Russell Wilson original .Net post after we drafted him

[MizzouHawkGal]

So it's not the same thing, but if any of you want to check out some rapid reactions from Field Gulls, I found some good stuff in their archives.

Field Gulls: More on Russell Wilson (Pre-draft article)
http://www.fieldgulls.com/2012/3/30/2915198/nfl-draft-2012-more-on-russell-wilson

Field Gulls: The Seahawks Select QB Russell Wilson with Third Round Pick
http://www.fieldgulls.com/2012/4/27...-select-qb-russell-wilson-with-3rd-round-pick

For those wanting to see the reactions of the entirety of the 2012 draft, here's the link I used to move forward and backwards from April 26-28, 2012:

http://www.fieldgulls.com/archives/912

Beautiful.

 

[Rob12]

Field Gulls did a helluva job.

With the 11th pick of the 3rd round, 75th overall, the Seahawks have selected quarterback Russell Wilson, a QB out of Wisconsin. This was a pick that a lot of us thought was a definite possibility and it certainly fits the style of football that the Seahawks want to run. Wisconsin's offense under Wilson was very similar to what the Seahawks ran in 2011, power running to set up play-action, boot action and downfield strikes. Wilson thrived in this system, completing over 70% of his passes while throwing for just under 2,800 yards, with 31 touchdowns, to only three interceptions in his senior campaign.

He's known as a strong leader, he's mobile and athletic, has a strong arm and throws a nice tight spiral. He's got that Bill Walsh "catchable ball," leads his receivers, and protects the football. In so many ways, he's a prototype for what the Seahawks have been looking for in a quarterback, except of course, for his height. At 5'10, 205, he'll immediately become one of, if not the shortest quarterback in the NFL but the Seahawks will attempt to mitigate this by doing many of the things that they did with Tarvaris Jackson last season (once, and if Wilson plays, obviously).

They'll heavily lean on moving pockets, rollouts, bootlegs and the like. He's proven that he can throw from the pocket despite having one of the tallest offensive lines in the country in 2011, even counting the NFL. Still, this is a risky pick, insomuch that Wilson is going to have to beat a lot of odds when it comes to his height to have success in this league.

Pretty much Russ to a T. Except of course, he's become an absolute DEADLY pocket passing QB, which leads me to believe that Canton is already working on that plaque.

We're so damn lucky, my brethren. He's going to be one of the all-time greats. And to think, he's just NOW really figuring things out and entering into the BEGINNING of his prime. The. Beginning.

 

[Hasselbeck]

Fun article here too..

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/nfl-dr ... ard-report

 

[MizzouHawkGal]

Fun article here too..

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/nfl-dr ... ard-report

Jesus and Mary that was hilarious on so many levels it's flat ridiculous. Thank you for the laugh. I needed it given I just moved and start a new job Monday.

Happy birthday to me by the way.

 

[Rob12]

So I wasn't going to brag, but after my boy Austin admitted to calling his shot with RW, and Kip as well, I thought I'd throw this out there.

From the second we drafted Russell Wilson, I knew we had our franchise QB. I remember telling co-workers that he would beat Flynn out and he would be the future. They laughed at me - every single one of them. They told me the Seahawks wasted a third round pick on a small QB that wouldn't translate to the NFL.

Here's some proof. I submitted this article to the Seattle Times shortly after the Super Bowl, and they published it on Page 2:

http://blogs.seattletimes.com/take2...n-connects-a-seahawks-fan-to-his-father-sons/

The Times kind of butchered and cut my article down, but I also submitted it to my hometown newspaper, the Columbia Basin Herald out of Moses Lake. The Friday before SB 48, they put it on the front page. My mom bought 12 copies of it.

Here's the Field Gulls link - and I'm especially proud of this one, because if you submit a FanPost and it gets enough "rec's," it will end up on the front page. And the Friday or Saturday before SB 48, it was sitting atop the page on Field Gulls:

http://www.fieldgulls.com/2014/1/27/5350470/my-dad-and-remembering-our-fallen-12s

I've been a bit hard on Russ at times this year, but a lot of it stems from what's in the article I wrote. I knew what type of player and man he was. And I knew he was special. My dad, rest his soul, was so damn excited when the Hawks took him. And I was, too.

I think the thing we really forget at times is that this is just the beginning. People started questioning Russ, and saying that as he aged, his legs would go and he'd become less effective. So what has he done? Become deadly from the pocket. He's always going to stay a step ahead, and when all is said and done, I think he'll own a decent sized portion of the record books. Maybe not total passing yards, but QB rushing yards, rating, wins, best TD/INT ratio, whatever. He's that special. And he's going to add more rings. The Seahawks should just go ahead and offer him a lifetime contract. I don't get too attached to players, but my fandom would take an enormous hit if RW ever went someplace else. I just don't know if I could quite stomach it. He needs to be a Seattle Seahawk for life.

 

[Hasselbeck]

Oh it gets better.. here's some highlights from Jason Cole's (then with Yahoo, now with Bleacher Report) article on the 2012 draft.

St. Louis Rams
Picks: DT Michael Brockers, WR Brian Quick, CB Janoris Jenkins, RB Isaiah Pead, CB Trumaine Johnson, WR Chris Givens, G Rokevious Watkins, K Greg Zuerlein, LB Aaron Brown, RB Daryl Richardson
Grade: A-

Highlight quote:
"While there is still concern that the Rams haven't done enough to help QB Sam Bradford by getting him more receivers, the Rams believe Quick will be great..."

San Francisco 49ers
Picks: WR A.J. Jenkins, RB LaMichael James, G Joe Looney, OLB Darius Fleming, FS Trenton Robinson, OT Jason Slowey, DE Cam Johnson

Grade: B

Highlight Quote:
"Jenkins and James give the 49ers two more threats, and Jenkins is insurance against a Moss implosion."

Seattle Seahawks
Picks: OLB Bruce Irvin, ILB Bobby Wagner, QB Russell Wilson, RB Robert Turbin, DT Jaye Howard, LB Korey Toomer, CB Jeremy Lane, SS Winston Guy Jr., DT J.R. Sweezy, DE Greg Scruggs
Grade: D-

"After that, the Seahawks spent a third-round pick on Wilson even though the history of QBs under 6-foot is poor, to say the least. You don't spend a third-round pick on a guy who'll be lucky to be Seneca Wallace. You also don't do that after signing Matt Flynn as a free agent. The Seahawks are no closer to solving the QB situation now than they were before 2011."

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nfl--2012- ... marks.html

 

[UK_Seahawk]

I'll just leave this here.

 

[Rob12]

"After that, the Seahawks spent a third-round pick on Wilson even though the history of QBs under 6-foot is poor, to say the least. You don't spend a third-round pick on a guy who'll be lucky to be Seneca Wallace. You also don't do that after signing Matt Flynn as a free agent. The Seahawks are no closer to solving the QB situation now than they were before 2011."

I think Cole was just echoing the majority. I mean, if you look at that Field Gulls article I posted, the comments from fans weren't much better. Sure, there were a few here and there that were excited about the pick. But by and large, people were underwhelmed with the pick. Most of those people - analysts, Seahawks fans, whatever - had never spent any time watching the kid play QB in a pro-style Wisconsin offense, while he set the NCAA efficiency record.

It was just ignorance, but what Cole said wasn't wrong at the time. The history of sub 6' QB's wasn't good.

Lucky for us, PC didn't give a damn about how tall he was. He saw a winner, and he spent significant draft capital in grabbing him.

 

[Rob12]

The "lucky to be Seneca Wallace" comment was pure BS, though. Obviously, Cole never spent a second watching RW game film, and for that comment alone, he deserves to be raked over the coals.

 

[tooshort]

I broke my leg and displaced my ankle right before the 2011 game vs the Bengals ( sherms coming out party) , my ( poor washed up) rock star lifestyle was crippled and all I did was watch college highlights and binge Netflix for 4 months of recovery... I would estimate that 200+ hours were spent watching dangeruss. I was at work during the second day of the draft when I got the greatest text ever ..." You're gonna be so happy...got your guy" .

What a steal!!!

 

[kf3339]

I remember being cautiously optimistic about Wilson but still hoping Flynn would be a capable starter for a year or two. Then see what Wilson could do as the starter. I'm glad PC knew that Wilson was the best choice out of training camp and has been ever since his rookie year.

 

[Rob12]

For anyone who has never seen Gruden's QB Camp with Russ, do yourself a huge service and watch it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON16iCklqLY

He was going to be a star all along.

 

[Rob12]

Forgot to add if you're watching the QB Camp with Gruden...

If you want a laugh, fast forward to 6:33-35. That's when Gruden calls Russ out for his height. And his expression is priceless.

 

[hgwellz12]

@Rob12 yo! Like, FORREAL for real, you're awesome for that article. Brought me to tears because January 13 is my deceased best friends birthday (1 day after mine, I was born to be a 12, ha!) and also, my father died August 31 of 2012 and never got to witness the greatest Seahawk QB EVER. So that hit me, emotionally, on SOOOO many levels. Thanks bro. Respect, God bless your pops and GO HAWKS!!! WE ARE BLESSED!!!

 

[Hasselbeck]

The "lucky to be Seneca Wallace" comment was pure BS, though. Obviously, Cole never spent a second watching RW game film, and for that comment alone, he deserves to be raked over the coals.

Cole is really, really, really bad. He just isn't an obnoxious spray tanned potato like Pete Prisco so no one really pays any attention to him.

My favorite part of that piece is him raving about the Niners draft, the same draft that had every single one of those players off the roster as of last season.

 

[soje]

And oh yeah,



NEVER forget.

Who was this article by? ESPN? I'd like to re-tweet the author the same article now.... :stirthepot:

Apparently, a guy called Donald Wood, from Bleacher Report.
http://www.mattmcgee.com/what-nfl-exper ... 012-draft/

Eventually, he posted a somewhat apologetic article, despite calling himself an "expert".
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1461 ... season-run

 

[The Twelvethman]

I was as excited as the Mrs Wilson of that era.

 

[MizzouHawkGal]

I was as excited as the Mrs Wilson of that era.

Obviously she wasn't black enough.

 

[hgwellz12]

I was as excited as the Mrs Wilson of that era.

Obviously she wasn't black enough.

LOL!

I chalked him choosing to be with her to the fact that she must have had AWESOME 'jaw' *wink* (as evident by that infamous picture) because by ANY standard, Ashton was absolutely WACK.
Black, white or alien. My wife saw her at training camp and said "Russell. What. The. Bleep?" :? I just shook my head and reminded her "hey, love IS apparently blind as Ray Charles." :lol:

 

[MizzouHawkGal]

I was as excited as the Mrs Wilson of that era.

Obviously she wasn't black enough.

LOL!

I chalked him choosing to be with her to the fact that she must have had AWESOME 'jaw' *wink* (as evident by that infamous picture) because by ANY standard, Ashton was absolutely WACK.
Black, white or alien. My wife saw her at training camp and said "Russell. What. The. Bleep?" :? I just shook my head and reminded her "hey, love IS apparently blind as Ray Charles." :lol:

Obviously. It's all good now because whatever Ciera is or isn't doing seems to be working just fine. Though I must say Ashton s eyes scare me bad. They aren't right.