Russell Wilson has been the consummate professional and ideal teammate since the Pittsburgh Steelers signed him in March. You can question whether it’s all an act or not, but the fact remains he has been what they wanted. The only thing that’s left for him to do is show if he has anything left on the football field.
“I’ll put it this way: whoever is Russell Wilson’s PR agent needs a promotion and a raise”, Mark Kaboly said on The Herd with Colin Cowherd. “Since the day he signed here, he’s done everything perfectly right in order to win over the fans, knowing what to say, knowing what to do, knowing how to act. It’s just been amazing”.
Wilson announced himself that he was going to sign with the Steelers, and it’s been smooth since then. Really, his training camp calf injury is the first ounce of adversity he has faced. He told reporters yesterday that Mike Tomlin was laughing at his misery of not practicing, which is on brand.
In other words, nobody except the media has actually seen Russell Wilson playing football in a Steelers uniform yet. Perhaps we will get a glimpse of that today, but until he does, there’s that glaring unanswered question. And that question will remain throughout the season, the answer changing at any moment.
“The bottom line is if he comes out Week 1, 2, and 3 and doesn’t play well, the fans will turn on him in a second”, Kaboly said of Wilson. “That’s just how it is in Pittsburgh. It doesn’t matter who it is. If you don’t produce, we’ll look somewhere else, and that’s the case right now. We don’t know what Russell Wilson can do. He’s doing everything right, perfectly to the T right now leading up to the point of getting on the field”.
Wilson has always known—or has thought he knew—how to curate his image in the public sphere. Having a famous wife probably helps you focus on how people perceive you, or so I would surmise. Some believe that he is faking the rah-rah team-first vibe, perhaps to a toxic degree, but it doesn’t matter.
Kaboly is right about both aspects of the Russell Wilson conversation, though. There is no question that he has done everything expected of him and more up to the point of playing. But he still faces his biggest challenge of actually playing football.
To the first point, it does genuinely seem like many of Wilson’s teammates have gravitated toward him. As a Super Bowl champion and perennial Pro Bowler, he does bring some natural cachet to the table. Even from the sidelines on the first two days of training camp, Wilson has been there for his teammates. He has been the eyes and ears for Justin Fields, for example, helping as much as he could.
But Wilson will ultimately have to help himself. There is little chance that he will not begin the season as the starter, but he will have to work to keep the job.
