Michigan WR Roman Wilson watches hometown burn in Hawaii wildfires: 'They need everything'

For many athletes, sports is an escape. A safe place, somewhere to put the troubles of life aside.

But there are times where even football can't provide that refuge — Michigan football wide receiver Roman Wilson is experiencing that right now. Born in Kihei, Hawaii, on the island of Maui, part of the Wolverines senior's hometown is no longer recognizable after a series of devastating wildfires.

The village of Lahaina has been hit worst. As of Friday afternoon in Maui, the death toll from the catastrophe reached 67, with more than 10,000 people reportedly displaced from their homes.

All the while, Wilson is trying to stay focused on the upcoming season.

“Just coming out of practice, checking my phone and people are texting me like, ‘Are you OK? Is your family OK?’ " Wilson said. "And I’m just like, I can’t — it’s awful."

Wilson's hometown is approximately 20 miles from the worst of the destruction, but the damage has been widespread. The wildfires were declared a federal disaster on Thursday; Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said it is believed to be the worst natural disaster in the state's history.

“People I grew up with, their homes are gone," Wilson said. "People are asking me like, ‘What can I do to help? Like, what do they need?’ They need everything. Your car’s gone, your house is gone, all your belongings, everything they owned, it’s gone. A place that I grew up, I can’t go back and visit. Like, it’s just gone. There’s nothing there."

Wilson caught 25 passes for 376 yards and four touchdowns a season ago and has more than 1,000 career all-purpose yards and 10 total touchdowns.

He spoke Friday of his expectations for himself and how he believes sustaining Week 5 injuries in each of the past two seasons is just a matter of bad luck. He did his best to be optimistic about his improved rapport with quarterback J.J. McCarthy, explain the importance of a go-to receiver and even stopped by an earlier news conference to pretend to interview Donovan Edwards earlier in the morning.

The whole time, his heart was heavy.

“It’s been funny to say, I’ve had a lot of bad stuff happen in my life," he said. "I mean, it’s hard to deal with. I don’t think it’s gonna really hit me until I go back and visit and just see how much it’s changed. Some of it’s still going on right now. Man, it just sucks.”