SEATTLE — If you're so inclined, you can pinpoint the start of Russell Wilson's career decline to the days in and around his selection in February of 2021 as the NFL's Walter Payton Man of the Year, the highest humanitarian honor the league bestows.
During the Super Bowl telecast in the wake of that award, Wilson was shown sitting between his wife, Ciara, and Commissioner Roger Goodell, looking decidedly glum. He would say later that his discontent stemmed from frustration over the fact that it had been six years since the Seahawks had played in the championship game, and his intense desire to add multiple rings to his résumé.
Wilson would, in fact, say lots of things in the aftermath of winning the Payton award, launching a campaign in the ensuing days to make public his dissatisfaction with how things were going in Seattle. In two interviews conducted the next week expressly designed to talk about winning Man of the Year, Wilson used the platform for an airing of grievances. He made veiled complaints about the Seahawks' offensive line, said he wanted to see changes in the offense, and expressed a desire to have more say in any moves the team made.
It wasn't long before the infamous list of teams to which Wilson would accept a trade emerged, setting into motion the unseemly yearlong grind that culminated in his trade to Denver in March of 2022. His ensuing nosedive with the Broncos has been well-documented, leading to an largely unfavorable reexamination of his place in the hierarchy of top quarterbacks.
But as his professional reputation plummeted, one thing that did not leave Wilson was his personal reputation as a genuine doer of good, one committed to uplifting the community and helping those in need. The Payton award embodied those traits. As Ciara wrote to her husband on Instagram after the Man of the Year ceremony, "You're the most selfless, loving, & caring person I know. Your heart, dedication, and commitment to taking care of others is truly what sets you apart."
But now, in the wake of a detailed USA Today examination of Wilson's "Why Not You" Foundation that revealed numerous discrepancies and questionable practices, his personal reputation is suddenly taking a major hit as well. Many of the comments I have seen on social media about the article's revelations suggested that his philanthropy, which was once celebrated, is shady, or even fraudulent. Callers and texters to local radio stations, and even national pundits, talked about losing respect for Wilson.
I suspect all this might be the part of this Year From Hell that bothers Wilson the most, even considering his burning desire to be known as one of the best quarterbacks ever. It has always been evident that being regarded as an upright and honorable person is equally, if not more, important to Wilson.
Obviously, none of this looks good. USA Today, following a six-month investigation, detailed that Wilson's foundation in 2020 and '21 spent almost $600,000 on charitable activities and nearly twice as much, $1.1 million, on salaries and employee benefits during that time.
Most damning, it spent just 24.3 cents of every dollar on charitable activities. A related article put that into perspective: National charity watchdog groups including CharityWatch, Charity Navigator and the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance expect efficient nonprofits to spend at least 65 cents to 75 cents of every dollar on charitable activities. The best spend far more.
Furthermore, USA Today reported that some executives of Wilson's foundation were paid far more than the industry average, and that one employee, chief strategy officer Ryan Tarpley, had a dual role working for the Wilson family office. That raises the question, the newspaper said, of whether he was compensated by the Why Not You Foundation to provide services for the personal benefit of the Ciara and Russell Wilson.
"It is absolutely, categorically illegal to have a nonprofit pay you to do work outside of supporting its charitable purposes, let alone furthering private interests," attorney Andrew Morton, a partner at Handler Thayer LLP and chair of the firm's sports and entertainment philanthropy group, told USA Today.
Such an arrangement was denied by Mark Rodgers, Wilson's agent.
While the revelations in the USA Today article are troublesome, to say the least, they are not uncommon in the world of athletic foundations. The Seattle Times did an examination in 2007 of local foundations run by athletes and found them rife with problems that undermined — often innocently — the stated intent of helping people in need.
The article said of the troubled foundations: Their common thread: Most were started by young millionaires with a vague desire to help people but little experience running a nonprofit.
Former Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander told the authors, Danny O'Neil and Greg Bishop, "I believe that every athlete has their heart in the right place. I really do. They just don't know how to do it."
That was also a takeaway from the accompanying USA Today article this week that looked at foundations started by 23 of the past 26 Payton Man of the Year recipients. Many of them ran into much the same problems as Wilson of getting the requisite amount of money to the intended charitable recipients.
The article states:
Players often enlist family, friends and business associates who mean well but are inexperienced and ineffective at running a nonprofit, which can result in strained relationships and fundraising events that generate positive media attention and accolades but little to no money — or even lose money — a common occurrence.
Even Tom Brady ran into issues with his charity last November when the Daily Beast reported that his TB12 Foundation had paid his for-profit company, TB12, more than $1.6 million for its services.
The upshot is that foundations, even well-meaning ones, can be tricky endeavors. It's often more a case of ignorance of the complexities of charities than impropriety or corruption. As J.J. Watt, a Payton award winner, told USA Today: "It's not as simple as saying, 'I want to help people.' I wish it was. Trust me. I wish it was. But you have to understand the responsibilities that come along with it."
Whether or not the issues of Wilson's foundation are innocent mistakes or calculated ruses is in the eye of the beholder, at least until there's more information.
I do know that the endless hours Wilson spent with patients at Seattle Children's Hospital — virtually every Tuesday for the entirety of his 10 years here — were very real. And that he and Ciara started a charter school, the Why Not You Academy, in Des Moines, just south of Seattle, in 2020.
"If I can serve others, I think that's my responsibility," Wilson told Seahawks.com when the school opened.
I'd like to think Wilson was speaking from the heart. The fact that many people will now question that sentiment is the worst part of his very bad year.
