TwistedHusky
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The scrutiny is there, and will be there for the near term.
It will magnify if he stumbles, and diminish if he does well.
But it is amplified because Russell is playing a dangerous game of trying to be a character he clearly created. Or at least I hope that is the issue, but the alternative is that he truly believes some of this which causes additional problems.
Plenty of players go into contract disputes and are scrutinized because of it. Remember all the junk about Lynch when he held out? But you enter a whole new level of scrutiny when you claim you are talking to God.
Not saying it isn't possible, just saying it gets a lot more negative attention, true or not. I HIGHLY doubt that kind of thing is something his agent would be pushing, as it frankly hurts your endorsement opportunities.
But the part that matters is not whether he is crazy or divinely connected, it is whether he can produce on the football field and whether we can afford him while still paying the other expenses enough to be competitive.
(My other concern is whether the scrutiny over his own actions/words can affect his ability to positively impact his teammates. One thing that Wilson brought to the table was an unswerving belief that success was assured. That kind of belief in someone makes them believe themselves and also perform better. Unless they believe that trust was tainted because it might not just be trust, but instead stem from being somewhat crazy. And it does not matter if he is or is not crazy, only if the person being motivated believes he is.)
It comes down to spinning the wheel and laying our bet. IF we truly believe that Wilson is this transcendent talent, we have to go all in - knowing it would gut the franchise if we are wrong. If not, I am not sure many QBs could survive/produce in the structure of the team we have anyway. The cost of keeping Russ assures we won't have much of an effective line to work with, so Russ will have to be great.
So he has the upper hand. But all that scrutiny on him will make it harder for him to deliver on the expectations that by necessity must be ratcheted up - since we are going to have to ratchet down our expectations in other areas.
Can Russ play the character he has created and still grow as a player? Or will he have to focus on one side or the other in order to attain his long-term goals? (Which may or may not be football related).
It will magnify if he stumbles, and diminish if he does well.
But it is amplified because Russell is playing a dangerous game of trying to be a character he clearly created. Or at least I hope that is the issue, but the alternative is that he truly believes some of this which causes additional problems.
Plenty of players go into contract disputes and are scrutinized because of it. Remember all the junk about Lynch when he held out? But you enter a whole new level of scrutiny when you claim you are talking to God.
Not saying it isn't possible, just saying it gets a lot more negative attention, true or not. I HIGHLY doubt that kind of thing is something his agent would be pushing, as it frankly hurts your endorsement opportunities.
But the part that matters is not whether he is crazy or divinely connected, it is whether he can produce on the football field and whether we can afford him while still paying the other expenses enough to be competitive.
(My other concern is whether the scrutiny over his own actions/words can affect his ability to positively impact his teammates. One thing that Wilson brought to the table was an unswerving belief that success was assured. That kind of belief in someone makes them believe themselves and also perform better. Unless they believe that trust was tainted because it might not just be trust, but instead stem from being somewhat crazy. And it does not matter if he is or is not crazy, only if the person being motivated believes he is.)
It comes down to spinning the wheel and laying our bet. IF we truly believe that Wilson is this transcendent talent, we have to go all in - knowing it would gut the franchise if we are wrong. If not, I am not sure many QBs could survive/produce in the structure of the team we have anyway. The cost of keeping Russ assures we won't have much of an effective line to work with, so Russ will have to be great.
So he has the upper hand. But all that scrutiny on him will make it harder for him to deliver on the expectations that by necessity must be ratcheted up - since we are going to have to ratchet down our expectations in other areas.
Can Russ play the character he has created and still grow as a player? Or will he have to focus on one side or the other in order to attain his long-term goals? (Which may or may not be football related).
