Perhaps you've heard Russell Wilson returns to Seattle, the place he called home for a decade, Monday night when the Denver Broncos face the Seahawks.
Speaking to the media Thursday, the Pro Bowl quarterback predictably spun positive when asked if fans might consider him a villain following his offseason trade.Â
"I think, first of all, my experience in Seattle was one of a kind," Wilson said. "Ten years, I couldn't imagine those years not being in my life and how special they were and how many games we won and how many amazing thrillers and the Super Bowl we won and everything else. I'm going to think about all those memories and everything else and the joy of that and the gratitude of that. Then also we've got a football game to play, so I'm excited to just get out there and play again. I love this game. I'm passionate about it. I've got a lot of great teammates, there's a lot of guys I'm super close with on the other side, so it'll be a great battle."
With Wilson under center, the Seahawks won 104 regular-season games and nine playoff games (both second-most by any QB behind Tom Brady from 2012-2021).
On Monday night, Wilson will join Brady, Peyton Manning, Brett Favre and Joe Montana as the only QBs to win 100-plus games with a team and later face that same team.
A report surfaced this week suggesting a tumultuous ending to Wilson's time in Seattle, but the quarterback dismissed it Thursday.
"I don't worry about all that stuff," Wilson said. "I know how the whole thing went and how it transpired and just the whole situation, but also, at the same too, I know that every second I've enjoyed in terms of being there and just trying to give it my all every day.
"I gave my all. That's all I could give."
Now donning a new jersey for the first time in his professional career, Wilson said he "gave his heart and soul every day" as a member of the Seahawks.
"I think at the end of the day, hopefully after 10 years of trying to make a difference there and winning a lot of football games and all of us doing it together, I think that was really special," Wilson said. "I think also too Seattle will always mean the world to me, it'll always forever be home for me, it'll always be a special place in my heart obviously. ... I'll forever have love in my heart for Seattle."
Wilson's new Broncos teammate Melvin Gordon might have summed up the crowd's expected reaction best:
"I hope they cheer him," Gordon said. "But they might be booin' him because he might light it up."
