Following two difficult seasons with the Denver Broncos in 2022 and 2023 that ultimately led to his unceremonious release, veteran quarterback Russell Wilson found himself in an unfamiliar situation: a free agent with no clear path forward in the NFL.
Enter the Pittsburgh Steelers and head coach Mike Tomlin.
Tomlin and the Steelers pursued Wilson quickly in free agency and landed the Super Bowl-winning quarterback, locking up Wilson on a one-year, $1.21 million deal. That pursuit from the Steelers was pretty clear: they wanted a been-there, done-that quarterback to stabilize the franchise.
So far in two games as the starting quarterback after returning from a calf injury, Wilson has done more than stabilize things for the Steelers. He’s helped elevate the offense and has Pittsburgh looking like a legitimate contender entering Week 10 against the Washington Commanders.
Ahead of the pivotal Week 10 matchup, Wilson sat down with ESPN’s Hannah Storm for a one-on-one interview. In the session with Storm, Wilson revealed a key message Tomlin had for him.
“He said, ‘Russ, I want you and I to be immortal to the game. What you’ve done, what you’ve been able to do, I want you to remember that man. You’ve been immortal to the game being a young black quarterback, the second guy to ever win a Super Bowl. Some of the things you’ve had to do, being immortal to the game and you know me and what I wanna be able to accomplish and the things that I’ve done,'” Wilson told Storm, according to video via NFL Countdown on ESPN. “And him being a Super Bowl-winning [head coach], one of the youngest coaches to ever do it, especially being African American, the men that he gets to lead. And he said, ‘Man, baby, you just wanna live baby, just live.’ He always says, ‘Just live baby.'”
Both Tomlin and Wilson already have prominent places in NFL history. They both have won Super Bowls and have helped set the standard for African-American quarterbacks and head coaches in the NFL.
Now, they are working together and pushing for a Super Bowl trophy in Pittsburgh, which already has a prominent history. For the first time since the Ben Roethlisberger era, the Steelers have a proven quarterback who has reached the mountain top.
Together in their first two games, the Steelers are 2-0 and Wilson has thrown for 582 yards and three touchdowns, helping pilot the Steelers to a 37-point output and a 26-point showing in wins over the New York Jets and the New York Giants, respectively.
Tomlin is hoping that having that type of quarterback in Wilson can help him get back over the hump when it comes to the playoffs, where Tomlin and the Steelers haven’t won since 2016. Winning in the playoffs together would not only validate them after plenty of criticism over the last few years, it would go a long way toward making them immortal as a pair in the Steel City.
