DaytonDailyNews.com

OXFORD — It was Henry David Thoreau who once wrote something about marching to the beat of a different drummer.

Miami University senior Robbie Wilson has his own beat and his own drums, and he's at his best when he is on stage, whether at a music concert or a football game.

Wilson, a third-year starter, might be the hardest-hitting strong safety in the Mid-American Conference. But that isn't the only reason his teammates elected him as a tri-captain.

"It's a big deal to me," Wilson said. "It shows how they see me as a person both on and off the field."

Off the field, Wilson makes magic when he takes a drumstick in hand.

As a freshman out of Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy, he won the team's annual talent show, in which players get up in front of teammates and do their own thing, and he reprised his act at last week's show.

"My dad plays the bass guitar," Wilson said. "I used to go to rehearsals with him, and I'd hop on the drums if I could find them.

"I play a lot at church, I play with different bands around (Cincinnati)," he said. "It's something I take very seriously. I was in a jazz band in high school. We did a couple tours, including the Disney Tour, where we played Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Disney World."

Wilson, who also has performed in Branson, Mo., said playing in a jazz band enabled him to feel comfortable with any kind of music.

"I've played punk rock, some country, rhythm and blues, gospel," he said. "It's definitely something I would pursue after school."

On the field, Wilson has made 25 consecutive starts for the RedHawks. Which proves somebody made a wise decision five years ago after Wilson broke his leg in his final high school game.

"It was Halloween night, a playoff game," he remembered. "I broke my leg running down the sidelines on a play I should have scored on."

Wilson had played with a stress fracture in the leg during much of the season.

"Finally it got to the point where it got so weak, it just broke," he said. "I didn't even get hit. I just buckled."

The injury could have proved disastrous to his college hopes.

"At the time, I hadn't committed anywhere," said Wilson, who had received attention from Miami, Akron and Boston College.

"The first call I got was from coach John Peterson (a Miami assistant at the time, now at Ohio State), to see how I was doing and to reassure me that they still wanted me here," Wilson said. "That made my decision easy.

"I've always felt," he added, "that since I committed here, this is where I was supposed to be."

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2197 or pconrad@coxohio.com.