Two days after Archie Wilson broke down in tears during a press conference when asked about being around the globe from his home, his family has broken their silence.
On Tuesday, the Nebraska freshman punter went viral after he was overcome with emotion when asked about leaving his family in Australia to chase his football dreams.
Wilson arrived in Lincoln over the summer to the gridiron powerhouse, having grown up nearly 10,000 miles away in Frankston South in the state of Victoria. He grew up playing Australian Rules football for Haileybury College before moving to the United States to join the Cornhuskers.
Now, his dad, Lee, mother, Jessica, and younger brothers, Oscar and Lewis, have spoken out having seen Wilson’s tears play out in front of the world.
‘It happened quickly, and it kind of took us all by surprise when we watched it,’ Lee said on 9 News Australia. ‘The tears started. There was a bit of a family hug, and then we kind of sat and quiet and process it for a little bit.’
Archie’s dad also revealed a text from his son saying he’s okay and to ignore the press conference before it went viral or his family watched it. Naturally, the four still in Australia tuned in straight away.
The family of Nebraska star Archie Wilson after the video of him breaking down went viral
Wilson was overcome with emotion when asked about leaving his family in Australia
The punter arrived in Nebraska over the summer, having grown up nearly 10,000 miles away
‘I miss him a lot, obviously, seeing all the stuff that goes on in America, knowing that he’s over there, we’re over here, and we can’t really see him as much,’ Oscar added of his older brother.
Archie has not seen his family since arriving at the Big Ten school, with them set to make the journey to America by the end of August, likely for the Cornhuskers’ first game of the season against Cincinnati.
When that reunion happens, it’ll be the first time they see each other since Wilson became arguably the most famous freshman punter in the country.
‘It’s a bit crazy, but I spoke to him pretty much as soon as I woke up yesterday morning, he was absolutely fine,’ Jessica added. ‘You can see at the end of the video, he walks off. He’s fine.’
‘He just broke down in those few moments, he went on to do another hour of press, and he was actually fine after that. He just they managed to capture that one moment where he got asked about his family, and he clearly misses us, and yeah, couldn’t control his emotions.’
Lee added the next gap in seeing Archie after their visit to the Midwest later this month may be even longer than two months, due to the rigors of the college football season.
Wilson ended up in Nebraska after joining ‘Prokick Australia,’ a program that has produced dozens of professional football punters. The Australian is already making a name for himself due to his ability to kick with both feet – and throw the ball.
‘That guy is special, he truly is,’ Cornhuskers special teams coordinator Mike Ekeler said. ‘He’s 18 years old, leaves home for the first time, goes to a different country, and leaves his family which he’s extremely close to… his teammates love him because of the energy he brings in the building, not just because of what he can do with the football.’
