I was so happy that we got Flynn, because it gave us an opportunity to grow with a younger qb and I started to see a future for this team. Then in the draft, they drafted another qb in the third round, this Russell Wilson guy. I though for sure this meant the end of Jackson's time here and that we'd have a Flynn/Wilson combo, with Flynn starting and our 3rd rounder here to back him up. I just hoped he'd show enough to earn that backup spot.
Then came mini camps. Every report seemed to have Wilson looking really good, so I was even more excited. This Flynn/Wilson thing was going to work out.
Then came preseason. We got to see Wilson play. He sure didn't look like a third round rookie to me, and my excitement changed a little. I started to think "what's going on here? Is this Wilson kid the real deal or is he just one of those guys who lights it up in pre season, but as a lot of rookies do, would falter in the regular season? So I kept watching and in Kansas City, I got really excited for him, but I still wondered, because I thought that KC didn't look as good as people were claiming they were. I thought that it could be a fluke.
He was named the starter, I was torn on this, but trusted that the coaches knew what they were doing. The season started and you could just tell that he wasn't the same guy, it didn't look like he was quite as ready as we'd hoped, but you also had to notice that the offense just didn't seem to have any fire and as we found out, that was mainly due to Pete and Co. holding back to develop the rookie properly. It was very frustrating to watch, since a playoff berth seemed to be a good goal for the season.
Funny enough, week after week, there continued to be struggles, but there was improvement. Every week it seemed that Pete would call out a certain facet of the offense and say they were going to work on that, and low and behold, the next game there was marked improvement in that area of the game. This happened week in and week out.
The first half of the season had it's ups and downs, but this Wilson, he kept plugging along. Everyone could see the work he was putting in during the week and I could see how it was paying dividends each game. This is what won me over. Wilson works his butt off, he's a serious worker and a student of the game. He pushes his teammates to be better every week. He does more than he's asked of him because he wants to be the best. I have grown to love this guy more and more every week of this season.
The topper for me, was when I started to hear announcers for our game, compare him to Peyton Manning in his work ethic, and it wasn't just hyperbole. One thing that always stood out to me about Peyton Manning was how business like he was. It didn't matter if they were winning by 20 or down by 20, he always had the same attitude. When the game was over, he always goes right to film study to prepare for his next opponent.
Russel Wilson will never be 6'5", but he plays like it. He does the work, is a consumate professional, takes the team around him and makes them work harder and be better players for it, and to top it all off, when you get off the field, he's just as great a guy in the community.
There really aren't enough good things to cover how great a player he'll be and how great a person he already is.
I think my man crush is official