They, tell me it's impossible to win a football game with too many choir boys. In the case of Russell Wilson, the potential Mr. Congeniality, one choir boy may be too many. From the very beginning New York Giants the quarterback has done his best to establish himself as the game's most likable star, the player kids look up to and opponents look up to. And all this seems to only breed resentment.
Wilson's closest associates have a hard time saying his name without spitting. Richard Sherman, a prominent former quarterback turned Prime Video analyst, is jealous of Wilson for the favoritism he received from management during their time together in Seattle. KJ Wright, another prominent member of the Legion of Boom defense, accuses Wilson of betraying the locker room pledge. Marshawn Lynch is amazing but famously discreet A Seahawks running back who stood in line behind Wilson for 56 Seahawks games remembers having to ask someone in the team office for the QB's contact information—and Wilson calling him back from a blocked number. “To me, Russ was just a protector,” Lynch said. Just the quarterback who led the Seahawks to their first Super Bowl title.
Sean Payton can barely hide his disdain for Wilson. After Denver's historic 33-30 win over New York last week, the Broncos coach beamed:little sparkThe Giants met with Jackson Dart, the rookie who became the team's starting quarterback after Wilson went 0-3 and hinted that he told Giants owner John Mara he'd rather face another guy. “We were hoping that the changes would have happened much later in the game,” Payton told reporters.
That Payton was saying this as the guy who stuck with Wilson as the starter last year after Denver plucked him from Seattle via trade in 2022 and signed him to a five-year, $245 million extension that still occupies salary cap space raised eyebrows – including Wilson. In a social media response two days later, he called Payton: “classless” and accused him of using the media for “headhunting” – an apparent reference to payment for skins a scandal that marred his otherwise successful coaching tenure with the New Orleans Saints. And while Payton later clarified that his comments about Dart were not veiled digs at Wilson, it's still somewhat surprising that the QB was so offended at all.
Wilson has always been able to exist within his bubble. During his ten-year presidency in Seattle, he regularly set the tone of a politician on the campaign trail: leading with charm, killing with kindness, leaving behind a trail of platitudes, and sometimes in the crowd too. Particularly annoying was Wilson's habit of ending interviews with the slogan “Go Hawks”, which became “Let's Ride” after he was traded to the Broncos; After signing with Pittsburgh last year, Wilson changed the slogan to “Here We Go,” the opening words of the team's fight song, and then to “Win the Seventh,” as in the Steelers' seventh Lombardi Trophy. But he honestly can't help himself.
Overall, Wilson tries to say something without impersonating an artificial intelligence. “The bigger you are, the more they hate,” he said after the Week 2 classic against Dallas. Even Wilson's attempt to move away from this robotic perception with a social media alter ego called Mister Unlimited (not to be confused with his in-game character, DangeRuss) was roundly derided as painfully desperate and uncool. Roots is another word used to describe Wilson. This most often comes up when Wilson is viewed through the lens of black American culture—as his badass looks, positive vibe, and notable lack of visible tattoos differ from the stereotypical black athlete who is always getting into trouble on and off the field.
Critics and commentators in the black manosphere further perpetuate this stereotype when they mock Wilson for what he put R&B star Ciara through. premarital purity test after she was previously linked to rapper Future, confirmed bachelor who criticized Wilson on several records. The manosphere all but melted after Ciara learned that Ciara had added Wilson's name to the son she shares with Future, even though Wilson did not legally adopt the boy. “He's the most amazing person you could know,” Ciara said. this summer in defense of her husband. “The smartest, the smartest Black person I've ever known. What you see in him is really who he is.”
The irony of Wilson's carefully crafted image is that it would probably never have been much of a success. NFL career without it, let alone last long enough to become one of the least liked personalities in the league. The longer the years go by, the easier it is to forget that the odds are stacked against Wilson: a sub-6-foot black quarterback who rode his bike two colleges ago when it didn't look good. The Seahawks drafted Wilson in the third round of the 2012 NFL Draft under Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III, selecting him ahead of Nick Foles and Kirk Cousins, the only QBs in the group who overextended.
Wilson wasn't expected to see playing time considering the Seahawks had signed Green Bay super reserve Matt Flynn to one of the most important quarterback contracts in the NFL at the time. If Wilson had been drafted even 20 years earlier, he almost certainly would have been drafted into the Army. turned into a defender or, failing that, a long career in professional baseball. (Wilson was drafted by three different MLB teams out of high school and played second base in the Colorado Rockies organization for 93 games.) When Wilson defied predictions and beat out Flynn for Seattle's starting job, it set off an avalanche of reports about the rookie QB's incredible ability, strong work ethic and deep faith.
There was nothing trivial about the fact that Wilson was going to lead the Seahawks to victory. Victory over the Broncos in the Super Bowl in 2014. He became what championship contenders could aspire to: a standout star QB on a rookie contract that would leave plenty of room to fill other needs on the field. But that high point may also have marked the beginning of Wilson's decline in popularity. The Seahawks looked like a dynasty in the making when they reached the Super Bowl again the following year. But then Wilson intercepted the ball near the goal line. snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in Seattle's 2015 Super Bowl against Tom Brady's New England Patriots and doomed the Seahawks to one-hit wonder status.
Players are still angry at Seahawks coach Pete Carroll for calling the pass instead of throwing it to Lynch, the best player in the game. It wasn't long before rumors began to be heard that Wilson had become closer to management than his own teammates, who had been transferred to other teams, until Wilson himself became expendable. Since taking the Broncos' job in 2022, Payton has evicted Wilson from his position among the team's coaches and executives, which some say is evidence that he enjoyed exclusive privileges on the team. It was also said that Wilson was trying to get his bosses fired in Seattle and Denver, a move that another QB in his position might try to make if he had the power. (Wilson ultimately denied the accusations of a power grab.)
Also in 2022, Wilson was reported to have completed a four-hour workout on his way to a game in London. in the aisle of the Broncos team planeannoying his teammates and deepening the public intrigue surrounding his quirks. (Wilson said the story was “overblown.”) The final straw for fans, however, was that Wilson signed one lucrative contract after another and failed to live up to those expectations as his play waned and there was little money left to bolster other areas of the roster, betraying the quality of the bargain that made him a great franchise player in the first place. His approval rating doesn't appear to recover until he retires.
However: it's worth noting that Wilson has some supporters who are definitely not his wife. Former Broncos safety Dalton Risner calls Wilson one of his favorite teammates. (“You want to know why he had an office? Because Russell Wilson was grinding,” He said.) Doug Baldwin, Wilson's top receiver in Seattle, says their once-close relationship has changed with success and fame, but in the end he wishes his former teammate well. Justin Fields, Wilson's main competitor for the starting job in Pittsburgh, remembers him as a great teammate and friend who served as a shining example of how to do the job right. It's a reminder of how opinions can vary from person to person when the average NFL team fields 53 or more players on the field.
In a league built on attitudes and perceptions, much of the hatred for Wilson is circumstantial. This proves that the choir boys have no chance on the field while Wilson is here, enjoying the strict football life, no matter what they do.
