The breakup between Russell Wilson and the Seahawks was not a clean one.
Despite bringing Seattle its first, and to-date only, Super Bowl win, Wilson was booed by fans at his homecoming game to open the 2022 season.
But it wasn’t just the fans that were frustrated with Wilson.
As former NFL running back Marshawn Lynch, who was an important part of the Seahawks offense during their run in the mid-aughts, explained to Shannon Sharpe on his podcast Club Shay Shay, tensions were mounting between Wilson and the rest of the locker room even when the team was still riding high.
“We had a situation in practice,” Lynch said. “Being accountable was something big for us. We had a practice and [head coach] Pete [Carroll] wasn’t holding him accountable, [Cornerback Richard Sherman] spoke up, a couple of D-linemen spoke up.
“He called practice. We went into, we called it the “kumbaya” room, and Pete told us ‘Hey, nobody go and talk to Russell. If anybody’s got something to say to Russell, come talk to me, come talk to the quarterback’s coach, but nobody go and talk to him.’ And that was when that started.
“You’re kind of putting him on a pedestal, or outside the box,” Lynch told Sharpe of the situation. “He don’t have to be accountable to the same s--- we do—what the f--- is that?”
The conversation starts around the 7:30 mark in the clip below.
Marshawn Lynch on Russell Wilson blocking his number:
— Club Shay Shay (@ClubShayShay) October 4, 2023
“Russ was just a QB for me… I don’t have his number.” pic.twitter.com/85iEMtmPxp
It wasn’t the only story that Lynch would share about Wilson's strained relationship with his teammates in Seattle, as the former running back also detailed a particularly awkward phone conversation he had with Wilson while they were teammates.
