Russell Wilson is a football player and quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks in the National Football League (NFL). Ever since his entrance to the league in 2012, Wilson has been a star player and leader for the Seahawks, bringing the team to the playoffs seven times and to the Super Bowl twice.
Growing up, Wilson was a gifted athlete who played baseball, football, and basketball. He continued to play football and baseball in college and was even drafted into the Major League Baseball (MLB). In addition, he still attends spring training with MLB teams today.
Because of his impressive athletic talent, Wilson excels in every sport that he plays and has been a key element of the Seattle Seahawks' success since he joined the team. After extending his contract for an additional four years with the Seahawks in 2019, he is sure to continue his successful career in the NFL.
Russell Wilson began playing football along with baseball at a very young age. In high school, Wilson played football, basketball, and baseball at Richmond Collegiate in Virginia. He was very successful on his football team, earning several awards and accolades. After his senior year, Wilson committed to play football and baseball at North Carolina State University. After three years at NC State, Wilson transferred to play football at the University of Wisconsin.
He entered the 2012 NFL Draft after finishing college and was drafted 75th overall by the Seattle Seahawks. Wilson was not the starting quarterback to begin the season but was awarded the job with five games remaining in the season. The following year, Wilson had a tremendous season and led the Seahawks to win Super Bowl XLVIII. He continued to experience success with the Seahawks, returning to the Super Bowl the next year and has remained on the team to date.
Russell Wilson's football success began in high school, where he was named conference player of the year during his senior year and led his team to win the state championship. In his first season at NC State, Wilson was the first freshman quarterback to earn all-ACC first team honors. After transferring to University of Wisconsin, he helped his team win the Big 10 Conference title and broke the NCAA passing efficiency record.
Throughout his time in the NFL, Wilson has earned several awards including being voted rookie of the year by NFL.com and being named to the NFL Top 100 Players List seven different times. In addition, Wilson has started in two Super Bowls with one Super Bowl victory. He has played in the NFL Pro Bowl five times and has been named to the Pro Bowl seven times. In 2015, Wilson led the league in passer rating and finished in the top 10 seven times.
Russell Wilson was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and grew up in Richmond, Virginia. He was raised by Harrison Wilson III and Tammy Wilson along with his older brother Harrison IV and younger sister Anna. His father was a lawyer who played football and basketball at Dartmouth while his mother was a nurse consultant. Wilson's brother played football and basketball at the University of Richmond while his sister plays basketball at Stanford University.
In 2012, Wilson married his high school girlfriend Ashton Meem but they opted for a divorce in 2014. A few years later, he began to date famous singer Ciara and the two got married in 2016. They have had two children together. Their daughter Sienna was born April 28, 2017 and their son Win was born on July 23, 2020. Aside from children, Wilson also owns three Great Danes named Prince, Naomi, and Hero.
Yes, Russell Wilson has several sponsorship and endorsement deals with companies such as Nike, Wilson Sporting Goods, Amazon, Alaska Air Group, Bose, and Mercedes-Benz. Wilson has appeared in several TV commercials for companies and products such as Duracell Quantum batteries, the Microsoft Surface Pro 2, Braun Series 9 electric razor, Madden 17, United Way, and American Family Insurance. He started his own charitable organization in 2014 called the Why Not You Foundation.
While attending NC State University, Russell Wilson was drafted into the MLB by the Colorado Rockies and was invited to attend their spring training program. After deciding to attend spring training, his football coach Tom O'Brien was unhappy with the decision and Wilson lost his football scholarship before his senior year. Therefore, he decided to transfer schools to play for one more year at the University of Wisconsin with hopes to make it to the NFL.
Yes, Russell Wilson made the NFL Network's 2020 Top 100 Players list. Wilson was ranked number two overall on the list while Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson was ranked number one. This was the first season that Wilson ranked in the top 10 on the list. This was the highest ranking of any Seattle Seahawks player since the Top 100 list was started back in 2011. The only oher Seahawks players to crack the top 10 include Ricahrd Sherman and Marshawn Lynch.
In terms of passer rating, Russell Wilson's best passing season was in 2018 when he achieved a high rating of 110.9. That season, Wilson passed for 35 touchdowns and only seven interceptions. He completed 280 passes out of 427 attempts for a completion percentage of 65.6%. In addition, he threw for a total of 3448 yards. In the 2015 season, Wilson led the league with an overall passer rating of 110.1.
