By: Eric Yin
Published 2022/06/20 at 1:13 AM
SEATTLE – The Russell Wilson saga of Seahawks football has officially come to a close. Being traded to the Denver Broncos for a big haul, the Seahawks have decided to move on from their best player in franchise history.
The Russell Wilson era was incredible. In his nine seasons manning the helm, Russell Wilson tied Peyton Manning’s record for the winningest quarterback. The Hawks went from one of the historically worst franchises, into a perennial winner. During this historic stretch, the Seahawks went on to win their first Superbowl against Peyton Manning’s Broncos, the greatest offense in NFL history. They then made it back to the Superbowl next year this time facing the GOAT Tom Brady, losing on a last-second interception at the one-yard line. Russell Wilson had led the Seahawks to the brink of beating the two greatest quarterbacks in NFL history in back-to-back Superbowls.
Yet despite this great success, the era didn’t last as long as I thought it would. He ONLY played nine seasons in a Seahawks uniform. Almost every all-time great spent the vast majority of their career in one spot. Tom Brady and the Patriots. Aaron Rodgers and the Packers. Troy Aikman and the Cowboys. Funnily enough, the only all-time great to spend significant time in two places is Peyton Manning, who also spent the back half of his career in Denver. In his young thirties, Russell could easily play another nine to ten years in the league. While morbid to think about, Wilson could easily end up being remembered as a Bronco, not a Seahawk.
This fact is only made sadder when one considers that Wilson may be the greatest Seahawk of all time. He is on a short-list with Steve Largent and Walter Jones in contention for the title of greatest Seahawk and appeared to be for sure on that trajectory. Now one could argue Largent and Jones who spent their entire careers in Seattle are greater Seahawks. The Seahawks let their GOAT slip right out of their hands into another franchise.
Without Wilson, we now enter the unknown. Gone are the certain playoff berths and winning seasons. In a league that prides itself on parity, the Seahawks were a part of the NFL elite. The few teams that regardless of year, you could expect to see in the playoffs. This is in some ways, a historic gaff. The only thing comparable is Peyton getting shipped out of Indi, and that was due to his surgery. The Seahawks blew it and blew it big time. The greatest player in franchise history just walked out the door, and we as fans are only left to pick up the pieces of our poorly constructed roster.
Go Hawks.