There may not be a more polarizing discussion in the NFL right now than about how QB Russell Wilson is going to perform with the Pittsburgh Steelers. No one truly expects that Wilson will suddenly elevate his game to previously unseen heights. However, some like Adam Schein think Wilson isn’t going to do anything for the Steelers.
A big part of that is how things went in Denver between the Broncos and Wilson. There were plenty of allegations that Wilson was a diva in Denver after they traded away a treasure chest for him and signed him to a gigantic deal. Couple that with a very bad first season, followed by a mostly mediocre second season, and it’s understandable why some would be leery of him.
Former NFL QB David Carr discussed the early action of NFL free agency on Thursday’s episode of the NFL Total Access podcast. One of the big topics of discussion was Wilson. Carr addressed some of the concerns that people have, but he seems to be on board with the Steelers-Wilson union.
“Russ is in a good spot because this is a team, they just go to work,” Carr said. “I think that deep down, Russ has that and that’s what he wants to do. But a lot of the time, he just gets caught up with other things, and I think that’s a distraction. I think a lot of stuff he did in Denver was a distraction for his team, and he was given a little too much latitude to do his thing. But I think there is a humility that comes with situations like that. I think Russ will lean into the hard work. His background and his upbringing is just to go to work. And I love that about him, and I think Pittsburgh is going to bring that out in him.”
Wilson showed that willingness to work when he transferred from NC State to Wisconsin for his final season of college football. Some may see transferring from a tough situation as the opposite. However, when Wilson gave a commencement address at Wisconsin, he shared that the reason he transferred was that his coach at NC State told him to “give it up” because he was too small, had no NFL future, and wouldn’t see the field at all his senior year.
All Wilson did at Wisconsin was complete 72.8 percent of his passes and throw for 3175 yards, 33 touchdowns, and only four interceptions. That doesn’t happen without hard work. Carr believes that Pittsburgh is the right place to bring that out in him because of head coach Mike Tomlin. He also expects that Wilson is the right guy for the Steelers.
“They’ve got to win some playoff games,” Carr said. “And Russ has done that… It’s going to be fun man. I think he’s going to do great there.”
Carr’s not the only former or current NFL player to think so. Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce said that Wilson “has a lot of good football in him” on Wednesday’s episode of the Green Light podcast. Perhaps he will fail in Pittsburgh as Schein thinks he will. However, there are people who have laced up cleats on an NFL football field who believe otherwise.
