For Russell Wilson, joining the Pittsburgh Steelers is about winning. Winning Super Bowls. Plural. But his decision to sign wasn’t just about the team. It was about the culture, the atmosphere, and the overall vibe of the area. So when Wilson made his way into Pittsburgh last Friday, he was checking out the city as much as he was the team, even knowing that the two are very much intertwined.
Speaking to the media for the first time since officially becoming a Steeler, Wilson walked reporters through what drew him to the team beyond the idea of winning.
“[Denver] allowed me to be able to speak to teams and have that process and go through that process the first time I’ve ever gone through that process,” he said via the team’s YouTube channel. “It kind of feels like you’re at the [NFL Scouting] Combine almost all over again. Almost in a way. You’re kind of going through this interview process with people and getting to meet people.
“I think that there’s a few things that just jumped off the board about the Pittsburgh Steelers. Number one, I got to play here. I played actually in Seattle, in CenturyLink, in 2015. It was a great game back-and-forth. It was just a battle all the way down to the wire. I just remember the players that they had, and just the competitors that we had at that time. And coming here in 2018, playing here, just the atmosphere. Walking into the stadium, walking into Acrisure Stadium and just the energy. I remember the towels. I remember ‘Renegade.’ I remember the whole thing. And I remember the game coming down in the fourth quarter.”
Pittsburgh travelled to Seattle for that 2015 game, one that ended in an offensive shootout. Ben Roethlisberger and Wilson combined to throw for 801 yards and six touchdowns. An 80-yard touchdown pass from Wilson to WR Doug Baldwin clinched the Seattle victory, the Seahawks coming out on top, 39-30.
The two sides met again in 2018 and again, Seattle emerged victorious. But it was another nail-biter of a game, the Seahawks holding off a late Steelers comeback bid. Wilson again lit up the Steelers, throwing for 300 yards and three touchdowns. It was also Roethlisberger’s final game of the season after suffering a season-ending elbow injury in the first half. Still, the Steelers’ mantra to battle and stay in the fight showed Wilson what the team is about.
Wilson also was part of the Seattle team that made its way back to Pittsburgh in 2021, though an injury kept him out of the game. Still, it was another close game with the Steelers finally winning, pulling off a 23-20 victory in overtime.
While much of Wilson’s time in Pittsburgh has focused on meeting the team and getting to know the inner-workings of the organization, it has also been spent getting a lay of the land beyond the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. Wilson says he has taken a tour of Acrisure Stadium and made his way around town. He even intended on going to the Pittsburgh Penguins’ game last night (though he wouldn’t have gotten a bobblehead) but dinner plans prevented him from doing so. Still, Wilson says he feels the city’s energy.
“I got to come here and actually put my feet in the ground in the city, and I got to go around the city and just see the energy of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the fans. Go by the stadium. And just all of that was a big part of it for me,” he said.
For Pittsburgh, he’s arguably its first “celebrity” quarterback, a term that shouldn’t be positive or negative but just factual, since Terry Bradshaw (and the media landscape has dramatically changed since). Ben Roethlisberger was and is an icon to the city but wasn’t an A-list name outside the city limits. Wilson’s moves off the field will be tracked nationally.
After difficult 2022 and 2023 seasons, what Wilson called “growth moments” in Denver, he is starting with a clean slate. There’s a clear connection with not just the city but the team, the nine-time Pro Bowler hitting it off with Mike Tomlin and chatting up Omar Khan, Cam Heyward, T.J. Watt, and Minkah Fitzpatrick. When the usually reserved Fitzpatrick is speaking up — Wilson said Fitzpatrick joked with him about coming to Pittsburgh only if he wants to prove he’s a competitor — you know it’s something different.
The 35-year-old Wilson said he is confident he can play for years to come, believing he can give it another five to seven seasons in the league. A strong year in 2024 on and off the field will open up the conversation about Wilson staying in Pittsburgh for the long haul.
