ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Less than a week before Russell Wilson returned to Seattle to open the NFL season as the franchise quarterback of the Denver Broncos, ESPN dropped a bombshell report detailing what led to the Seahawks trading away their former quarterback in the offseason.
In the article, anonymous Seahawks executives questioned many different aspects of Wilson’s game.
“Are we trying to win games or are we trying to win MVP,” a member of the Seahawks front office said, questioning Wilson’s priorities back in 2020.
“He’s not as mobile as he used to be,” a source in the Seahawks’ front office added.
“I just felt like he’s a descending player,” a different Seattle front-office source told ESPN, point to mobility concerns.
On Thursday, one day after the article was published, Wilson, now Denver’s franchise quarterback, didn’t take the bait Seattle executives dangled in front of him. Instead of stirring the pot with his former team, he took the high road.
“I don’t worry about all this stuff,” Wilson said, stating he doesn’t pay attention to the negative media reports coming out of Seattle. “People have opinions and thoughts and ideas, and everybody has their own right to think what they want to think. I know how the whole thing went and how it transpired and just the whole situation. But at the same time too, I know every second of it I’ve enjoyed, in terms of being there and just tried to give my all every day. That’s all I know. At the end of the day, every play, every game, every situation, hurt, dinged up, highest moments, lowest moments sometimes, [I] gave my all and that’s all I can give.”
Throughout his weekly press conference on Thursday, Wilson spoke highly about his 10 years in Seattle, pointing to “how special they were” and how the city “means the world” to him.
But there was one part of the report Wilson hit head on.
Leading up to the 2018 NFL Draft, according to ESPN, Seattle reached out to the Cleveland Browns to trade Wilson for the No. 1 overall pick.
When asked if he knew about that, as the report indicated, Wilson didn’t veer away, as he had to other questions about the article, instead he immediately responded, “Definitely.”
Wilson didn’t stop there.
“They tried to [trade me] a couple times and tried to see what was out there,” the eight-time Pro Bowler said, adding a new wrinkle to the story. “It’s part of the business, and it’s part of being a professional and everything else.”
“Upset is probably the wrong word,” the 33-year old continued, describing his feelings when he found out Seattle tried to trade him multiple times. “I believe in my talent and who I am. I believe I am one of the best in the world. I don’t worry about anything else other than that. I think my focus has always been on winning, what we can do, how we can add great players and everything else… My focus is always on winning. That’s really all that matters.”
Before 2018, when Seattle attempted to trade him at least once, Wilson had been to five Pro Bowls in six years, reached two Super Bowls and won a Super Bowl. In all of those seasons, the Seahawks had a winning record. In five of the six years, they made the playoffs. The only season they didn’t make the playoffs in that stretch, 2017, Wilson’s 34 passing touchdowns led the NFL.
Despite all of that, Seattle was looking to move on from Russ.
At the time, when he found out about the multiple trade attempts, Wilson said he didn’t pay attention to them. “It’s part of professional sports,” he added.
But he does hope that Seahawks fans and the city of Seattle remember all he accomplished during his decade in the Pacific Northwest.
“At the end of the day, hopefully, after 10 years of trying to make a difference there, win a lot of football games and all of us doing it together, I think that was really special,” Wilson said, when asked if he cares how he’s perceived by his former city. “I think also too, Seattle will always mean the world to me, will always forever be home for me, and always be a special place in my heart, obviously.”
“The thing that really matters to me most was just bringing my daughter back home to Seattle. Bringing little Future, bringing Win when he was first born and just those moments, those memories,” Wilson continued. “Seattle Children’s [Hospital] kids are unique, our kids at school at [Why Not You] Academy. That’s what life is about. People are going to love you, and they are going to hate you sometimes, whatever it may be. But I know that for me I’ll forever have love in my heart for Seattle.”
Days before Wilson returns to the city he once called home, Denver’s franchise quarterback poured out his love for Seattle, despite multiple Seahawks executives questioning multiple aspects of his game.
