I have spent the past 2 years referring to Russell Wilson as a corn dog of a human being. That is to say he’s incredibly corny in every way. From the way he interacts with his teammates (poorly) to the Gen X Facebook mom Tik Toks he posts, the man oozes accountant whose kids make fun of him and call him Russel not dad. And all that could be forgiven, if he actually played like the NFL quarterback he was expected. Instead, Sean Payton almost put a hit out on him.
Russell was always the Plan B to Aaron Rodgers, ironically something neither man believes in. Maybe that’s why he was given a rope to hang himself with. There is something beautiful and astonishingly ugly about watching a fully grown, superhuman man experience an ego death in-real-time. Because, despite the clean image we have been spoonfed by ESPN algorithms and Twitter comedians, Russell threw away a good thing. If I’m Russell, I’m out here saying that the proximity to Bluecifer is actually the cause of everything. But, if I’m the Broncos, I’m out here saying that even with the Nathaniel Hackett fun-fest of failure, Russell just failed to live up to what he was brought in to be – the anchor of a franchise so caught up in this historical version of themselves they really should just bring John Elway back. And for that, the Broncos killed him.
This was supposed to be more of a reaction blog, but it turned into more of a “Russell screwed Russell” talk (see video at the bottom for context). It still isn’t fully fleshed out, I just needed to beat the SEO timeframe (I’m already behind). Because, I am fully under the impression that Russell Wilson got screwed by the Broncos. Russell Wilson was a good quarterback, lightly disguised to look like a great quarterback on the back of defenses and a Jim Harbaugh blueprint (commit NCAA violations, win, leave for the NFL, refuse to elaborate). But, even with that, let’s not sit here and pretend like Russell Wilson wasn’t screwed by the Broncos
Russell and Passing Times
I need to start this section off with the fact I kind of fucking hate stat nerds in sports. Baseball is vaguely unwatchable, because I didn’t read the Fangraphs email this morning and learn the new advanced metric (a new “+” metric designed around walks taken after being 2-2 in the count). With that disclaimer out there, I’m about to go deep into the ProFootball Reference and NextGenStats, because Russell stopped playing like himself. Russell became a ball hog, in a sport that emphasizes drop back and release.
I’m not really sure what changed in 2022. Maybe Nathaniel Hackett‘s Austin Powers based training system taught Russell he should just let the plot develop and he’ll be fine. He already had Ciara, so the Bond girl arc was complete, all he had to do was overcome the villain of the story (a basic defensive scheme). I want to highlight one set of stats that shows how Russell Wilson stopped playing like himself.
In 2021, Teddy Bridgewater’s average pocket time was 2.5 seconds, and had a time to throw of 2.91 seconds. Pocket time is just how long the quarterback stays in the pocket, which is not always his choice. I’m not a super stats guy, and I legitimately don’t really know if there’s any positive correlation between the time to throw and performance. All I can see, is that Justin Fields has a +3 second time to throw. So, I imagine, it’s not great to have 3+.
In that same year, when Russell was on the Seahawks, he had an average pocket time of 2.4 and an average time to throw of 2.8 seconds. But the next season, he was working with a tenth of a second more of pocket time (2.5 seconds), but held on to the ball almost 2 tenths of a second more, almost breaking that 3 second threshold (2.98 seconds). If I’ve learned anything from F1 (other than the fact engineering is the most important thing), tenths of a second matter a lot. This led to Russ being sacked a league-leading 55 times that season, and having the lowest completion percentage of his career at 60.4%.
This is all to say, that 2022 season is vaguely a fluke in his career. The next season, even with a time to throw of 3.06, Russell Wilson bounced back. He had an amazing TD-INT percentage, and generally played much better overall (obviously exceptions). But by the end of the season I believed Russell could do it. And in the context of his career, 2022 is by far the worst year. There are a multitude of factors that went into this, but
My brain has fully gone into conspiracy mode that Sean Payton was brought in to kill Russell Wilson’s time on the Broncos and create the narrative that he deserved it. A “Russell screwed Russell” type situation. Sean Payton hated him from day one – a clash of personalities. And he is still trying to destory the Russell legacy, which is a Hall of Fame legacy.
Did it help that the receiver corps and every player seemed to kind of hate him? Of course not. But the narrative that Russell Wilson was this terrible quarterback who played like Mac Jones is a weird, ridiculous narrative. Don’t let the Broncos control this narrative.
Cap Space Warrior
Russell Wilson and Jimbo Fischer need to create some kind of online class they can market on Tik Tok with Lambos and hired models on how to get rich quickly. I’ve learned, all you have to do is be like mildly okay at your job, find a desperate team who thinks they’re better than they are, and sign a contract that can only be rightfully described as gluttonous. The Broncos are willing to take an $85 million cap hit just to never see Russell Wilson do high knees on a plane ever again.
The breakup between the Broncos and Russell Wilson feels incredibly personal to me. The Broncos are now stuck paying something to the tune of $39 million in 2024 to makeup for their two-night mistake (the first night was terrible, but maybe that’s to blame on the ringing ears and lack of shower). One time a girl broke up with me around Christmas (moral conundrum: can you ask for a gift back?), scaring me with severe emotional distress. Then, I had to buy her out of her half of the parking pass, when realistically she really only needed 1/4 of the original price, because half the year was over. But, nay, I didn’t fight it because I believed in reconciliation (she believed in Enron’s accounting).
Then, on Valentines Day I received an email from the library that I had a $100 fine. I believe in libraries like I believe a 24-year-old rookie in the NFL, so it wasn’t me. Turns out it was a book she had borrowed on my account (felonious fraud), and had never returned (felonious extortion). The situation was rectified (after a very strongly worded text about the sanctity of the library and a man’s university library account). But, like the Broncos, I was on the hook for a large payment on a failed relationship.
Now, I spend 150 words on an anecdote to say, Russell Wilson should go to any time and be like pay me nothing, because like part-owner Condoleezza Rice‘s tenure as Secretary of State, he screwed the Broncos. And I say that in a good way. They are the ones that offered him an extension of over $200 million before the other deal ran out. They are the ones who gave him the contract change ultimatum. Asking a player to change his contract because it doesn’t suit you is a guillotine level rich guy move.
The Broncos realized they made a bad deal. They are the bad guys here. And the worst part is, the Broncos brought him in as a second option and changed nothing to fit his personality or play style. So, to the Broncos, in essence, Russell screwed Russell. When in reality, the Broncos and Sean Payton are the bad guys.
**Also, because you read this long and maybe are slightly confused why this isn’t a Russell Wilson hit piece, here is the context for the title:**
Follow Moon Stamp Sports on Twitter/X, Instagram and Facebook, and follow Jorden on Twitter/X.
