When you think of Pittsburgh, you think of hard-working, blue-collar, quiet and down to earth.
More often than not, the stars of the pro teams in the city have matched that identity, from the likes of Ben Roethlisberger, T.J. Watt, Hines Ward, Troy Polamalu and more with the Pittsburgh Steelers, to guys like Sidney Crosby, Mario Lemieux, Willie Stargell, Andrew McCutchen and more with the Penguins and Pirates.
From the outside looking in, you don’t typically think that with quarterback Russell Wilson, especially with his Team 3 brand, his public image, being married to a pop star in Ciara, and all of that.
For longtime talking head and Fox Sports Radio host Colin Cowherd, Wilson’s identity, mentality and personality don’t exactly mesh with Pittsburgh and the Steelers’ franchise.
During an appearance on the latest episode of his podcast “The Colin Cowherd Podcast” with former NFL scout John Middlekauff, Cowherd questioned the fit and isn’t sure that Wilson is long for Pittsburgh overall, especially with the Justin Fields buzz that continues to build during Organized Team Activities.
“I did have somebody that I trust, kind of that reports on the Steelers, say that Pittsburgh’s gonna be, it’s very…that culture there is very grinder-oriented,” Cowherd said when discussing Wilson, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “Even your stars…Big Ben was kind of a small-town guy. T.J. Watt, Midwestern guy, you know, the Le’Veon Bells come in and very quickly they kind of feel disconnected from it. It’s a grinder operation. And I’m not saying Russell doesn’t grind and work hard, but he’s got a brand.”
Wilson does have a rather large brand at this point in his career. As he should. He’s a star quarterback. While the play on the field might not match the reputation currently, Wilson is one of the biggest names in football and in sports, period.
That Team 3 brand of Wilson’s has gone global and has really generated quite a bit of attention for Wilson. It also helps that he’s married to Ciara, who is a brand herself, creating even more attention.
In the past, Wilson has seemingly had issues with being able to separate the brand from the person. Leading up to the 2023 season in Denver, Broncos head coach Sean Payton reportedly had to tell Wilson to “stop kissing babies” like he was on the campaign trail, rather than preparing to be the starting quarterback.
So far in Pittsburgh, Wilson and the Steelers are very clearly in the honeymoon phase. Same thing for Wilson and the city of Pittsburgh. He’s saying all the right things, doing all the right things, putting on a great public face and really embracing the city overall.
“He’s just different. Call it what you want,” Cowherd added regarding Wilson. “Nobody gets called out in this league as much as Russell and somebody that has good connective tissue to the Steelers said, there’s already been a couple situations where, you know, he’s, he’s Russ and these are the Steelers. It’s…I’ll say this: Green Bay and Pittsburgh have a very lunch-pail quality.”
Wilson is different, and that’s okay.
There is no questioning his commitment, his preparation, or anything like that. He works his tail off and does everything possible to be the best version of himself and give his team that best opportunity to win weekly. That should be commended.
But the work he does off the field and the public face he puts on rubs some people the wrong way, and that’s understandable, too.
Hopefully for Wilson’s sake, his play bounces back in a big way in Pittsburgh, putting an end to that outside noise about his off-the-field image.
