Russell Wilson “non-emotional” for Seattle return but 12s should be

Russell Wilson, former Seahawks quarterback, will begin play with his new team in Week 1 of 2022 in Seattle. He seems unmoved by this.

I should probably start off by saying it might sound like I don’t like Russell Wilson as this article unfolds. The truth is, I think Wilson is a good dude and I wish him well. But at the same time, he is no longer the quarterback of the Seahawks so there is no real difference moving forward between Russell Wilson and, say…Matt Ryan.

But we also know the real truth. It’s going to be weird to see Russell Wilson in any other uniform in real NFL games in anything other than one that says Seahawks on it. It viscerally rubs me wrong to say Wilson won’t be emotional in his return to Seattle when the Broncos play the Seahawks.

Russell Wilson says Week 1 match-up with Seahawks must be non-emotional

Because for the people that really matter to any team – that being, the fans who pay money for tickets, etc., to watch a sports team that while defying all logic creates an emotional response to its fans – Russell Wilson’s return is going to be emotional.

My hope is that Wilson recognizes this however subtly at some point as well. I guess he can’t really come out and say, “This game means a lot to me.” This would go against what our modern athletes say and what an athlete who is so measured in what he says to the press, as Wilson is, would do.

But what bothers me is that Wilson was always a bit too measured – players like Richard Sherman and Doug Baldwin would likely think so as well. Wilson handled his leaving Seattle too easily and too machine-like for my liking. That’s his right, of course, but it’s my right as a fan to not like it.

There could be a few reasons why Russell Wilson has found it easy to move on with the Broncos. One, he is truly great at compartmentalizing. If so, good for him. Two, he is self-aware enough to know that he plays for a different team and Seattle isn’t important in his worldview anymore. And three, he really did have “one foot out the door” and wasn’t bought in to what the Seahawks wanted to do by the end of last year. And that would simply be unfair to the team.

But no matter what Wilson’s says about his return, it will be emotionally to the ones that matter – the fans. And when Wilson’s career is long over, the fans will still be around even though he won’t.