Should backup quarterbacks get to do photoshoots? Fox Sports’ Nick Wright doesn’t think so.
While he’s currently slated as the team’s starting quarterback, Wright sees a potential issue brewing with Wilson and the Pittsburgh Steelers, if the former Super Bowl winner loses his job to Justin Fields, who the team acquired via trade in March.
“The problem is if Russ doesn’t win the job he can’t be on the team,” said Wright on Thursday’s episode of First Things First. “You know why… because we showed you the words from the Essence Magazine cover story… it really doesn’t seem like the type of thing you support.”
I’ll save you all the suspense and attach Wilson’s article and photos for the Essence Magazine story. While Tomlin and the Steelers brass have stated that Wilson will be the starter for the 2024 season, I do hear Wright’s point. Backup quarterbacks don’t do modeling, they don’t do large-scale interviews and they don’t stay in the headlines.
Interviews like this certainly aren’t the norm for a Pittsburgh franchise that prides itself on blue-collar grit.
It’s also what led to the Denver Broncos’ gripes about Wilson having special treatment and being more concerned with his brand than his teammates, leading to a disconnect early on. The same was true when he was in Seattle, as Marshawn Lynch laid out in a Club Shay Shay interview with Shannon Sharpe, saying he received special treatment from Pete Carroll.
All of this treatment has led Wilson to be this type of personality and player. A high-pedigree starter with a top-notch quarterback resume, but one who has been crippled with seemingly poor leadership skills, leading to him being on his third team in the past four seasons.
“This is why Russ has to be the starter and if he’s not he can’t be on the team,” Wright said when talking about Wilson’s Essence photoshoot. “This guy is not a backup. He doesn’t think he is. He doesn’t carry himself like he is.”
Are we putting too much stock into an interview and psychoanalyzing Wilson’s recent history in the league? Maybe. But it would be irresponsible to turn a blind eye towards the ongoing trends of Wilson’s career with this interview being the most recent example.
Would he embrace Fields if he were to win the job? Or would he reject the second-string role and prove Wright’s point of him believing himself to only be a starter.
Time will tell, but for the Steelers’ sake, let’s hope it never comes to that.
