Russell Wilson: “I Don’t Think I’ve Arrived”

Russell Wilson is scary.

I don’t mean he’s scary looking or behaves in an erratic way.  I mean he’s scary good.  From his play on the field, to his conduct off if it, Wilson is just too good to be true.

Something bad has to happen to him or he has to do something bad, right?  Isn’t that how the world works?  All of his football prowess and his high moral character have to come with a price?  Or am I just being as cynical as a Cleveland Browns fan?

Maybe.  Maybe not.  All I know is I’m scared that one day I’m going to wake up and read on Pro Players Insiders that he’s Edward Snowden’s travel agent or Farrah Abraham’s videographer.

On second thought, Wilson plays in the Pacific Northwest.  The “bad” won’t be a scandal or a Ryan Leaf-like temper tantrum but a career-ending injury.  That’s how we roll in the PNW.

The “bad” certainly won’t be because of something he said.  No one says all the right things in an interview better than RW3.

Recently, the quarterback visited his hometown of Richmond, Virginia to coach youngsters at a Nike-sponsor athletic camp.

By the way, Wilson’s appearance comes during his own athletic camp tour.   The quarterback is visiting at-risk youths in five U.S. cities to teach them the game of football.

Does he raise abandoned puppies and read to the blind too?

While in Richmond, Wilson spoke with reporters and was asked if he has arrived?

Last year, Wilson led the Seahawks to 11 wins and a playoff victory.  He threw for 26 touchdowns and finished the season with a quarterback rating of 100.0.  Oh yeah, he also played (and played well) in the Pro Bowl.

If that’s not showing up, busting down the door, walking into the living, grabbing the remote, changing the channel to your favorite “Real Housewives of” program, and plopping yourself on the couch with a bowl of cheese curls then I don’t know what the reporter meant by “arriving.”

Wilson didn’t say that (it would have been weird if he had).  Instead, he humbly replied that he’s getting closer to where he wants to be but he’s “not there yet.”

That’s the perfect answer.  It’s exactly what fans want to hear.  Well, almost all Seahawks fans.  His great response had me shaking in my boots.

During the same conversation, Wilson expressed his respect for Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons—they eliminated the Seahawks from the 2012 NFL postseason.  He said losing to the Dirty Birds, 30-28, was devastating but as he entered the locker room he realized that his team’s future is bright and they can never be satisfied.

The quarterback also praised the team’s newly acquired wide receiver Percy Harvin.   Wilson said so many nice things about Harvin that it almost made you forget he was a Florida Gator.

Wilson explained that he and Percy have spent a lot of time together and they’ve become “really, really close.”

Now, that’s what you call leadership.  That’s what you call a quarterback and receiver getting on the same page.  Again, his answer was good news to most Seahawks fans but this one curled up in the fetal position and thought of his happy place.

Later, the franchise quarterback was asked a rather biting question about whether or not he’ll throw more than 25 passes in a game this season.

Isn’t that line of inquiry a bit snippy for June?

The question must have been poised by a New York reporter because there’s not a single hack in Washington State who would have phrased a question like that to a Seahawk much less The Seahawk.

Wilson was unperturbed.  He said he’ll “do whatever it takes to win” and believes the coaching staff is confident in his ability to pass the football.

“We’ll do whatever it takes to score as many points as we can—and definitely one more point than the opponent.”

In a different interview, this time on the “John Clayton Show,” broadcasted on 710 ESPN in Seattle, Wilson revealed that the game of professional football clicked for him in Week 6 (Oct. 14), when the Seahawks rallied to defeat the New England Patriots 24-23.

Clayton had asked Wilson what was HIS turning point, but in answering the question, the quarterback used the pronouns “we” and “us.”

Wilson concluded his conversation with Clayton with two words, “Go Hawks.”  All I heard was those screeching violins from the movie Psycho.

I know Seahawks fans love to hear all about the good things Wilson does, but I’d feel a lot better if every once in a while the quarterback revealed his human side.  I don’t want him to do anything illegal or immoral but maybe a little something that reveals he’s not perfect.

Perhaps Wilson can deflect some of those fish thrown at Pike Place Market or spit off the top of the Space Needle.

Doing something a little bad every once in-a-while will act as a release valve and prevent the quarterback from a hard and huge fall from grace in the future.

Or not.  There’s a possibility I don’t know what I’m talking about and I should just relax, enjoy Wilson’s time as a Seahawk, and be eternally grateful that I’m not a Jets fan.

Nah.