AP
Russell Wilson engaged in a media tour on Wednesday (our invitation to participate literally was lost in the email), and he said a few interesting things. Here’s a summary of the key aspects of his appearances on NFL Network and ESPN.
Wilson explained that his musing about being another Stan Musial have nothing to do with his football contract.
“I’ll tell you this, it’ll be very hard [to play baseball],” Wilson told Dan Hellie of NFLN. “It’d be very hard.”
Let’s press the pause button for a second and focus on the conjugation choices made by Wilson. First, he says, “It’ll be very hard,” which implies it will happen. Then, he says, “It’d be very hard,” which indicates that it remains a possibility.
“I believe if anybody could do it I could do it,” Wilson said. “That’s just the way I’ve always been. I played two sports my whole life. I think it’s funny when people think that the whole baseball thing is kind of a ploy or whatever. For me, I’ve played baseball since I was three years old. I’ve loved the game since I was a young kid. And so for me I’ve loved both sports. It was my dad’s dream, it was my dream. And so I don’t know if it’s gonna happen. I’ll tell you this, I won’t give up football.”
As to his football future, Wilson initially declined to comment on his contract situation during his remarks to NFL Network. And then he said plenty.
“I don’t talk about my contract stuff,” Wilson said. “That’s a private matter between me and the Seattle Seahawks. When I came into the National Football League, I’ve always wanted to play with one team for forever. But I know professional sports. And so I just take one day at a time. I enjoy it for what it is. To be one of 32 men in the world that get to do what I do. To be the starting quarterback of a National Football League team, it’s a tremendous honor.
“I just want to continue to win,” Wilson added. “I told the Seattle Seahawks when they selected me, I told [G.M.] John Schneider and [coach] Pete Carroll the first day when they called me to select me with the 75th pick, I told them it was the best pick they’ve ever had. I truly believe that, and I truly believe that I was going to make the other 31 teams regret it.”
Possible message? If Schneider and Carroll ever allow him to explore joining one of those other 31 teams, he’ll be prepared to make the Seahawks regret it.
