Reporter Has One Huge Question about Russell Wilson

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson had a bad rap in Denver and Seattle for lacking leadership and not being a good teammate. Nothing of such has been showcased in Pittsburgh so far, however.

Wilson sat next to Steelers offensive lineman Spencer Anderson at the Penguins game last month. Anderson was a seventh-round pick out of Maryland last year and is not a marquee name on the roster. That action by Wilson is a far cry from the reports out of Denver that he was out of touch and didn’t relate with anyone in the locker room. And Albert Breer has significant questions about how that will mesh.

“One of the issues Russell’s had over the years is with relating to his teammates,” Breer said on The Herd. “I think one of the superpowers of a lot of the truly great quarterbacks is they can be the celebrity over here and then over here be a normal guy in the locker room. That’s really who they are, and that’s how they come off to their teammates [as]. The ability to be a regular guy is something that Russell’s never really had which I think has caused him problems with some of these teams.”

Wilson also reportedly has an incredible work ethic. Mark Kaboly of The Athletic said it rivals former Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown’s.

“One team source said the Steelers haven’t seen somebody work as hard as Wilson at his craft since the early days of Antonio Brown, who was notorious for the effort he put into his game to become the best wide receiver in the league for a span of more than five years,” Kaboly wrote.

Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth gave Wilson props for organizing an offseason workout in San Diego. Freiermuth, Calvin Austin III and Van Jefferson attended the workout.

“That was big time,” Freiermuth told Teresa Varley of Steelers.com. “He invited us to San Diego and a couple of us went there and got to work out and run routes and get to know each other. That’s big. The relationship on the field is big but building that off field is a big thing. It’s that trust you can bring over to the football field.”

Wilson’s legacy certainly took a big hit in Denver. His play was not up to par with the hefty salary that Denver was dishing out, but his image as a locker room leader was also something that was brought into question during the end of tenure in Seattle and into his stay in Denver.  Multiple sources told Alan Saunders of Steelers Now that by the end of the Wilson’s tenure in Denver, the relationship with Broncos head coach Sean Payton had become toxic.

But was all of that Wilson’s fault, or was he just a part of a few bad situations? In conversations with several sources close to the Broncos and former teammates of Wilson’s, no one was willing to offer a cogent criticism of the 35-year-old quarterback’s behavior.

“All of that is overblown,” one Broncos source told Steelers Now. “He’s a great guy and great in the locker room.”

Another league source said that while the personalities between Payton and Wilson were “oil and water,” it was more of a bad fit between the two than any specific fault of one or the other. A player who had been a younger teammate of Wilson’s in Seattle credited his leadership and mentorship during his time there.