If you didn’t know Russell Wilson months ago, I’m sure you’re at least vaguely familiar with him now. As Quarterback of the Superbowl winning Seattle Seahawks, Wilson has made quite a mark on the NFL. He’s incredibly gifted, smart, and well-spoken. So far, people applaud him for his work ethic, quick thinking, and how respectable he is. Overall, he is a well-liked individual. To get you more acquainted with him, the following article will talk a little bit about his life, his Christian faith, and include some great quotes from him.
It’s no secret that Russell Wilson is extremely talented; that much is clear by being the Quarterback of a Superbowl winning NFL team. But, nobody knew just how much potential he had. In fact, the Seattle Seahawks drafted him in the third round of the 2012 NFL draft. For those that don’t follow football, that’s good time to be drafted, but not the best. First round picks are generally considered the most talented athletes going into the NFL draft, and the amount they get paid reflects that (consider that Eli Manning, Phillip Rivers, Johnny Manziel, were all first-round draft picks).
So, nobody really expected that Wilson, a third round pick, would lead a team to the Superbowl in just his second year in the NFL. It’s unheard of; yet, Wilson was much more talented than people had realized. In College, he was both a baseball player and a Football player. In fact, he actually played Minor League Baseball for a while, before leaving, going back to school, and then getting drafted into the NFL.
He’s not all athletic ability, though. From a young age, Wilson knew that his grades really did matter. Yes, he excelled in sports—very much so—but he also excelled in the classroom, even becoming the class president in High School. Academic ability was driven into him from a young age. His father was an NFL hopeful, but more than that he was a University of Virginia Law School graduate who wanted his son to be smart, and not just on the football field. Education was big part of their entire family history, and Wilson readily accepted that. In just three years, Wilson obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Broadcast/Communications. When he went back for his fourth year of eligibility, he decided to get a Masters. All the while, he was a star athlete!
Although not as outspoken as Tim Tebow, Russell Wilson has admitted to being a Christian. Right before the Superbowl, Wilson and some of his teammates appeared in a video interview with Mark Driscoll, Pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. In that video, he explained what his Christian faith meant to him, and that Jesus was the most important thing in his life, not his football career. It’s pretty cool to think that another popular Quarteback, and one with even more success than Tim Tebow, is not ashamed to talk about the Bible and about how important Jesus is to him. Some people have attacked him for being too shy about his faith; but, that’s only when compared to Tim Tebow. Again, there are plenty of places where Russell Wilson readily spoke about his faith in Jesus—even right after the Superbowl win.
“At the end of the day, we are all looking for someone to comfort us, somebody to be there for us at all times. When we are at the worst times of our lives, when we are battling with something, or struggles, whatever it may be, when we are at our highest point as well, when things are going really well, we want somebody to comfort us and be there for us and to say, 'Well done.' That's Jesus. Jesus has always been there. He'll never leave you, never forsake you.”
“My height doesn't define my skill set. To be a great quarterback, you have to have great leadership, great attention to detail and a relentless competitive nature - and I try to bring that on a daily basis.”
“My faith is so strong that I believe that God made me 5-11 for a reason. For all the kids that have been told, no, that they can't do it, or all the kids that will be told no.”
“I had a dream that my dad passed away and that Jesus came into the room and he was basically knocking on my door, saying, 'Hey, you need to find out more about me.' So that Sunday morning I ended up going to church, and that's when I got saved.”
Russell is a premiere athlete in the NFL, and believe it or not, he will only get better. He is still young, and his best days are ahead of it. It will be great to see, when the years keep progressing, how Wilson speaks about his Christian faith and tries to utilize the platform he has for the sake of the gospel.
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