Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
“Bye Bye Russ.”
That was the text buzzing through my phone from a friend that alerted me to the unthinkable news Seattle Seahawks fans have been secretly dreading but fighting off with feigned thoughts of “that would never happen;” star quarterback Russell Wilson had been traded to the Denver Broncos for three players and five draft picks.
My heart sank as I knew the end of an era that had been dying a slow death had finally arrived. My teenage and young adult years were spent having a favorite NFL team that competed for a Super Bowl every year, or at least pretended to until Pete Carroll forgot he didn’t have Marshawn Lynch on the team anymore.
The end of the era was only confirmed later in the day when the team announced it would be releasing All-Pro linebacker Bobby Wagner. Wilson and Wagner were drafted on the same day in 2012 and left Seattle on the same day in 2022.
Rumors of Wilson potentially wanting a trade have been circulating for years, but he and Carroll consistently dismantled questions as media fodder or nonsense stirred up by talking heads. Just last week, Carroll was quoted saying the team had no plans to trade Wilson.
But all of it apparently was a farce, and Seattle’s only Super Bowl-winning signal caller is on his way to the Mile High City.
Rumors are also circulating of the potential for the careers of star receivers Tyler Lockett and D.K. Metcalf to be moved outside the Pacific Northwest with the Wilson trade.
I try to remain a positive person, but when teams you’ve been following for over half your life soundly close the door on the best era in franchise history, it strikes a blow.
In times like this, it may be best to reminisce.
So, as a diehard Seahawks fan, I’ll try to prose one of my favorite Russell Wilson in Seattle moments. It won’t include the Super Bowl 48 dismantling of the Broncos, as that was a true team effort that was largely spearheaded by the legendary Legion of Boom defense.
No, I’d like to talk about the 2014 NFC Championship against the Green Bay Packers. Seattle was trying to make the Super Bowl in back-to-back years, but looked dead in the water while trailing the Aaron Rodgers-led Pack 16-0 in the second half. Wilson threw four interceptions, and the offense looked completely inept.
What happened next spoke to the uniqueness, competitiveness, will to win and often corniness Russ showed throughout his Seattle tenure.
Packers linebacker Clay Matthews leveled Wilson with a blindside block during a return of one of Wilson’s interceptions. The play appeared to rock Russell’s noggin, and likely gave him an undiagnosed concussion.
The Seahawks scored two touchdowns to make the game 19-14, but only two minutes remained. Then a sequence of miracles occurred.
An onside kick inexplicably bounced off a Packer helmet into the waiting arms of Chris Matthews, prompting kicker Stephen Hauschka to jump hug the much, much larger Kam Chancellor in celebration.
Lynch took a handoff around the left side into the endzone to give the Seahawks the lead.
Wilson scrambled around for what felt like 25 minutes, as he often does, and lofted a prayer of a throw that was bobbled but caught by rookie tight end Luke Willson on the two-point conversion attempt.
And after the Packers tied the game with a field goal to force overtime, Wilson calmly overcame his four interceptions to find Jermaine Kearse for a 40-yard game-winning score in overtime. Kearse had been the target on each of Wilson’s picks, but it didn’t stop the pair from sending Seattle to its second straight Super Bowl.
In the postgame celebration, an obviously altered Wilson sobbed his way through postgame interviews. Turns out concussions can make one more emotional, but Wilson claimed he drank “miracle water” that cured him.
Oh Russ.
We’ll miss him and hope that Seattle can build another Super Bowl winning core with newfound cap space and a franchise reset. And we’ll always remember the quarterback that was deemed too short to play in the league that would represent the city in two Super Bowls and nine Pro Bowls.
Thanks for everything, Russ.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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