They say you can’t win football games with too many choir boys. One choir boy might be too many in the case of Russell Wilson, the NFL’s would-be Mr Congeniality. From the off the New York Giants quarterback has gone to lengths to distinguish himself as the game’s most likable star, the kind of player kids look up to and opponents look out for. And all it seems to do is breed resentment.
Wilson’s closest collaborators struggle to speak his name without spitting. Richard Sherman, the standout former defensive back turned TV analyst, begrudges Wilson for the favoritism he received from management during their years together at the Seattle Seahawks. KJ Wright, another prominent member of that Legion of Boom defense, accuses Wilson of betraying locker room bonds. Marshawn Lynch, the delightful but famously reticent Seahawks running back who lined up behind Wilson for 56 games, recalls having to ask someone in the team’s front office for the QB’s contact info – and Wilson calling him back from a blocked number. “Russ was just a quarterback for me,” Lynch said. Just the quarterback who led the Seahawks to their first ever Super Bowl title.
