What were you thinking?

[Chukarhawk]

I called it and knew when it happened we were on our way. Also predicted he would win the starting job.

 

[sc85sis]

I was pretty stoked. I'd seen him a couple of times, notably against MSU. I wasn't sure about the height issue, but I figured John and Pete probably knew something or they wouldn't have drafted him. You could tell they were really excited. When murmurs came out of rookie minicamp that he looked great, followed by Pete saying that Russell would legitimately compete for the starting job, I had a feeling he'd win it. It just had that "Matt Barkley wins the job as a true freshman" feeling to me.

 

[Greenhell]

I wrote an article the day the pick was made that it was my favorite draft pick of all time. Mostly, I was just so damn happy that Seattle finally drafted a player I loved for a change. It was also so cool to see John Gruden share the same degree of enthusiasm, a guy who played QB, coached QBs, and coached a SB winning team. Meanwhile Kiper and McShay tried to find nice things to say about Wilson but it was clear he never fit their "can't see the forest for the trees" model. Really should not be surprising which guy was right.

It wasn't until a few months ago that the surreality of Wilson being a Seahawk started to fade.

Right before the draft I was following comments you had made about Russ, Turbin, and Irvin. I did a little my own research via youtube so I was excited to hear that we had gotten all three.

 

[MontanaHawk05]

I didn't know anything about him coming out of college, but Kearly had made me a believer early on. I had unreasonable hope that he'd turn out because I didn't think much of Matt Flynn, and was in fact desperate for him NOT to succeed so that we'd avoid getting stuck with a Hasselbeck clone for ten years.

 

[-The Glove-]

I was excited thanks to watching highlights and reading up on what guys much smarter than I on .Net were saying about him. That draft, I wanted RW and Turbin.

 

[Missing_Clink]

"He seems pretty good but a 3rd round pick seems kinda high for a backup QB"

Little did I know...

 

[Laloosh]

Didn't think much of it at the time of the draft but watching him in the preseason, I remember sitting around the table playing poker with friends and we all agreed that he was going to get the starting job. He was just killing it. The combination of scrambling ability and arm strength was just fun as hell to watch.

 

[HawksSoc]

I don't follow college ball too closely. I remember my brother who is a 9er fan kept telling me he was jealous and he was super excited for the Hawks. To this day he says the 9ers will always be his favorite team, but RW is his favorite player. He says if he were to buy a jersey, he would own a RW jersey. Pretty telling that a 9er fan would say that stuff.

So there's hope for at least one of them to see the light then?

 

[Hawks46]

I'm not up on college football anymore, so all I really knew was he had insane stats in college and played well in the Rose Bowl.

When we drafted him, I thought he would back up Flynn the first year and compete the 2nd year. I believed Carroll had a true 3 way competition at QB, and I thought Flynn would win as he has much better field vision than TJack has. I bought into the hype that historically, short QBs don't succeed at a high level in the NFL, but I'd convinced myself Russ had a shot as Brees is only an inch taller.

So then, I saw the Gruden's QB camp and thought Wilson's intangibles were through the roof. I also did some research and found out about Wilson's escapability and ability to pick up cheap 1st downs with his legs without taking big shots, which I loved. I started seeing the "poing guard QB" that Carroll was talking about envisioned through Russell. I started doing research about how the Saints protect Brees and wondered if our OL would do the same things.

I honestly thought Wilson would be a backup for a year, compete very hard his 2nd year, and maybe start then or the 3rd year when Flynn was done. I actually liked the Flynn signing; for those people that didn't like it....Flynn got us Bobby Wagner. Our FO was able to wait out Wilson falling to the 3rd and draft Wagner instead, as we had a viable starting QB on the roster in Flynn, so we didn't have to be desperate. Wilson has surpassed all my expectations of him. I couldn't be happier for him, the Seahawks and us as fans.

 

[Donk70]

I started laughing and I was excited. I knew he would be the starter eventually- just not that quick, nor did I expect him to win a Super Bowl his 2nd year.

 

[Throwdown]

Summayall some god damn liars, I know I'm not the only one that thought something stupid

 

[lsheldon]

I thought we were in for another 10 years of mediocrity. I'm insanely glad I was mistaken. Funny thing is, we haven't even seen anything close to his best game yet.

Go Hawks.

 

[TriCHawk]

I knew (and still know) very little about college football. So I just figured we picked him up as a backup to Flynn. I figured why would you bring in this guy for tons of Money only to have him sit on the bench. Wasn't upset about it, but didn't have much expectations either.

Same.

I think what sold me initially was seeing Gruden's QB Camp thing.

 

[jammerhawk]

I was totally stoked that we'd drafted him and fully of the belief that many of the very QB savvy types thought he was going to be special were right after watching him play in the Rose Bowl.

Following the draft many of the mediates were still chanting 'too small, too small' but after preseason our boy Russell sure looked like he was going to be special. I'm thinking we've only seen the tip of the iceberg and Russell is going to be a franchise QB and very darn good for avery long time. The draft dweebs who couldn't see his strong arm and pocket presence and gauge from his college experience that he was a leader simply missed on assessing how good he would be and will be.

We are fortunate to have him as our QB.

 

[NinjaHawk]

Before the draft, I knew we were going to take some quarterback somewhere. So I just went to youtube and watched a bunch of highlight reel stuff, someone had made "every throw" videos of all the draftable quarterbacks. I don't pretend to be some super expert so I wasn't really looking for anything in particular, just wanted to see who these people were since I don't watch college football. Of all the potential quarterbacks I watched (didn't include Luck or Griffin, I knew we had no chance), Russell looked WAY better. That's when I got excited. After watching 20 minutes of Brock Osweiler plays, Ryan Tannehill plays, Russell just looked like he was on another level. So draft day, I was pumped.

 

[chawx]

I didn't follow college enough to know who he was before they picked him, but when I saw him and his family flipping out with excitement, I was happy for him and was 100% rooting for him to do well. Then when Gruden talked about him and Kiper and the other dude couldn't say anything nice, I figured he'd be a great pick up. I just had no idea it would be like this....

...but this is how I am with every draft pick. Once they become a Seahawk they're my favorite player ever.

Ignorance truly is bliss when it's not your head on the line if the pick is a bust, lol.

 

[bryantology79]

My physical reaction was a fist pump. I really wanted to come out of the draft with him or Kirk Cousins. I loved their characters and tape.

same here...considering our draft position and already having flynn i wanted either of those guys. when the marine dude announced russell i thought wow this team is gonna be hella fun to watch when he takes over in 2 years.

 

[Yxes1122]

I hated the pick. Absolutely hated it. I remember me and my brother (a Den fan) whining about our team's QB picks. That said, I hated Wilson less than I hated Flynn so I had high hopes he would win out in camp. So when Pete added him to the competition I was happy.

Somewhere between Rookie Mini-Camp and the 1st Preseason game I remember becoming a believer. And after the first Preseason game I knew he was our guy. I subscribe to the Cowherd philosophy that it doesn't take long to identify greatness and I saw it right away.

Still, I can admit that I hated the pick and that mistake made me really reevaluate how I look at players.

 

[-The Glove-]

Summayall some god damn liars, I know I'm not the only one that thought something stupid

I was curious to see what I really posted at the time...

 

[entropyrulesall]

Having seen him almost beat the Ducks in the Rose Bowl, I was resigned to some other team getting him because RW was so dynamic and he just wins, period.

So when that Marine came to the stage and said, "With the 75th pick in the 2012 NFL draft, the Seattle Seahawks select Russell Wilson, QB, Wisconsin," I was more excited than any other draft pick I've watched. So I just pumped my fists and screamed like a little girl. I was THRILLED.

When I read in the TNT after the rookie minicamp that RW made 400 throws and only made one mistake on line calls, I knew that he would steal the starting job from Flynn and TJax. It was clear by the KC preseason game that RW was The Man.

I haven't had butterflies in my stomach watching Hawks anymore since they came back late to beat the Pats in 2012. I'm simply not worried anymore because if we lose a game, it will mean a team played extraordinary and that RW and the Hawks gave everything and came up just short. It just such a different perspective when you KNOW we are going to win. It made the Houston and Tampa Bay games way more fulfilling because the anticipation of winning was there but when Sherms pick six and Goldens PR occurred it just seemed like business as usual.