Colin Wilson Jersey + Autograph Card

It was poignant, but it was an odd way of announcing his retirement.

I'm referring to this morning's post by Colin Wilson on The Players' Tribune, where he comes out about how OCD pretty much nearly ruined his life.

The son of former Calgary Flames star Carey Wilson and grandson of Jerry Wilson, who suited up for the Montréal Canadiens in the 1950s, Colin had the DNA of a pro hockey player, and a storied career with the Boston University Terriers led to a first round selection (7th overall) by the Nashville Predators in 2008, ahead of the likes of journeymen players and early retirees Cody Hodgson (10th), Kyle Beach (11th), Colten Teubert (13th), Zach Boychuk (14th), Joe Colborne (16th), Chet Pickard (18th), Anton Gustafsson (20th), Tyler Cuma (23rd), Greg Nemisz (25th), Daultan Leveille (29th) and Tom McCollum (30th), but also stars Josh Bailey (9th), Erik Karlsson (15th), Jordan Eberle (22nd), and John Carlson (27th).

Far from beig a bust, Wilson was essentially a 35-to-40-point player on a very defensive-minded Nashville team whose leading scorers barely reached 60, and he scored 20 goals in 2014-15, although he doesn't remember how he did it, as he was struggling with a prescription drug addiction at the time. Preds GM David Poile had tried to warn him about his condition during his rookie season, but Wilson wouldn't hear any of it at the time. He suffered in silence, as many do.

The main reason why he fears this may be the end for him at just 31 years of age is the fact that his last NHL game was over a year ago and he went through two hip surgeries since, neither of which completely fixed his physical issue, while the mental one will remain a struggle forever.

Here he is when things were looking up, on card #CW from Panini's 2010-11 Crown Royale collection and Heirs To The Throne sub-set, wearing the Predators' blue (then-home) jersey:

It's an "all-dressed" card, featuring a game-worn silver jersey swatch as well as an on-sticker autograph with his jersey number (33) tagged at the end. It is numbered 31/50.

I wish him the best in his future endeavours.