Why do we care about Russ anymore?

[SantaClaraHawk]

Because stuff like this not only writes itself but has national sportswriters doing it.

For Broncos, Russell Wilson trade could go from horrible to worse

Denver's decision to acquire — and to pay — quarterback Russell Wilson ranks among the worst NFL trades of all time.

www.nbcsports.com

 

[onanygivensunday]

Because I like seeing Donkey and Stealer fans suffer.

And because I like seeing smug, mouthy professional athletes fail, especially those who espouse the name of God.

 

[Glasgow Seahawk]

He won us a super bowl and was arguably the best QB in franchise history for a large stretch despite people trying to re-write history due to his last couple of years and how things ended.

 

[Kamcussionator]

Same reason I followed A-rod after he left. We fans supported him, cheered for him, and in the end he did what he could to poison us against our own team for selfish reasons.

It’s not scorn. It’s earned malice for trying to sabotage our home team.

 

[chrispy]

I don't understand how anyone could be un-interested.

RCWs rise from undersized underdog to SB Champion and subsequent fall to national laughing-stock is the stuff of legend. Most drama-laden sports movies combine luck, timing and grit to pull together a semi-believable plot. RCWs adult life was rocketing to the highest of highs and self-inflicting damage that is still knocking him down lower than anyone could imagine a short time back. He went from the highest paid player to vet minimum in 2 seasons. How is that not a compelling story? Add that he severely damaged 2 franchises and left a wake of pissed off teammates all while winning the Man-of-the-Year award, it's just a riveting story. ...and its still unfolding. I'm not embarrassed to admit I can't stop watching. Who will Team3 bring to Steelers HQ? Will he help KPickett or undermine his career? How does this impact Tomlin and his longevity in Pittsburgh? What will his first family tweet from Pittsburgh be? ...and local endorsements? ...and Steeler fans' reactions to camp... Ciara joins Dance Moms...... I thought he was done, but I'm really happy to be wrong because it'll add so much more to this upcoming NFL season.

 

[NINEster]

Simple. It's a measure of how far a fall from grace a player can make, and how shaky the foundation of his perceived greatness was to begin with.

He played here for 10 years and for almost the entire time, how good he was was debated in a way other 'great' qbs aren't. Elway's greatness was never debated by Broncos fans. Nor was Rodgers, Paytons, Brees's, Brady's, Warner's, Roethlisberger... even guys like Luck, Eli... who they were and what they contributed to their teams winning was fairly universally known. With Russ, his STATS forced a debate that questioned his place among the greats because the numbers said so. But his play in a traditional (fundamental), sustainable sense... not so much. And so now, to a degree, sans the LOB to lean on. Sans top 10 running games to support him, sand Pete Carroll to 'hold him back', it's a bit of a truthing period, where absent the elements who made him or broke him, he can just show who he is as a qb, without the very specific stage he was provided to do his deal in Seattle.

It's interesting because now the question can be answered as to whether Russ could have ever been 'Russ' outside of the Pete Carroll Seahawks. So far, the answer is no.

I don't know how one can't care to better understand what it was they were seeing over the 10 years Pete and Russ were here together, given how hot the debate raged the entire time.

Your post summed up my #1 frustration I had with Wilson his entire career, particularly as it related to his role in the Seahawks' success.

In all honesty, if Wilson played for nearly any other team I wouldn't hate him as much (or possibly at all). But since he played for the Seahawks who were a bitter rival with the Niners (and a good # of .NET were utterly destructive of Kaepernick during his GOOD DAYS....oh yes it was brutal hate, LOL).......it was all out war from my end to destroy Wilson, haha.

I started studying him closely in 2013. Got my PhD on Wilson long before he left the team, LOL. I came off as a blind hater here, but I promised I was coming at it as objectively as I could.....he did 2-3 things at a super high level, which was enough to buoy him as a sexy splashy QB when everything worked out. Those 2-3 things are still pretty good compared to most QBs, but not good enough when he doesn't have the other guys' skillsets.

Besides the scramble drill, Wilson also had this uncanny ability of being unstoppable in 2 minute drills. I can recall wins in Carolina, at home vs Miami, where he won it on the final drive after struggling the entire game. SB 49 another great example of this....Gronk scored with under a minute to go and the Seahawks still got managed to get their first TD???? LOL.

Most unique QB I've ever seen play. He also had this gift when playing the Niners, that his defense will be '13 Seahawks level every single time......evidenced by his 11-10 victory on a completely different team, and his worst statistical performance of the season.

I give you guys a lot of credit for getting it done with him, and just in general. It's so damn hard to win a freaking SB these days, I look back at the old days with a totally different perspective.

 

[chris98251]

I'm curious to see how his Pissburgh time plays out, they said they talked to Pickett before he signed, Russ jumped at it fast, competition for the starter or a wink and a nod to Russ, or is Russell getting played and he is the back up?

 

[Rat]

We devoted ten years to him as the team leader, and he didn't leave that long ago. It'd be surprising if fans didn't still talk about him.

 

[BlueTalon]

Honest question. I am intrigued by the amount of attention he still gets to this very day.

It's a come to Jesus question. Why do you care about him anymore?

For the past two years? Because he was on the Broncos. Now? Because he's going to the Rustbuckets.

It's got nothing to do with being a scorned ex. It does have a lot to do with his utter disingenuousness. Russ and his team deliberately crafted a narrative at Pete's expense, and tried to get Pete and John fired. I got a lot of schadenfreude from watching that narrative be utterly demolished. Pete, John, and Jody are probably not the types to hold grudges, but I will hold one on their behalf.

 

[BlueTalon]

Sports are unimportant and the relationships between teams and the players are a business transaction. These people aren't hurting us, or really anybody else, because they're not in a position to do so.

While I agree with you that in the grand scheme of things sports are relatively unimportant, I disagree that Russ in particular hasn't hurt anyone else. His arrogance and greed led him to push for and get a quarter billion dollar deal, and then didn't play anywhere near the level he needed to in order to justify that contract. People on the Broncos lost their jobs because of it.

 

[Glasgow Seahawk]

I have a gut feeling he's going to do well there with some sort of career resurgence and the Broncos are going to look like idiots picking up the tab while doing so. The Broncos just seem jinxed at QB post Manning and this would be par for the course.

Everything is lined up for Wilson there. Good stable coach, weapons, OC, etc also should have a chip on his shoulder. If he fails there he's done.

 

[BASF]

I won't speak for anyone else, but it is simply that so many of his fans here and across social media were unbearable. If you critiqued him, there were always several people who would chime in minimizing his poor play and putting over his stats despite our offense being stunted.

Even now when someone points out his poor performances in the playoffs, the blame gets shifted to Carroll. Wilson only had one great playoff performance since the interception in SB 49, which was at home against the 9-7 Lions who had a middle of the league defense and his most passing was in garbage time when the Lions were down two scores and our defense had already demoralized the Lions.

He was our best quarterback, but he was flawed. You point out his flaws and his white knights will always chime in. The question is why is anyone still arguing after his performance over the past two seasons proves his flaws are there and he can not get past his limitations?

 

[AROS]

I have decided to not carry any more ill will towards him. He is not a horrible human. He is flawed like every one of us but he strives to be a decent human being which I respect mightily. I wish him well for the rest of his football career however that manifests and no matter the team.

 

[RiverDog]

I have a gut feeling he's going to do well there with some sort of career resurgence and the Broncos are going to look like idiots picking up the tab while doing so. The Broncos just seem jinxed at QB post Manning and this would be par for the course.

Everything is lined up for Wilson there. Good stable coach, weapons, OC, etc also should have a chip on his shoulder. If he fails there he's done.

I'm not so sure. Last season, the Broncos offensive was ranked 5th in the league in pass protection, yet Russell was the 4th most sacked QB despite playing in 15 games. The Steelers offensive line sucks at pass protection, ranked 31st. Russell has always had one of the slowest time to throw numbers no matter what offense he plays in.

That's a bad combination, and unless Russell changes his game to get the ball out quicker or their offensive line improves dramatically, we could be watching a train wreck that would make Gomez Adams go into orgasmic convulsions from the joy of watching it.

 

[Seahawkfan80]

Seems like he was doing the big play weenie play. I dont know if they have that available in Weenieland....et al Pissburg.

 

[Palmegranite]

Because stuff like this not only writes itself but has national sportswriters doing it.

For Broncos, Russell Wilson trade could go from horrible to worse

Denver's decision to acquire — and to pay — quarterback Russell Wilson ranks among the worst NFL trades of all time.

www.nbcsports.com

Atlanta and Kirk Cousins say "hold my beer".

 

[Palmegranite]

His arrogance and greed led him to push for and get a quarter billion dollar deal, and then didn't play anywhere near the level he needed to in order to justify that contract. People on the Broncos lost their jobs because of it.

DeShaun Watson and Aaron Rodgers say "hold our beers!"

 

[BigMeach]

I don't really care but if you watch any amount of sports media you're going to be hearing about him. Kind of hard to miss.

 

[pittpnthrs]

I care about him like I care about any past great Seahawk players. He was the best QB Seattle ever had and I don't hold bad feelings about how he left because I agreed with him. Seems ownership agreed too, just a couple years later. He wanted change and it was never going to happen as long as Pete was here so he went the ultimatum route. I would have too.

 

[MD5eahawks]

He is intriguing.

Here, he was the greatest QB in Hawks history. He had it.

He gets traded and he's a different player without really ever changing.