Russell Wilson’s Time With The Rangers Is Not By Accident

Facebooktwittergoogle_plusmail
Facebooktwittergoogle_plus

Russell WilsonRight now life is good for Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. Last month Wilson led the Seahawks to their first Super Bowl Championship. At this point of the year most franchise quarterbacks in the National Football League are basking in the glow of the off-season which can include resting their tired bodies, vacationing with their families, and seeking out as many endorsement deals as possible. That however has not been the case with Wilson. Wilson turned down an opportunity to appear on “Dancing With The Stars” and his idea of a vacation from football is showing up for spring training this year in Surprise, Arizona with the Texas Rangers.

In 2010 while attending North Carolina State University, Wilson was drafted by Major League Baseball’s Colorado Rockies. In 2011, Wilson’s love for baseball caused a rift with former NC State head football coach Tom O’Brien. O’Brien wanted Wilson to concentrate solely on football, but the young athlete disagreed. Wilson would then transfer and thus he completed his college football career at the University of Wisconsin where he helped the school win the 2011 Big Ten Conference Title. In 2012, Wilson was drafted in the third round of the NFL Draft by the Seahawks and in just two seasons he has become a two-time Pro Bowl selection and a Super Bowl Champion. Last year in MLB’s Rule 5 Draft, Wilson was claimed by the Rangers who sent him an invitation to attend spring training.
Due to the fact that Wilson is only a second-year NFL player along with being a third round selection, the Seahawks don’t have to break the bank for him just yet, but due to his flirtation with baseball that can soon change. By showing up to spring training with the Rangers, Wilson could be creating some leverage for himself with the Seahawks come contract time.
For the upcoming NFL season Wilson is only scheduled to earn 662k which is near the bottom of the list for starting NFL quarterbacks and way down the totem pole for Super Bowl winning quarterbacks. Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler will be the highest paid quarterback in the NFL this season as he is scheduled to earn $22 million. Wilson earned a victory over Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning last month in the Super Bowl, but Manning is the one that is laughing all the way to the bank as he is scheduled to earn $15 million in 2014.
In two seasons in the NFL, Wilson has 6,475 passing yards with 52 passing touchdowns. Last season alone Manning passed for 5,477 yards and 55 touchdowns, but more importantly Wilson’s career record as an NFL starting quarterback is 24-8. Wilson’s leaderships qualities are infectious which has been illustrated along every stop of his athletic journey. After just one month on Wisconsin’s campus, Wilson was elected as a captain for the football team. Wilson was one of the Seahawks team captains this past season as he helped to oversee the best team the NFL. Wilson’s leadership ability is what led Rangers general manager Jon Daniels to extend the invitation to him for spring training.
Wilson’s baseball skills were good enough for him to be drafted by an MLB team, but until this spring he had not participated in baseball since 2011. In two years in the Rockies minor-league system, Wilson has a career batting average of .229 to go along with 5 home runs and 19 stolen bases. Wilson still has a huge mountain to overcome if he wanted to make it to the Major Leagues as a baseball player, but when you’re making less than $1 million like he is from playing football, why not test another avenue?
Wilson still has two years left on his rookie contract with the Seahawks and at some point the Super Bowl Champions will have to pay up to maintain his services. Wilson’s 24 regular season victories are more than the Seahawks had in the previous four seasons with three different starting quarterbacks. The five highest paid quarterbacks for 2014 will earn an average salary of $19 million and Wilson will soon be in that category; if the Seahawks are smart enough to do it.
We have seen athletes use one sport as leverage towards another previously and Wilson could do it as well. In 1983, the Baltimore Colts owned the first overall pick of the NFL Draft and they were poised to select Stanford University quarterback John Elway. Elway had let it be known publicly that he didn’t want to play for the Colts prior to the draft. What Elway had going for him was a baseball career as he had been drafted by the New York Yankees in the 1981 MLB Draft. Elway was ready to pursue a professional baseball career if the Colts had selected him. The Colts did select Elway who was later traded to the Broncos. Wilson doesn’t have the baseball skills that Elway possessed, but his affiliation with the sport could force the Seahawks hand eventually. 
If this is a poker hand then Wilson might be calling the Seahawks bluff.
Source: Sportrac.com, Baseball-reference.com, Pro-football-reference.com
Facebooktwittergoogle_plusmail
Facebooktwittergoogle_plus
By | 2014-08-01T01:54:17+00:00 March 6th, 2014|Categories: Major League Baseball, National Football League|0 Comments

About the Author:

Leave A Comment