Dave Boling: How will marriage affect Seahawks QB Russell Wilson?

If you’re like me, you’re really up a tree over what to get Russell and Ciara for a wedding gift.

A toaster is always nice for a young couple starting out. Blender, maybe.

A Pro Bowl tackle might come in handy for Russell and would make Ciara’s game-days a little less anxious, but I didn’t see that listed on their registry.

As reported by the typical entertainment tabloid outlets, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and R&B diva Ciara have tied the knot in Liverpool, England.

It seems my invitation got lost in the mail.

But I’d still like to wish the couple good health and years of happiness. May they always be as happy as they are today.

With that out of the way, I suspect the first follow-up consideration for sports fans in the Northwest is how these much-anticipated nuptials will affect Wilson’s quarterbacking.

Somehow, I don’t imagine too many are asking whether the distractions of a high-profile marriage will affect Ciara’s singing and dancing.

After watching Wilson pretty closely since 2012, here’s my initial thought: As long as he’s done honeymooning when training camp starts on July 30, he’ll be fine.

The guy has been indefatigable. I can’t say I’ve ever seen him break a sweat. So there’s little chance he’s not going to be in good shape.

His bride appears to take fitness seriously, too, so perhaps she’ll help him work out. In the gym, I mean, getting him tuned-up for training camp.

I remember a time when I might have questioned doing a story about an athlete’s personal life. Is any of this really any of our business?

Fans have enormous interest in these players, and when the players themselves share their off-field lives on social media, it’s an invitation to participate at least to some degree.

Wilson posted his engagement on Instagram. And recently Ciara shared a video of her singing with Wilson joining in. It provided evidence that Ciara might have as much promise as a backup quarterback as Wilson has as a backup singer.

They were joined in the performance by former Seahawks running back Robert Turbin, who was Wilson’s training camp and road roommate. As a rookie, Wilson told stories of how he and Turbin would sit in their hotel room and visualize NFL success.

It seemed pretty audacious then for a third-round quarterback. But look at him now, signing with Ciara.

You might as well watch —anybody with internet service can. No one lives an unexamined life anymore, especially celebrity couples.

Wilson has been groomed for a life in the public eye, but Ciara takes that to a global level. It’s impossible to not be changed by this.

But it doesn’t have to mean being diminished by it, or distracted from the job.

Tom Brady seems to have played pretty well for the Patriots during his under-the-microscope marriage to model Gisele Bundchen.

Let’s remember that Wilson was divorced from his first wife shortly after leading the Seahawks to a Super Bowl win following the 2013 season. Can you imagine the pressure on everybody involved during that time? If there’s a way to focus during that process, then a new marriage should be manageable.

No question, the headlines won’t stop. Only get weirder.

Recently, Ciara reportedly filed documents contending that the father of her son — the rapper Future — was threatening Wilson’s life.

That’s serious stuff.

But, have you ever seen J.J. Watt? Calais Campbell? Wilson faces physical endangerment every week during the fall.

The newlyweds’ combined Twitter and Instagram feeds have followed them through an offseason filled with travel and public appearances.

But from watching Wilson practice during offseason camps, I thought he looked better than ever heading toward training camp, as if he picked right up where he left off at the end of last season when he was the best in the game.

His life has changed, no question, and that creates different challenges. How do you stay hungry and motivated? How do you sustain that competitive fire?

This will be a different kind of test for a man who has met and overcome so many on the way up.

If we hear that he has taken game videos to study on his honeymoon, we’ll know he’s still on-task.

Foolish — very, very foolish — but still focused.

This story was originally published July 6, 2016 at 6:47 PM with the headline "Dave Boling: How will marriage affect Seahawks QB Russell Wilson?."