Locker room sage James Conner was the one who first introduced Michael Wilson to the Winston Churchill quote that resonated so deeply with the wide receiver last season.

The quote by the legendary Prime Minister of the United Kingdom:

"To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique to them and fitted to their talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for that which could have been their finest hour."

Wilson, coming off a breakout 78-reception, 1,006-yard, 7-touchdown third season, was telling the story of the quote on Monday during an appearance on "The Jim Rome Show."

"That quote kind of encapsulated my season, because for my career to ascend, I couldn't have a game where I had 6 catches for 65 yards," Wilson said. "That wasn't good enough to sort of get the national media or the coaching staff to turn their heads and say, 'Damn, Mike can play.' I needed to have a game of 18 targets, 15 catches for damn near 200 yards."

Wilson did that against the 49ers on Nov. 15 last season, the jumping-off point of a furious second half that propelled him to his first 1,000-yard season and all kinds of turning of the heads from national media (and the coaching staff.)

"I've always been a guy who has been detailed-oriented. There is no detail too small in my mind," Wilson said. "You do that over and over; I've been playing football for almost 20 years now. When you get that opportunity, I feel that the universe will ... there was no way I wasn't going to take advantage of that opp(ortunity). Because in the NFL, you might only get one opp."