When you mention Seattle, the first thing someone’s going to say is ‘Russell Wilson.’ He’s adopted our city in a way no other player can. \u2014Nathan Mark<\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Since being drafted by the Seahawks in the third round in 2012, Wilson has tied Peyton Manning\u2019s record for the most touchdown passes (26) by a rookie and became the first NFL rookie quarterback to lead a team to an undefeated record at home. He is making his case to be on Seattle\u2019s Mount Rushmore of sports figures by delivering the Vince Lombardi Trophy to Seattle, a city that had been known for its sports mediocrity. And the icing on the cake to Seattleites is Wilson\u2019s investment in the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNot only is he captain of the team, he\u2019s captain of our city,\u201d says Nathan Mark, a 34-year-old doorman who sports a white Wilson jersey on days he checks IDs outside The Central, a bar in Seattle\u2019s Pioneer Square district a couple of blocks from Century Link Field. \u201cWhen you mention Seattle, the first thing someone\u2019s going to say is \u2018Russell Wilson.\u2019 He\u2019s adopted our city in a way no other player can.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That may be because Wilson sees football as only part of what he has to offer the city. In a February interview, PBS\u2019s Charlie Rose asked Wilson how a player should be judged. Is it the yards and touchdowns he compiles in a career? Is it the number of Super Bowls he wins? \u201cBy the way they affect people,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cBy the way they affect the organization. You think about Peyton Manning and how he\u2019s affected the Indianapolis Colts for so long. That\u2019s what you want in a quarterback. That\u2019s what you want in terms of the face of your franchise. A person that can change the community and change the city….\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That approach resonates with Dustin Bogue, a 29-year-old tattoo artist. His studio is about 15 minutes north of Seattle in a strip mall where you can get donuts, takeout from Bento Teriyaki or a beer at O\u2019Houlies Pub. He enjoys his tattoo work, which he\u2019s been doing for 10 years, and can ink anything, including the 12th Man tattoos he offered for $12 during the Seahawks\u2019 playoff run. Recently, Bogue expanded his artistic endeavors, painting oil portraits on canvas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By painting portraits of people synonymous with Seattle, Bogue says, he can help people see the virtues of the city. For his first effort, Bogue painted Russell Wilson in a portrait titled \u201cNoTime2Sleep,\u201d a Wilson mantra. Bogue says he chose the quarterback for his first portrait because of the kinship he feels with the football star. \u201cIt\u2019s the influence he\u2019s had,\u201d Bogue says. \u201cI\u2019m just trying to be an influence with what I\u2019m doing. I want to stick to the positive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wilson has become, in a sense, everyone\u2019s best friend, and it\u2019s apparent when people refer to him as \u201cRussell\u201d\u2014not \u201cWilson\u201d or \u201cour quarterback.\u201d They see Wilson as a regular guy, someone they can imagine having over for dinner. He\u2019s a canvas on which they can project their own story, not unlike what Bogue is doing with an actual canvas. Jason Prall, a 33-year-old Seattle engineer, relates to Wilson when he recalls his own experience playing football as a wide receiver at Western Washington and transferring to play shortstop for Gonzaga\u2019s baseball team. Jamie Santillan is a graphic designer who eats at the same Indian restaurant in Pioneer Square before every Seahawks home game, always wearing Wilson\u2019s No. 3 jersey. He lauds Wilson\u2019s success in the face of experts saying he was too short, at 5-foot-11, to be an NFL quarterback. Santillan says that, like Wilson, he is a short and humble guy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In January, Wilson\u2019s presence is on display throughout the city and excitement is in the air as the Seahawks prepare for a divisional playoff game with the New Orleans Saints. His jersey is the top seller at the Seahawks apparel shop downtown and at Seattle Shirt Company, a bustling gift shop across from the Pike Place Market. There, Wilson\u2019s is the only jersey sold in kids\u2019, men\u2019s and women\u2019s sizes. T-shirts with his image in front of a silhouetted Seattle Space Needle and the words \u201cWe Believe\u201d hang in the windows of Bar- tell Drugs. He graces the cover of Seattle Weekly for a story called \u201cThe Seahawks Effect.\u201d A trendy bar in Seattle\u2019s Capitol Hill district serves a blue drink called \u201cRussellmania.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n On a typically overcast Friday morning before the Saints game, you\u2019ll find supporters who feel a kinship with Wilson that surpasses simple fandom. Yes, there is a medley of 12th men at an early morning pep rally, from a man who has the Seahawk logo shaven and painted into his hair to a couple getting married outside of sections 135 \u2013 137 while other fans look on and cheer. The bride promises the groom never to be a fair-weather fan. The backdrop is a large mural of Wilson in mid-scramble, seemingly blessing the union before he throws another pass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trying to make her way through the crowd inside of CenturyLink is Gemini Kelly, a 37-year-old entrepreneur who is proudly wearing a white Wilson jersey and holding hands with her 15-month-old grandson, Daiveon. She speaks of the quarterback in a tone that sounds more like she is defending her vote for a candidate in a presidential primary. \u201cHe has leadership qualities,\u201d she says, adding that his charity work is emblematic of Seattle. \u201cThe generosity is definitely there.\u201d Seattle is a place where \u201cyou can see some- body walk out and take muffins to a homeless person. We pay it forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A few feet away, 26-year-old Carlos Salas stands in the crowd with a duffel bag filled with sweatshirts he sells for $25. They bear the design of the hoodie he wears, a lime green screenprint of Wilson\u2019s face with the words: \u201cIn Russ We Trust.\u201d Salas, who is also known as Cha$ten Tha Don, is emphatic that the font he chose for the shirt is the same as that used on the dollar bill. Why? \u201cHe\u2019s our money,\u201d Salas says of Wilson. \u201cHe\u2019s money for us.\u201d That underdog status is something celebrated by Wilson\u2019s fans. Initially, Wilson was an afterthought for many fans since the Seahawks had just invested millions in free-agent quarterback Matt Flynn. But Wilson impressed coaches and teammates early in camp. \u201cHe came in his rookie year and had pretty terrific command of the huddle,\u201d says Max Unger, center for the Seahawks. \u201cYou don\u2019t expect that of a rookie, being able to step in with veteran NFL players and command the huddle. The physical skills showed up, too. He physically and mentally won the job.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He came in his rookie year and had pretty terrific command of the huddle. You don’t expect that of a rookie, being able to step in with veteran NFL players and command the huddle. The physical skills showed up, too. He physically and mentally won the job. \u2014Max Unger, Center for the Seattle Seahawks<\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n He\u2019s been winning in the NFL ever since, by knowing when to rely on Marshawn Lynch, one of the NFL\u2019s top running backs, or on a top-shelf NFL defense. He realizes he doesn\u2019t have to be perfect, that he can slide or run out of bounds instead of fighting for an extra yard or throwing an interception. Such attributes could produce a lengthy NFL career for Wilson. \u201cIt\u2019s one thing to have success the first year,\u201d Unger says. \u201cIt\u2019s another to do it over and over. You can tell he\u2019s consistent. That\u2019s how you measure a professional athlete\u2014how long can you do things right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Across town from CenturyLink Field, Wilson has been doing things right for three years at Seattle Children\u2019s Hospital, visiting sick children and their families every Tuesday. The visits began when he called the hospital after he was drafted and asked if he could have a standing weekly appointment to visit. Eve Kopp, director of corporate annual giving at Seattle Children\u2019s, says hospital officials had never had an athlete ask for so much time at the hospital, and some don\u2019t treat it as a serious cause. Wilson kept coming back and asking to meet more children. \u201cWe call him our 12th man,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s as if he gets something out of it. It almost energizes him the more families he meets. People want to touch him and hug him. It\u2019s almost like he wants to touch them and hug them because they are his inspiration.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dave Quick is a 34-year-old Brier, Wash., electrical salesman and father to twins Harrison and Franklin. Both were born prematurely in October 2013. Harrison was fine, but Franklin had complications. Doctors told Quick they would have to do immediate surgery to help Franklin get rid of his waste and then perform open heart surgery days later. \u201cWhen he came back, they left his chest open,\u201d Quick says. \u201cHe had chest tubes. He was on 13 different medicines. He just looked so fragile.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Quick felt helpless and alone and couldn\u2019t sleep. Dave\u2019s wife, Kristina, soon joined him with Harrison at Seattle Children\u2019s, and Franklin showed signs that he would fight. Then, on their second week there, they got a visit. Wilson walked into their room and introduced himself. He asked if he could pray for Franklin and visited for a couple of minutes. It was a simple escape for the Quick family, but one that Dave Quick says helped them cross a critical threshold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI teared up a little bit just because we had such an emotional tough start. He freed us up to just kind of let it all go,\u201d Quick says. There are dozens of stories like the one told by Quick, who adds that Franklin, after subsequent procedures, is eating, healthy and growing normally. Wilson has said his visits are a result of time he spent with his father, Harrison, in hospitals before the elder Wilson died due to complications from diabetes in 2010. \u201cWhen I came to Seattle that was one of the first things I tried to figure out, besides figuring out where I was going to live,\u201d he said in a January press conference. \u201c. . .I think that to be able to find a way to change people\u2019s lives and to be there and give them a boost is really important to me. They don\u2019t realize how much they\u2019ve affected me. Every time I see a kid smile, it really just opens up my heart and means a lot to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wilson\u2019s ability to connect with others was in him before he landed on the West Coast. It was evident in Raleigh when, in 2008, he became the first freshman in league history to be named an All-ACC first-team quarterback and in Madison, Wis., where he was named co-captain of the University of Wisconsin football team two months after transferring there. \u201cHe captivates people,\u201d says Annabelle Myers, NC State\u2019s assistant athletics director for communications. \u201cHe just has this aura about him.\u201d It was a trait that was even evident in high school, when Wilson starred in basketball, football and baseball at Collegiate School in Richmond, Va. Charlie McFall, former head football coach at Collegiate, had a name for the phenomenon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2018The Russell Factor\u2019 is carried on to this day at Collegiate,\u201d McFall says. \u201cAs he became who he was, younger kids and middle-school kids wanted to play football because of Russell. One day I went into the cafeteria. There must have been 50 people up on the stage. I couldn\u2019t tell what was going on. Then I look up and see Russell and his buddy were up there and he was signing autographs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n McFall believes that influence will inevitably transcend Seattle, Madison, Raleigh and Richmond. \u201cHe\u2019s going to be the face of NFL football soon,\u201d McFall said in early March. Two months later, after interviews with David Letterman and Charlie Rose, as well serving as a spokesman for Microsoft\u2019s Surface in a national advertising campaign, Wilson helped open ESPN\u2019s primetime coverage of the 2014 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dave Quick knows some people might think Wilson is too good to be true. But Quick has seen Wilson pray for his son. He has talked to Wilson about their shared connections to the St. Louis Cardinals \u2014 Dave is a lifelong fan, and Wilson is a friend of Cardinals\u2019 left fielder Matt Holliday. And he\u2019s talked to Wilson about how Franklin\u2019s twin, Harrison, shares the name of Wilson\u2019s father. He says Wilson is the real deal. And maybe that\u2019s his most extraordinary talent\u2014just being normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRussell Wilson relates to a broader spectrum of people. People can relate to him more than a lot of other guys,\u201d Quick says. \u201cI think it\u2019s the way he approaches his community. It\u2019s almost like Seattle was waiting for him. He\u2019s what the city has been waiting for.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false,"raw":"\n\n\n\n\n SEATTLE, Wash.\u2014A couple of days after Russell Wilson \u201910 led the Seattle Seahawks to their first Super Bowl title in early February, ESPN\u2019s popular radio show Mike & Mike in the Morning has already turned the page. Co-host Mike Golic is talking about the upcoming NFL draft, asking which college player might slip to a later round but still make an immediate impact as a professional. Who, Golic wonders, can be the next Russell Wilson?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Though Golic\u2019s question is about what happens on the field, people in Seattle will tell you there\u2019s nobody like Wilson, period. You hear that sentiment inside the deafening CenturyLink Field, where the Seahawks play home games, as 68,000 Seattle fans known collectively as \u201cThe 12th Man\u201d chant, \u201cWIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILSOOOOOOOOOOOON,\u201d when he\u2019s introduced to a song sharing the same name by jam band Phish. Or when you talk to people around town like Anders Miller, who throws chum salmon for show at the Pike Place Market and likes the fact that Wilson is always studying when a camera pans to him on the sideline during games. People like Dave and Kristina Quick who have spent time with Wilson in Seattle Children\u2019s Hospital as he checked on their baby son Franklin. Or people like Andra Addison, the communications director for the Seattle Public Library, a vortex of steel and glass puncturing the skyline at unusual angles. Last season, the library decided to show Seahawks playoff games on the big screen in the Microsoft Auditorium for the first time since 1995. \u201c[Wilson] is very much engaged in the community,\u201d Addison says. \u201cHe gave the city hope.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you mention Seattle, the first thing someone's going to say is 'Russell Wilson.' He's adopted our city in a way no other player can. \u2014Nathan Mark<\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Since being drafted by the Seahawks in the third round in 2012, Wilson has tied Peyton Manning\u2019s record for the most touchdown passes (26) by a rookie and became the first NFL rookie quarterback to lead a team to an undefeated record at home. He is making his case to be on Seattle\u2019s Mount Rushmore of sports figures by delivering the Vince Lombardi Trophy to Seattle, a city that had been known for its sports mediocrity. And the icing on the cake to Seattleites is Wilson\u2019s investment in the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot only is he captain of the team, he\u2019s captain of our city,\u201d says Nathan Mark, a 34-year-old doorman who sports a white Wilson jersey on days he checks IDs outside The Central, a bar in Seattle\u2019s Pioneer Square district a couple of blocks from Century Link Field. \u201cWhen you mention Seattle, the first thing someone\u2019s going to say is \u2018Russell Wilson.\u2019 He\u2019s adopted our city in a way no other player can.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That may be because Wilson sees football as only part of what he has to offer the city. In a February interview, PBS\u2019s Charlie Rose asked Wilson how a player should be judged. Is it the yards and touchdowns he compiles in a career? Is it the number of Super Bowls he wins? \u201cBy the way they affect people,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cBy the way they affect the organization. You think about Peyton Manning and how he\u2019s affected the Indianapolis Colts for so long. That\u2019s what you want in a quarterback. That\u2019s what you want in terms of the face of your franchise. A person that can change the community and change the city....\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That approach resonates with Dustin Bogue, a 29-year-old tattoo artist. His studio is about 15 minutes north of Seattle in a strip mall where you can get donuts, takeout from Bento Teriyaki or a beer at O\u2019Houlies Pub. He enjoys his tattoo work, which he\u2019s been doing for 10 years, and can ink anything, including the 12th Man tattoos he offered for $12 during the Seahawks\u2019 playoff run. Recently, Bogue expanded his artistic endeavors, painting oil portraits on canvas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By painting portraits of people synonymous with Seattle, Bogue says, he can help people see the virtues of the city. For his first effort, Bogue painted Russell Wilson in a portrait titled \u201cNoTime2Sleep,\u201d a Wilson mantra. Bogue says he chose the quarterback for his first portrait because of the kinship he feels with the football star. \u201cIt\u2019s the influence he\u2019s had,\u201d Bogue says. \u201cI\u2019m just trying to be an influence with what I\u2019m doing. I want to stick to the positive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wilson has become, in a sense, everyone\u2019s best friend, and it\u2019s apparent when people refer to him as \u201cRussell\u201d\u2014not \u201cWilson\u201d or \u201cour quarterback.\u201d They see Wilson as a regular guy, someone they can imagine having over for dinner. He\u2019s a canvas on which they can project their own story, not unlike what Bogue is doing with an actual canvas. Jason Prall, a 33-year-old Seattle engineer, relates to Wilson when he recalls his own experience playing football as a wide receiver at Western Washington and transferring to play shortstop for Gonzaga\u2019s baseball team. Jamie Santillan is a graphic designer who eats at the same Indian restaurant in Pioneer Square before every Seahawks home game, always wearing Wilson\u2019s No. 3 jersey. He lauds Wilson\u2019s success in the face of experts saying he was too short, at 5-foot-11, to be an NFL quarterback. Santillan says that, like Wilson, he is a short and humble guy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In January, Wilson\u2019s presence is on display throughout the city and excitement is in the air as the Seahawks prepare for a divisional playoff game with the New Orleans Saints. His jersey is the top seller at the Seahawks apparel shop downtown and at Seattle Shirt Company, a bustling gift shop across from the Pike Place Market. There, Wilson\u2019s is the only jersey sold in kids\u2019, men\u2019s and women\u2019s sizes. T-shirts with his image in front of a silhouetted Seattle Space Needle and the words \u201cWe Believe\u201d hang in the windows of Bar- tell Drugs. He graces the cover of Seattle Weekly for a story called \u201cThe Seahawks Effect.\u201d A trendy bar in Seattle\u2019s Capitol Hill district serves a blue drink called \u201cRussellmania.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n On a typically overcast Friday morning before the Saints game, you\u2019ll find supporters who feel a kinship with Wilson that surpasses simple fandom. Yes, there is a medley of 12th men at an early morning pep rally, from a man who has the Seahawk logo shaven and painted into his hair to a couple getting married outside of sections 135 \u2013 137 while other fans look on and cheer. The bride promises the groom never to be a fair-weather fan. The backdrop is a large mural of Wilson in mid-scramble, seemingly blessing the union before he throws another pass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trying to make her way through the crowd inside of CenturyLink is Gemini Kelly, a 37-year-old entrepreneur who is proudly wearing a white Wilson jersey and holding hands with her 15-month-old grandson, Daiveon. She speaks of the quarterback in a tone that sounds more like she is defending her vote for a candidate in a presidential primary. \u201cHe has leadership qualities,\u201d she says, adding that his charity work is emblematic of Seattle. \u201cThe generosity is definitely there.\u201d Seattle is a place where \u201cyou can see some- body walk out and take muffins to a homeless person. We pay it forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A few feet away, 26-year-old Carlos Salas stands in the crowd with a duffel bag filled with sweatshirts he sells for $25. They bear the design of the hoodie he wears, a lime green screenprint of Wilson\u2019s face with the words: \u201cIn Russ We Trust.\u201d Salas, who is also known as Cha$ten Tha Don, is emphatic that the font he chose for the shirt is the same as that used on the dollar bill. Why? \u201cHe\u2019s our money,\u201d Salas says of Wilson. \u201cHe\u2019s money for us.\u201d That underdog status is something celebrated by Wilson\u2019s fans. Initially, Wilson was an afterthought for many fans since the Seahawks had just invested millions in free-agent quarterback Matt Flynn. But Wilson impressed coaches and teammates early in camp. \u201cHe came in his rookie year and had pretty terrific command of the huddle,\u201d says Max Unger, center for the Seahawks. \u201cYou don\u2019t expect that of a rookie, being able to step in with veteran NFL players and command the huddle. The physical skills showed up, too. He physically and mentally won the job.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He came in his rookie year and had pretty terrific command of the huddle. You don't expect that of a rookie, being able to step in with veteran NFL players and command the huddle. The physical skills showed up, too. He physically and mentally won the job. \u2014Max Unger, Center for the Seattle Seahawks<\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n He\u2019s been winning in the NFL ever since, by knowing when to rely on Marshawn Lynch, one of the NFL\u2019s top running backs, or on a top-shelf NFL defense. He realizes he doesn\u2019t have to be perfect, that he can slide or run out of bounds instead of fighting for an extra yard or throwing an interception. Such attributes could produce a lengthy NFL career for Wilson. \u201cIt\u2019s one thing to have success the first year,\u201d Unger says. \u201cIt\u2019s another to do it over and over. You can tell he\u2019s consistent. That\u2019s how you measure a professional athlete\u2014how long can you do things right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Across town from CenturyLink Field, Wilson has been doing things right for three years at Seattle Children\u2019s Hospital, visiting sick children and their families every Tuesday. The visits began when he called the hospital after he was drafted and asked if he could have a standing weekly appointment to visit. Eve Kopp, director of corporate annual giving at Seattle Children\u2019s, says hospital officials had never had an athlete ask for so much time at the hospital, and some don\u2019t treat it as a serious cause. Wilson kept coming back and asking to meet more children. \u201cWe call him our 12th man,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s as if he gets something out of it. It almost energizes him the more families he meets. People want to touch him and hug him. It\u2019s almost like he wants to touch them and hug them because they are his inspiration.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dave Quick is a 34-year-old Brier, Wash., electrical salesman and father to twins Harrison and Franklin. Both were born prematurely in October 2013. Harrison was fine, but Franklin had complications. Doctors told Quick they would have to do immediate surgery to help Franklin get rid of his waste and then perform open heart surgery days later. \u201cWhen he came back, they left his chest open,\u201d Quick says. \u201cHe had chest tubes. He was on 13 different medicines. He just looked so fragile.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Quick felt helpless and alone and couldn\u2019t sleep. Dave\u2019s wife, Kristina, soon joined him with Harrison at Seattle Children\u2019s, and Franklin showed signs that he would fight. Then, on their second week there, they got a visit. Wilson walked into their room and introduced himself. He asked if he could pray for Franklin and visited for a couple of minutes. It was a simple escape for the Quick family, but one that Dave Quick says helped them cross a critical threshold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI teared up a little bit just because we had such an emotional tough start. He freed us up to just kind of let it all go,\u201d Quick says. There are dozens of stories like the one told by Quick, who adds that Franklin, after subsequent procedures, is eating, healthy and growing normally. Wilson has said his visits are a result of time he spent with his father, Harrison, in hospitals before the elder Wilson died due to complications from diabetes in 2010. \u201cWhen I came to Seattle that was one of the first things I tried to figure out, besides figuring out where I was going to live,\u201d he said in a January press conference. \u201c. . .I think that to be able to find a way to change people\u2019s lives and to be there and give them a boost is really important to me. They don\u2019t realize how much they\u2019ve affected me. Every time I see a kid smile, it really just opens up my heart and means a lot to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wilson\u2019s ability to connect with others was in him before he landed on the West Coast. It was evident in Raleigh when, in 2008, he became the first freshman in league history to be named an All-ACC first-team quarterback and in Madison, Wis., where he was named co-captain of the University of Wisconsin football team two months after transferring there. \u201cHe captivates people,\u201d says Annabelle Myers, NC State\u2019s assistant athletics director for communications. \u201cHe just has this aura about him.\u201d It was a trait that was even evident in high school, when Wilson starred in basketball, football and baseball at Collegiate School in Richmond, Va. Charlie McFall, former head football coach at Collegiate, had a name for the phenomenon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2018The Russell Factor\u2019 is carried on to this day at Collegiate,\u201d McFall says. \u201cAs he became who he was, younger kids and middle-school kids wanted to play football because of Russell. One day I went into the cafeteria. There must have been 50 people up on the stage. I couldn\u2019t tell what was going on. Then I look up and see Russell and his buddy were up there and he was signing autographs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n McFall believes that influence will inevitably transcend Seattle, Madison, Raleigh and Richmond. \u201cHe\u2019s going to be the face of NFL football soon,\u201d McFall said in early March. Two months later, after interviews with David Letterman and Charlie Rose, as well serving as a spokesman for Microsoft\u2019s Surface in a national advertising campaign, Wilson helped open ESPN\u2019s primetime coverage of the 2014 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dave Quick knows some people might think Wilson is too good to be true. But Quick has seen Wilson pray for his son. He has talked to Wilson about their shared connections to the St. Louis Cardinals \u2014 Dave is a lifelong fan, and Wilson is a friend of Cardinals\u2019 left fielder Matt Holliday. And he\u2019s talked to Wilson about how Franklin\u2019s twin, Harrison, shares the name of Wilson\u2019s father. He says Wilson is the real deal. And maybe that\u2019s his most extraordinary talent\u2014just being normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRussell Wilson relates to a broader spectrum of people. People can relate to him more than a lot of other guys,\u201d Quick says. \u201cI think it\u2019s the way he approaches his community. It\u2019s almost like Seattle was waiting for him. He\u2019s what the city has been waiting for.\u201d<\/p>\n"},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Russell Wilson ’10 means more to Seattle than a Super Bowl victory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":401,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"views\/single-immersive.blade.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"source":"","ncst_custom_author":"","ncst_show_custom_author":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"ncst\/default-immersive-post-header","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"{\"showAuthor\":true,\"showDate\":true,\"showFeaturedVideo\":false,\"backgroundColor\":\"green_400\",\"subtitle\":\"Russell Wilson '10 means more to Seattle than a Super Bowl victory.\",\"displayCategoryID\":8,\"caption\":\"\"}","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,9],"tags":[109,443,1022],"_ncst_magazine_issue":[],"displayCategory":{"term_id":8,"name":"Newswire","slug":"newswire","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":8,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":36,"filter":"raw"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4728"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4728\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4728"},{"taxonomy":"_ncst_magazine_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_ncst_magazine_issue?post=4728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/SeahawksHighFive.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Screen-Shot-2021-06-23-at-11.43.46-AM-1.png\")
Salas is also a young rapper from Lakewood, Wash., 40 miles south of Seattle. He equates his efforts to establish a career with Wilson\u2019s uphill climb to be Seattle\u2019s starter. \u201cPeople didn\u2019t believe in him,\u201d Salas says. \u201cAnd people didn\u2019t believe in me with my music. He was drafted late. He was an underdog. He started at the bottom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn no way, shape or form do I claim to be friends with Russell Wilson. But that feeling he left us with that day was this calm aura.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Salas is also a young rapper from Lakewood, Wash., 40 miles south of Seattle. He equates his efforts to establish a career with Wilson\u2019s uphill climb to be Seattle\u2019s starter. \u201cPeople didn\u2019t believe in him,\u201d Salas says. \u201cAnd people didn\u2019t believe in me with my music. He was drafted late. He was an underdog. He started at the bottom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn no way, shape or form do I claim to be friends with Russell Wilson. But that feeling he left us with that day was this calm aura.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n