Whether it’s baseball, basketball, or football, Russell Wilson says the idea is the same. Don’t let recent history color a long-term outlook. While the Pittsburgh Steelers are stumbling near the finish line, Wilson won’t let that dictate how the team should be viewed.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Wilson used every comparison at his disposal to hammer home that point.
“I think the mental part of the game is — I don’t know, I’ve got a lot of baseball in me – and I think that if you think about baseball, if you go 30-100, you’re a Hall of Famer,” Wilson said via a team-issued transcript. “So you’ve got to be able to focus on the next pitch.”
A multi-sport star growing up, Wilson played professional baseball for a stint in his 20s. Drafted by the Colorado Rockies, he played A-ball in the minor leagues for a few seasons and once appeared in spring training camp for his favorite childhood team, the New York Yankees. In fact, he made a comparison between the Steelers and Yankees in the summer.
It’s a next-play mentality that’s shaped Wilson’s career. One the Steelers need after dropping three-straight games. Though they’ve already punched their playoff ticket, heading into the postseason losing four in a row would feel like disaster.
Still, Wilson says blips like his recent red-zone turnovers shouldn’t be viewed as trends.
“I think the best players in the world are able to remain neutral. Steph Curry is probably a 93-percent, 94-percent free-throw shooter or something like that. If he misses a free throw in The Finals, it doesn’t mean he’s not any good any more at free throws. You just move to the next free throw, the next moment.”
No matter how Wilson or the team wants to frame things, correcting and improving is all that matters. Offensively, the Steelers have to stop turning the ball over, especially in critical scoring opportunities. Defensively, communication busts and lack of takeaways isn’t the model in which Pittsburgh wins. The complementary football the team showed early in the year has faded.
Because even the stars are fair game for criticism. If anything, their standard is raised higher. Wilson brought bigger expectations for the Steelers, especially as they were rolling along at 10-3 in early December. That means Pittsburgh can’t end the season the way it has so many times before.