
He guided the team to the NFC Championship Game after upsetting the top-seeded 13–2 San Francisco 49ers in the divisional round of the playoffs,[14] finally succumbing 17–10 to the eventual Super Bowl XXII champion Washington Redskins.
He was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week after the 49–20 win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, completing 22-of-30 passes for 335 yards, and 3 touchdowns.
He was named NFC Offensive Player of the Month for November, when he completed 73-of-112 passes (65.1%) for 1,009 yards, 5 touchdowns and 2 interceptions, while leading the Vikings to a 4–0 record.
[16] He finished a Pro Bowl season, completing 204-of-332 passes for 2,746 yards, 15 touchdowns and 9 interceptions, ranking as the NFC leader with a 91.5 passer rating.
Wilson returned to action in the second half of the 13–26 loss against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 15, throwing for 374 yards, including a career-long 75-yard touchdown pass to Hassan Jones.
He started the next game against the Los Angeles Raiders before suffering a separated right shoulder that forced him to miss the season finale.
[33] After Jeff George suffered a groin injury, backup Donald Hollas struggled in the second half of the season and also suffered a wrist injury in his last start against the Miami Dolphins, giving Wilson the opportunity to start the last three games, passing for 425 yards, five touchdowns, four interceptions, and producing a 1–2 record.
He became the Chicago Bears quarterbacks coach from 2004 until 2006, while reaching Super Bowl XLI and contributing to Rex Grossman having his best professional season.
However, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell seemed to sidestep this defense, saying, "First of all, I'm not going to get into the personal situations of why Wade was taking it, but that's not an accurate point.
[42] Wilson died due to complications from Type 1 Diabetes, a disease he had for almost 30 years, at his home in Coppell, Texas on his 60th birthday.