Russell Wilson

David Aretha

Description

Despite his success playing college football at the University of Wisconsin, many people did not think Russell Wilson could make it in the NFL as a quarterback. With his 5′11″ frame, many were concerned he wouldn't be tall enough to see over linemen and consistently move his team down the field. What he lacked in height, however, he made up for in intelligence and character—traits he would use to lead the Seattle Seahawks to their very first Super Bowl victory. 

Russell Wilson is a compelling profile of one of football's best and brightest quarterbacks. This lively biography provides readers with a behind-the-scenes look at Wilson's personality, life, and career.

Sujets

• Sport
• Autour du sport
• Autres sports
• National Football League
• Broncos de Denver
• Seahawks de Seattle
• Quarterback
• Ciara
• Denver Broncos
• Recreation
• Seattle Seahawks
• Fútbol americano
• Sports

Informations

• Publié par: Infobase Publishing
• Date de parution: 01 décembre 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781438195513
• Langue: English

Extrait

Russell Wilson
Copyright © 2019 by Infobase
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For more information, contact:
Chelsea House An imprint of Infobase 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001
ISBN 978-1-4381-9551-3
You can find Chelsea House on the World Wide Web at http://www.infobase.com
Contents Chapters A Star Is Born "Rambunctious" Wolf and Badger Fast Track to the Super Bowl Drama and Heartbreak Living and Giving Large Hurdling Obstacles Support Materials Timeline Bibliography About the Author Learn More About Bringing Back Basketball Master of Efficiency The Myth of the Black Quarterback Yankee for a Day Honor Roll by 30
Chapters
A Star Is Born
An unusually warm air mass hovered above Soldier Field on December 2, 2012. Amid cloudy skies and a kickoff temperature of 61 degrees, Chicago felt like…well…Seattle. That seemed like a good sign for the visiting Seahawks, who had gone 5-1 at home up to that point and just 1-5 on the road.
Blame for the road woes fell largely on rookie quarterback Russell Wilson—or on Head Coach Pete Carroll for playing the first-year QB. Wilson, a third-round draft pick that April, had earned the starting job with an electric performance versus Kansas City in the preseason. But heading into Chicago, he had yet to spark excitement during the regular season.
"He's not electric right now," Seattle Times columnist Jerry Brewer wrote after Wilson and the Seahawks' fourth regular-season game. "He's skittish at times. He flees the pocket too soon. He's missing throws. He's making the wrong reads at times."
The Seahawks were 6-5 not because of the passing game but in spite of it. Seattle's defense, nicknamed the "Legion of Boom," would allow the fewest points in the NFL in 2012 (as well as in each of the next three seasons). Moreover, running back Marshawn Lynch, aka "Beast Mode," would be named First Team All-Pro that season. The passing offense, meanwhile, ranked near the bottom of the league. Wilson was averaging just 186 passing yards per game, and five close road games resulted in losses.
A loss in Chicago would drop Seattle to 6-6 and make them a long shot to make the playoffs. They had to beat the Bears. "I just told the guys, 'This is what the season comes down to, right here and right now,'" Wilson would tell the press after the game.
In Chicago that day, Russell Wilson would have to "grow up" as an NFL quarterback. Carroll, the silver-haired, youthful-faced, enthusiastic, 61-year-old coach, had instilled relatively simple offensive game plans for his rookie quarterback. On this afternoon, Wilson would need to make accurate passes and, at times, make something out of nothing . As it turned out, he was up for the challenge.
The son of Harrison Wilson—an NFL prospect turned lawyer—Russell inherited the athleticism, intelligence, and maturity of his father. When Russell spoke, you listened. In his deep, friendly voice, he looked others in the eye and talked with confidence, focus, thoughtfulness, and enthusiasm. He was a leader and an overachiever, a guy who had earned all-conference honors as a college freshman and even played minor league baseball.
Throughout his college career, he had shown that a sub-six-foot quarterback could excel at a high level. But could he do so in the NFL? Doubtful, scouts predicted. His five-foot-11 frame dropped him to the third round, as NFL teams were afraid he wouldn't be able to see the field with enormous linemen in his face. Responding to the criticism, Wilson said, "My height doesn't define my skill set. To be a great quarterback, you have to have great leadership, great attention to detail and a relentless competitive nature—and I try to bring that on a daily basis."
Through three quarters of this Seahawks-Bears game, Chicago led 14-10. Wilson had shown flashes of star power on the team's second-quarter touchdown drive, including a 49-yard pass play to the dynamic Golden Tate. Then, late in the fourth quarter, Wilson proved heroic.
In the shadow of his own goal line, with just 3:40 remaining, Russell needed to lead Seattle 97 yards to overcome the 14-10 deficit. At the line of scrimmage, Brian Urlacher, one of the NFL's best middle linebackers, stared into Wilson's eyes as the Soldier Field crowd roared in his ears. Russell's first pass fell incomplete. The next two tosses went for 11 and 10 yards, but Beast Mode fumbled the latter reception—a ball recovered by Wilson himself. Disaster averted.
After an incomplete pass, Wilson scrambled to his left for 13 yards before Urlacher took him down. On the next play, Russell rambled to the right for another six yards. Seattle soon faced third-and-14 at the Chicago 49. Wilson got 11 of those yards with a pass to Doug Baldwin, then on fourth-and-three he saved the game with a first-down pass to tight end Zach Miller.
Despite his valor, Wilson was showing his inexperience: He had burned nearly three minutes off the clock and still had, with 0:43 remaining, 41 yards to reach the end zone. Working quickly now in a no-huddle offense, Russell scrambled out of the pocket and fired a bullet to Sidney Rice for 27 yards. Coach Carroll ran down the sideline, screaming for a timeout. Then on the next play, Wilson fired a perfect strike to Tate, who shed defenders en route to the end zone at 0:24.
Carroll hugged Tate on the sidelines, but this battle wasn't over. The Bears converted a long pass and kicked a field goal to tie the game at 17-17. They were going to overtime.
Seattle won the coin toss, and the Seahawks went to work again. Three runs by Wilson, six by Lynch, and a completed pass got Seattle down to the Bears' 25. They faced third-and-10, but Wilson—now full of self-assurance—rolled left and hit Baldwin along the sideline at the 13. On the next play, he ran left again before flicking a perfect dart to Rice at the goal line. Touchdown. Game over.
For the first time, young Russell Wilson had led the Seahawks to a comeback victory in hostile territory. After the game, he was the talk of the town in Seattle. "He's just so beautifully poised and so confident," Carroll beamed.
The Seattle Times would one day state, "Anyone around the Seahawks will tell you that this is the game when they truly knew they had a quarterback who could take them to a Super Bowl."
As the rest of the season progressed, more fans jumped on the Wilson bandwagon. The following Sunday, the Seahawks annihilated Arizona 58-0. And while eight Cardinals turnovers were mostly to blame for that one, Seattle beat Buffalo the next week 50-17, with Russell rushing for three touchdowns over 10 yards.
"For a time, we were just trying to get the offense going and not screw it up and make sure he could keep growing," Carroll said after the Buffalo beatdown. "Well, we're past that now."
The Seahawks closed the 2012 regular season on a five-game winning streak and made the playoffs as a Wildcard team. Their theatrics continued in the postseason, first with a come-from-behind 24-14 victory in the Wildcard Game at Washington. Seattle scored three touchdowns in a 30-28 loss at Atlanta the next week, and had a chance to win on Wilson's Hail Mary pass on the last play of the game. Wilson actually earned selection to the Pro Bowl (the NFL's all-star game)—unheard of for a third-round rookie.
Wilson would not only take Seattle to a Super Bowl eventually , he would do so the very next year. And win it. In a blowout. Over Peyton Manning, one of history's greatest quarterbacks. In doing so, he became only the second African American QB to lead his team to a Super Bowl victory.
While other current NFL quarterbacks reign as American icons—Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees—Wilson ranks right up there with them. He has made the Pro Bowl six times in his brief career, and he has led the NFL in both touchdown passes and passer rating. One year, he rushed for 849 yards—fifth most in league history by a quarterback. Through 2018, he owned a career passer rating of 100.3, second best in NFL history behind that of Rodgers.
Even beyond football, Russell lives a fairytale life. He's the husband of a Grammy Award-winning pop star, was married in a castle, and has a daughter with the middle name of Princess. He is a devout Christian, a savvy businessman, and a caring soul who devotes significant time and money to worthy causes, such as a $1 million donation to the Strong Against Cancer program at Seattle Children's Hospital's.
Along the way, Wilson has inspired fans with his ability to overcome challenges. This is his remarkable story.
"Rambunctious"
As a fourth-grader in Richmond, Virginia, Russell Wilson made the best of "indoor recess." When rainy weather forced kids to play games in the classroom, Russell became a sort of rocking chair quarterback. His mom explained, "They'd have a game or something they'd be playing and Russell would sit in the rocking chair and the other kids would be on the floor and he'd kind of run the game," Tammy Wilson told MYNorthwest.com . "His teacher said he was a little aggressive or assertive. I think he was a leader then."
The great-great-grandson of a slave, Russell Carrington Wilson was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on November 29, 1988. The intelligence, athleticism, and talent that Russell displays to the world can be traced to his descendants. His paternal grandfather, Harrison B. Wilson Jr., starred in football and basketball at Kentucky State University before becoming president of Norfolk State University. Russell's father, Harrison Wilson III, excelled in football (as a wide receiver) and baseball at Dartmouth, an Ivy League school. He went on to be become an attorney. His mother, Tammy Wilson, was the daughter of noted painter A. B. Jackson. Tammy worked as a legal nurse con