Take it from a Broncos fan: 12’s should be grateful for what they had in Russell Wilson
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Seahawks trading Russell Wilson
The Seahawks have agreeing to trade franchise quarterback Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos for multiple first-round draft choices and additional players and picks.
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Well, this is awkward.
I’m assuming you’ve heard the big sports news by now: The Seattle Seahawks have reportedly agreed to trade Russell Wilson — the quarterback responsible for delivering the team’s only Super Bowl victory — to the Denver Broncos.
Normally, of course, breaking football news isn’t something I’d cover for The News Tribune. But blockbuster times call for blockbuster measures, and seeing as I’m the TNT’s only in-house Broncos fan (and a much-maligned one at that), I’ve been called into duty.
It’s an assignment I quickly accepted, because I’m ecstatic, and, frankly, would have struggled to concentrate on anything else today anyway.
Why? It’s simple, and a reality Seahawks fans who have either blacked out or are too young to remember the days of Kelly Stouffer, Stan Gelbaugh or Dan McGwire now find themselves grappling with:
You can’t win in the NFL without a top-tier quarterback, and Wilson — for all his insufferably robotic qualities and the drama he cooks up — is one of them.
It’s funny how success can make a fan base greedy, and how fast struggles on the field can inspire desperation. Both of those factors are at play here. For everything Wilson accomplished in Seattle — the wins, the stats, the extreme heartbreaks and the franchise-defining moments — a segment of Seahawks fans had soured on him in recent years. Part of that was last season’s losses on the field and the inevitable physical declines that come with age. Another was the annual will-he-stay-or-will-he-go speculation that Wilson and his team ginned up for leverage.
It’s slightly irrational, but so is sports fandom: Wilson’s Hollywood posturing and his barely masked dissatisfaction in Seattle turned a number of Seahawks fans off. Perhaps the grass really could be greener, a vocal minority of 12’s accustomed to double-digit wins and home playoff games began to wonder out loud.
Now, Seattle is about to find out.
As a Broncos fan — particularly over the last five years — what I can say for certain is sometimes the grass is not greener. In fact, sometimes the grass dries up and dies and doesn’t come back for a long time, no matter how much you invest in seed. Since Peyton Manning limped into the sunset after Super Bowl 50, the Broncos have been searching for someone to fill the Sheriff’s sizable shoes — or at least get the team back to the playoffs. That’s why Denver’s second-year general manager, George Paton, didn’t flinch when it came time to send multiple draft picks and a haul of relatively young, promising players — including Shelby Harris, who Seattle should love — to the Seahawks in exchange for Wilson.
Again, you can’t win in the NFL without a QB.
For Seahawks fans who are hurting right now — and I’m sure there are many of them, including all the kids who rightfully look up to Wilson — the reality is there aren’t many words of solace I can offer. For one, it would be disingenuous. While Wilson is easy to poke fun at — and I’ve done my fair share of poking over the years — I’m now pleased as orange punch to have him.
I mean, think about it: When I woke up this morning I figured the best shot my team had to return to glory was to trade for a 38-year-old anti-vax trucker. Now we’ll have Wilson, who — at 33 and with no record of chumming around with Joe Rogan — will be a lot easier to root for, even if he does hold onto the ball too long.
At the same time, I can’t help but sympathize with the pain and disbelief that’s coursing through the Puget Sound region today. Even if the last decade of success has made some fans lose perspective — and created a whole new generation of fans too young to remember the dark days of TV blackouts and Ken Behring’s moving trucks — superstar players who arrive at the right time and lift a team to previously unseen heights don’t come around every day. They’re special, and they create memories that last a lifetime. Wilson was one of them.
Hopefully most Seahawks fans realize how good they’ve had it with Wilson under center.
If not, at least you’ll always have 43 to 8.
This story was originally published March 8, 2022 at 1:38 PM with the headline "Take it from a Broncos fan: 12’s should be grateful for what they had in Russell Wilson."
