At one point in time, Russell Wilson was looking like he would be the next quarterback in NFL history. He was just moments away from beating Tom Brady in order to collect a second consecutive Super Bowl ring, and it seemed as if his reign with the Seattle Seahawks was set to last forever.
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But, as is the case with everything else, time eventually took its hold, and those 10-win seasons in the NFC quickly became losing ones in the AFC. His two-season stint with Sean Payton and the Denver Broncos proved to be particularly disastrous, and the fallout between the former HC-QB duo was anything but friendly.
The franchise ultimately decided that it would rather pay Wilson $39 million to go away than to have him under center. And while that history certainly helped to add a bit of flavor to their Week 7 match-up, Payton insisted that his post-game celebrations were not intended as a slight towards Wilson.
“The euphoria, the way that game unfolded, that was strictly about Dart,” Payton clarified. “That was in no way, shape or form directed at Russ. I might be able to see how he would perceive that. But coming off that win and watching how he played. That wasn’t any intention at all.”
Payton was asked to provide that clarification after Wilson took to Twitter to label him as “classless” while also alluding to Payton’s Bountygate scandal with the New Orleans Saints.
https://x.com/DangeRussWilson/status/1980735749394665615
Suffice to say, it’s a rare instance in which Wilson was willing to let his PR mask slip a little.According to Channing Crowder, however, that’s the exact kind of intensity and willingness to bite back that Wilson should have been displaying much earlier in his decline.
“I love it. That’s what I wanted him to do the whole time,” Crowder exclaimed. Various fans and analysts alike have made note of the fact that Wilson has steadily received more and more criticisms as he’s gone through the final years of his career, and at this point in time, they aren’t faulting the former Super Bowl MVP for attempting to stand up for himself.
“You are a Pro Bowl, potential Hall of Fame quarterback. 10-time Pro Bowler… I like it. I like this Russ. Keep going Russ! Tighten their ass up. If anybody says anything about you, tighten they ass up.”
Even though he wasn’t able to provide any wins for the Giants earlier in the season, Wilson still managed to showcase that his arm is as lively as ever. He averaged 259.33 passing yards throughout the first three weeks of the season, and while much of that is buoyed by the 450 passing yard performance that he enjoyed against the Dallas Cowboys, it may just be enough for him to receive one last contract from a team who believes that they are just a veteran QB away from having a productive season.
