Man, how the tides can turn on ya. At one point in his career, Russell Wilson was one of the most beloved football players on the planet. During his time with the Seattle Seahawks, at least, it felt that way. It doesn’t seem like too long ago that we were talking about Wilson as a deserving MVP candidate that just couldn’t quite break through and win the award. It seemed like the football world was behind the guy.
When the Seahawks offense was going through a bit of a transition from a personnel standpoint, and maybe they didn’t quite have the horses to still run that power running offense they were known for for so long, the whole “let Russ cook” campaign (if you want to call it a campaign) started up. The general premise was that hey…you’ve got this guy who is one of the best quarterbacks in the league every single season, why don’t you try and get the man some weapons and see what he can do with a legit receiving corps and a more modern offense?!?! Russ tried to cook. Russ at the very least got in the kitchen. But, it still wasn’t enough to get him his MVP honors.
Then, the Seahawks went 7-10. It looked like they were facing the first major rebuild of the Pete Carroll era, and Wilson had to peace on out of that bitch. He requests a trade and ultimately ends up with the Denver Broncos, where he’s off to a 2-1 start. But, the vibes among football fans with regards to Wilson seem to have changed dramatically. I think it starts with all of the cringe social media content that we see with Wilson – from hokey Tik Toks to the infamous “Broncos country….let’s ride” clip to his fake high-fiving fans before practice. Then, the more we got to know Wilson through the years, the more we realized that he is absolutely and insufferably chronically positive. Like, I don’t know that the man has ever (publicly) said anything even remotely negative.
Russ after leading one touchdown drive after 17 straight punts pic.twitter.com/j9mB660zlE
— PointsBet Sportsbook (@PointsBetUSA) September 26, 2022
I found the perfect tweet that encapsulated this attitude: “Russell Wilson never having anything negative to say is starting to be performance art at this point. NFL Ned Flanders.” Folks, if you’ve never watched The Simpsons, calling someone any form of Ned Flanders is NOT a compliment. Hot damn, if that doesn’t exactly nail what is so off-putting about Wilson. I’m just not wired that way – I consider myself a pretty normal, happy person. But, I hate everyone and everything sometimes. I’m as cynical as they come. Sometimes, bad shit happens and bad people win. I don’t trust many people, and most of you get on my every last nerve. I’m just using this to illustrate my point that you can accept that negative shit happens in this world and still be a happy and generally peaceful optimistic person. That’s why it feels like some of this shit is phony performance art.
The kicker was when some of his former teammates started trickling out that maybe Wilson wasn’t actually so universally beloved in the locker room.
KJ Wright and Richard Sherman clear the air on the Seahawks drama with Russell Wilson.
— Sports ON Tap Seattle (@SONTSeattle) September 21, 2022
Pete Carroll didn’t hold him accountable like the rest of them. This was clearly an odd situation (via @TheVolumeSports) pic.twitter.com/Y9KhvoJPZm
What a fascinating glimpse into this phenomenon – like, how can someone who is widely regarded as a good human being become so meme-able and cringe? This is how. How did we get here? I think this is a case study in how being too nice and too positive can make it hard to endear yourself to people. Maybe it’s just a bit too much.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.
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