Wilson to Pittsburgh? It's not what you think

This story was excerpted from Adam McCalvy’s Brewers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

MILWAUKEE -- Not too long ago there was a good debate at Orange High School in Hillsborough, N.C., about which Wilson brother was the better linebacker.

Was it Bryse? Or was it younger brother Payton?

Today, there’s no debate. Bryse chose baseball and was a fourth-round pick of the Braves in 2016, just as Payton’s star was rising in football. Two years younger, Payton grew up to be bigger -- 6-foot-4 with long limbs and blazing speed. While Bryse was getting established in pro baseball, Payton waded through a sea of scholarship offers before landing at NC State, where he overcame some significant injuries to become one of college football’s best linebackers. He has the 2023 Butkus Award to prove it.

On Friday, Payton followed his big brother into professional sports when he was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round of the NFL Draft. Bryse saw his brother’s NFL dreams come true at about the same time the Brewers were celebrating their 11-inning, 7-6 win over the Yankees at American Family Field.

They aren’t the only brothers to straddle two major sports. Among the examples are Canaan Smith-Njigba, a Triple-A outfielder for the Pirates who played in the Majors in 2022 and ‘23. He’s the older brother of Seahawks receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

Earlier in the day, Bryse Wilson had been thinking about the similarities between being a pro in baseball versus football.

“The way you carry yourself is the same, even though I think they’re completely different worlds,” Bryse said. “You have to retain the person you are, your identity, throughout. That’s the biggest thing we’ve talked about: Be the same person you’ve always been, no matter how much money you have or how well or bad you’re playing.”

From what Bryse knows about his brother, “That should be no problem at all.”

Case in point: Instead of hosting a Draft party in the event he snuck into the first round, Payton watched at his boyhood home with his mom, his dad and his girlfriend. They shared intel throughout the long night with Bryse and his wife Somer, who watched after putting their young son Levi to bed.

By the back half of the first round, the tension in the room began to grow. Bryse and Somer -- who happens to hail from Pittsburgh -- knew which teams seemed highest on Payton, who had visits throughout the league, including at least one dinner with a high-profile owner. Pick after pick, they waited. They knew Payton’s injury history would be a factor in where he went.

There’s a lesson in there somewhere, Bryse believes, that stretches across sports.

“All of the setbacks and struggles he’s been through have helped him become who he is,” Bryse said. “He’s a completely different person than he was four years ago, and for the better, obviously. He almost quit. He was down that far.”

The older brother can relate. Bryse made it to the big leagues with the Braves as a 20-year-old in 2018, but struggled early in '19 and was demoted. In '20 he spent much of the summer at Atlanta’s alternate training site before getting a late-season opportunity that led to the start of his life in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series against the Dodgers. But in '21, he didn’t make the Braves’ Opening Day roster.

It’s been quite a ride. Wilson was subsequently traded to the Pirates, designated for assignment and shipped to the Brewers, for whom he’s become an extremely valuable arm. Last year’s “Unsung Hero Award” winner, Wilson started this season in relief before moving into the starting rotation earlier this week out of a dire need.

“The ups and downs that I’ve had, there was never a long, sustained ‘up’ for me to get egotistical,” he said. “I carry that every day. You just never know -- five or six bad outings in a row, the business side of baseball can kick in.”

At the moment, business for both brothers is good, even if Payton Wilson had to wait a while to hear his name called.

“Without injuries, he’s a Top 10 overall draft pick,” Bryse said of his brother. “Wherever he was going to get drafted, I think he’s a steal.”