The Fall of Russell Wilson
The Fall of Russell Wilson
It seems like the rest of the world has realized what's been obvious - he's a great player, and a gigantic phony.
The following is a discussion about what an incredibly unlikable person Russell Wilson is, and how this is suddenly being talked about as if it’s obvious - when for years, I’ve been screaming this from the mountain tops into the wind. It is not in anyway throwing shade on him as a player, where his skill there is unimpeachable.
Russell Wilson came back to Seattle for the first game of the NFL season as a Bronco, after forcing a trade from the franchise that made him famous and stocked his team with a defense that helped him win a Super Bowl. It’s clear that Denver traded as much as they did for him because Wilson is, of course, a fantastic player. He’s almost assuredly a Hall of Famer and holds basically every relevant passing record in Seattle.
And yet, the fans mercilessly booed him upon his return. This was awesome from my perspective, but also not shocking - again, he forced his way out of town, which was very different from how Tom Brady left New England, or Peyton Manning left the Colts, for example.
As die-hard 49ers fan, Wilson has always been an incredible pain in the ass for me, beating the 49ers relentlessly (he’s 16-4 against them, by far the biggest win total against any other team - for comparisons sakes, he has 11 wins against the Cardinals and just 8 against the Rams, the other two divisional opponents.) But it was also the deification of Russell Wilson that bothered me so much.
I once described Wilson as the “Macklemore of quarterbacks” and got exactly the reaction I wanted - but it felt true. He’s a guy with obvious skill, but absolutely zero street cred.
He’s portrayed as humble, a great teammate, a God-fearing man. I do know that he often goes to Children’s Hospitals to meet with sick kids and I truly think that’s wonderful. I am sure he could promote that way more than he does, so props there. But for everything else, I really doubt the story that he and his team have promoted for so long.
Humble? Just look at this motherfucker, during the pregame for this Monday Night’s game:
(The announcer talking about how he’s just soaking it in just emphasizes my point however.) What the hell is Wilson doing here? It’s all about him. This is maddening.
Humble? Look at Mr. Thin Mint here, wearing what appears to be a mint green tuxedo to the pregame and postgame:
Great teammate, though, you say. We’ve certainly been led to believe he’s the ultimate competitor, that his team loves him and he’s respected around the league.
Welp.
Here’s how some of those guys reacted after the game - and remember, many of these are retired players who have very little to gain by dissing Russ publicly:
Lots of chatter NOW about how his teammates didn’t like how Wilson took all the credit for the team success, how he got paid well before anyone on defense, etc. I’m shocked that Doug Baldwin who probably had no career without Russ, was one of the first to throw shade.
Even Seahawks HC Pete Carroll jumped into the fray.
“I just wanted to win. … Maybe as much as anything is representing the guys that have played before. It meant a lot to those guys. I was so thrilled to be able to hug those guys up and see them and look them in the eye.”
Carroll was asked why the win meant so much to the former players.
“You figure that out,” Carroll said. “ . . . On this night, they realized there was a big opportunity and a big statement to be made. The game isn’t about an individual player here or there. It’s about team. This is the ultimate team sport and it’s been stated so many times before. It takes everybody.”
That doesn’t take a forensic accountant to figure out, but it’s part of the growing consensus that Wilson not only put himself ahead of the team, but received a truly disproportionate amount of credit for the team winning.
How’s he viewed around the league? Well …
Here’s how Mitch Trubisky - MITCH TRUBISKY! - acted when he got named the starter, absolutely mocking Wilson’s well-rehearsed, deliberately and painfully scripted “Broncos, let’s ride!” when he was introduced:
Guys, when Mitch Trubisky has no problem throwing shade on you, it’s probably fair to assume you aren’t adored league-wide.
All of this is to say that Wilson is a great QB, but he’s a total doofus - and if he’d JUST lean into the fact that he’s a goofball, and not whatever personality he’s trying on this week, I’d love to think I’d respect and like him more. Instead, he went out of his way to talk about how he couldn’t have sex with Ciara until they got married but OH BOY he was looking forward to it (after they’d both been married previously). He did a Microsoft Surface commercial years ago where his checklist of things to do prominently included the aforementioned Children’s Hospital visit, picking a Passing Academy tree and “Bible Study” which is so manufactured it has bothered me for eight years now. (Hey, that’s on me.)
He deepens his voice when he is talking to guys obviously tougher than he is, or trying to be sexy for Ciara. He’s just a phony guy.
More to the point, he’s a really, deeply weird dude who is overly interested in his public perception. Then again, maybe he isn’t?
I welcome everyone to Team “Russ Is Kind Of A Weirdo, Guys.”
It’s possible you love the guy