No job in the NFL is promised, as seen by how quickly a player or coach can find themselves on the outside looking in. The Pittsburgh Steelers have usually been a great example to refute this point, as they’ve only had three head coaches in the past fifty years and have shown tremendous patience with many members of the organization, but lately, they’ve begun to change their mindset. The quarterback room is a perfect example of this. The three players who suited up under center for the team last year are all gone now, including former first-round draft pick Kenny Pickett, while Russell Wilson, Justin Fields and Kyle Allen are in.
Now, the team is looking to the veteran Wilson to lead them back to their winning ways, with the younger Fields sitting behind him ready to take over at any time. This probably wasn’t the scenario Wilson envisioned himself in when he signed with Pittsburgh, as the team only traded for Fields after Pickett demanded out. Going from an almost guaranteed starting spot to now having to mentor your eventual replacement isn’t ideal in any way.
Getting old in the NFL can be a tricky situation to navigate, and former NFL defensive lineman and Super Bowl champion Chris Long spoke about this on a recent episode of Dave Dameshek’s Minus Three podcast, using Russ as an example. Long broke down how Wilson, a former star player, could be feeling now that his career is winding down and he’s finding himself with less and less job security.
”He’s doing a press conference and he’s got the black sport coat and he’s got a haircut and he’s like ‘I’m Mr. Steeler.’ Then three days later, they’re like ‘Hey and we’re trading for Justin Fields.’ It’s the reality of the NFL. The security when you’re a great player is awesome, but you earned it. You get used to it,” Long said on how quickly a player can go from being a top player in the league to being surrounded by question marks. “When you change teams, there are some moments where you’re like, damn dude, this is what the NFL is like. When you get to be older and they treat you that way a little bit more, it’s eye-opening.”
Long is correct in stating that players get treated differently both when changing teams and as they get older, and there are even examples of this in recent history with the Steelers. Troy Polamalu is one of the greatest players in franchise history, and his exit from the Steelers was due to the team having concerns about his age and injury history. During his final year with the team, James Harrison was released in the middle of the season because the Steelers wanted him to take more of a backseat role and help to mentor T.J. Watt and he thought he could still play at a high level. Long goes into this exact kind of mindset further with Wilson.
”We joke a lot about Russ, but his belief, he believes in himself. That’s a big part of it. Right now, he still does. The rest of the world could be like, ‘Hey you’re not as good,’ but in his head, he’s gotta think that way, and it’s hard to turn that off,” Long stated about Wilson needing to believe in himself because of how great of a player he has shown he can be.
No one really knows what Russell Wilson is thinking except for Russell Wilson himself, but Long provides valuable insight as a former player who had to come to grips with his own status changing in the league as he aged. Perhaps Wilson still has some magic left in the tank and can lead the Steelers to a successful season. That’s not guaranteed though, and if he struggles, the team will need him to help develop Fields if they want to have any chance at winning.
