When the Pittsburgh Steelers added veteran quarterback Russell Wilson in free agency this offseason, many questions popped up regarding the fit from a personality and ego perspective with the veteran quarterback.
Throughout his career, Wilson has had an interesting reputation that has followed him. He’s been described as a “fake” person due to his charisma and overtly positive mindset. But more often than not, all that’s come out regarding Wilson is that what you see is what you get.
While he’s outgoing, very positive and likes to say a lot to the media without saying anything, he’s as real as it gets, and the Steelers have found that out quickly.
That includes veteran defensive end Cameron Heyward.
“You know, for us, I think it comes to a point where we don’t really care what happened before. All we can worry about is what’s going on. And so, when [Wilson] got here it was more just like, ‘Be a part of the team. We don’t need you to be some savior. We have a lot of good teammates. We got a lot good leaders. We’re just asking [you] to be a part of this,'” Heyward said Friday on the Scoop City podcast with The Athletic’s Dianna Russini and former NFL QB Chase Daniel. “And Russ has been bought in, just trying to connect, trying to learn people, communicate.
“I don’t think there’s a day where you don’t see Russ trying to work with a guy extra after practice or trying to get to know people. So, I think Russ has been just trying to extend himself and just learn to different people.”
The key there is that Wilson wasn’t viewed as some savior coming to Pittsburgh. He just needed to come in and stabilize the quarterback situation, because the team was already pretty good before he was there.
So far, that’s what he’s done. While he was elected a team captain, Wilson hasn’t had to be the face of the franchise like he was in Seattle and for a brief time in Denver. He doesn’t have to be the spokesman, doesn’t have to be out front and leading constantly.
Instead, he can just focus on his craft and work with his teammates on and off the field. That’s allowing him to build great relationships and rapport, which has led to success early in his tenure as the Steelers’ starting quarterback.
Check out the full interview with Heyward on “Scoop City” below.
