Posted on 01/30/2014 4:56:47 PM PST by doug from upland
SEATTLE -- If you want to understand why Russell Wilson might go down as the most important player in the history of the Seattle Seahawks, maybe even the most important athlete to ever ply his trade in the Pacific Northwest, you can't begin with football.
It's better to start with a story of a beautiful five-pound boy, and his imperfect, broken heart.
In the months leading up to the birth of his twin sons, Seattle salesman Dave Quick daydreamed about sports the way so many young, first-time fathers do. When he closed his eyes, he could see the three of them, years from now, laughing and roughhousing in the yard. He imagined teaching the boys how to catch footballs, how to turn double plays, how to shrug it off when you skinned your knee. His parental anxieties were overwhelmed by the dual joys of anticipation and excitement.
Reality, however, is almost always more complicated than daydreams. In a series of sonograms late in his wife Kristina's pregnancy, doctors spotted a few abnormalities they said "concerned them." One of the boys -- the Quicks would name them Harrison and Franklin -- had a heart that wasn't developing properly. Sonograms, they warned the Quicks, can be part science, part guesswork, so it was difficult to say what it might mean when they were born. Doctors urged Dave and Kristina to focus on the positive, not the unknown.
(Excerpt) Read more at espn.go.com ...
Thanks for posting - I missed this article.
He really is a great guy!
He also has a passing camp for kids - - video here:
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-super-bowl-features/0ap2000000319956/Russell-Wilson-No-Time-for-Sleep-Episode-1
I’ll be wearing my #3 jersey to work tomorrow and to a SB Party on Sunday. My 11 y.o. nephew will be wearing his #3 SB jersey, too.
Go Hawks!!
It’s not about the loudness of the stadium. Seattle fans purposely raised the decibel level when opposing teams are in the huddle, so much so that they have to learn to lip read.
Other teams’ fans should do that to the Seahawks. Then we’ll see how good they actually are. Meanwhile, nothing can convince me that they deserve to be in the Superbowl. Maybe they do. But I can’t believe it since they tilt the playing field.
Go Broncs!!!!
Ummmm, perhaps you are not a diehard football fan. All home fans make noise when the opposition is on offense. Unless the team sucks and the fans have no enthusiasm.
Probably not diehard, dfu.
Geaux Saints. A fan because my grandma lived in NOLA and it remains the home of my heart. PLUS, Brees is intelligent, gentlemanly, and yummy to look at. AND those rotten Seahawks beat the Saints unfairly and unsquarely, imo, because of that damnable noise.
There was that email from the Forty-Niner’s office to their season ticket holders on how and when to cheer. Even had some example cheers for them. That was pretty funny.
And from what I can tell, around the league a lot of these players do stuff in their playing towns, and back in their hometowns too. Often doing charity work with players from other teams. Part of it might be their contracts, but I think a lot of them really do see how they were able to get out of some bad places and circumstances, and want to show the kids how to do the same.
Richard Sherman and Marshawn Lynch each have their own football camps back in their former hometowns (Compton and Oakland, respectivly) every year for the local kids. I’m guessing lots of others do as well.
It was apparent during his career at State that he was not only a great QB, but was also an outstanding person who even at that young age was "the real deal". Although the QB that took his place was also very good (Mike Glennon who is now the starter for Tampa Bay), I never quite forgave the coach (now departed) for letting Russell Wilson go! Although it is getting harder and harder to own up to it, I am a long-time Dallas fan and I was hoping Jerry would be smart enough to draft Russell, but saying Jerry could do a smart thing is an oxymoron! I also love Peyton Manning and would like to see him win another Super Bowl at the age of 37 and Russell will most likely have another shot at it, but I can not see myself rooting against Russell!!
Lots of noise in the Dome that has affected the visiting teams.
http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2009/11/new_orleans_saints_fans_send_d.html
NFL’s Colin Kaepernick vs. Russell Wilson: A Tale of Two Instagrams
http://mashable.com/2014/01/13/kaepernick-wilson-instagram-comparison/
(Russell) Wilson told a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter about how faith helped him deal with the death of his father, Harrison Wilson III in 2010, who had been suffering from diabetes and several strokes.
The date was June 9, the day after Russell Wilson was drafted by the (Major League Baseball team, the Colorado) Rockies. He went to share the news with his father.
"My grandmother and I went there and we started praying," Russell Wilson said. "He was non-responsive."
Undaunted, Russell Wilson told his father about being drafted by the Rockies. He eventually stepped out into the hallway, along with his grandmother and mother.
Mother and son stepped aside and started talking privately, for about 15 minutes.
Russell Wilson finished the story:
"We were just standing there and all of a sudden it clicked," he said. "The Holy Spirit was telling us to go in there. So we went in the room and - this is the crazy part.
"I walked in and I could see the (EKG) monitor. As soon as I walked in the door I said: 'Hey, Dad, I'm here.'
"As soon as I said that, the line went flat. That's how I knew the Lord is real. I knew my dad heard me and he could hear everything I was telling him about how I got drafted. He was waiting for something great to happen.
"That's how I knew he went in peace. He is here watching me right now."
The faith and football of Russell Wilson
Teddy Bear the Porcupine Predicts the Winner of Super Bowl 48
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xasp7prjXOM
In case you haven’t seen it, I thought this was a great article (interview with Russell’s grandfather). Really an amazing and motivated family. I learned a lot I didn’t know, such as Russell’s dad was an attorney and drafted by the Colorado Rockies right before he died. It’s easy to see where he gets his motivation and values!
My screen got a bit misty in reading this.
GO WILSON AND HAWKS!!!
I’ll readily admit I’m a BIG Seahawks fan - - have been going to the games for years, including in the Kingdome.
Are we loud — heck yes! And, I might add, proud of it - we love our Seahawks and love to root for them. We were yelling in the Kingdome, including years they weren’t doing very well (IIRC people were talking about the loudness back in those days, too). Is it loud in other stadiums in which we play, of course it is and the Hawks have to deal with it.
There was a couple from San Fancisco that was on a local radio station here that was ticked that SF lost to the Hawks (regular season, not play-off game). They said it was all due to the noise and that SF would have won if not for the noise because SF was a much better team. I don’t recall if it was the following week or the one after, but SF played at home and lost. The radio station had the SF couple on again and asked if the noise in Seattle was a factor and SF is the best team, why didn’t they win at home.
I’m proudly wearing my #3 Wilson jersey today and Sunday.
I so hope the Seahawks win, but if they don’t, we’ll still be proud of them and yell loud and proud at the games next year.
GO HAWKS!!!
A true fan, yes you are. No argument.
Go Broncs!!!
Bronco’s were simply humiliated today by the awesome Seahawks defense. Manning had never seen a defense like this before. He was helpless.
You're absolutely right. Hat's off to the Hawks.
The minute they ran out onto the field yesterday, I KNEW they would win. Very strong intuition, that whomp to the chest, voice in the ear kind of certainty. Shouldda placed a bet before the game began but I had no idea how to do that. Guess I should learn :)
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