Full interview: Russell Wilson explains why he wanted to stay with Seahawks
Apr 26, 2019, 2:12 PM | Updated: 2:22 pm
At Seahawks headquarters in Renton, Thursday was the first day of the NFL Draft. But for Russell Wilson, it was just another day at work.
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That’s why when Wilson sat down with 710 ESPN Seattle’s Bob Stelton, Danny O’Neil and Dave Wyman in the afternoon ahead of the draft, he was dressed like he was getting ready for a game on Sunday.
Wilson spent a half-hour with the 710 trio for an in-depth interview, covering his reasoning for a deadline on his contract extension negotiations, why he never wanted to leave Seattle, his memories of his own draft day and more.
Below are a few highlights from the interview. You can also listen to an audio-only podcast of the interview in the player embedded at the bottom of this post or download it at this link.
Staying in Seattle
“I think that people saying I didn’t want to be in Seattle was probably the craziest thing. I’ve always wanted to be in Seattle. We know where our kids are going to school and all that stuff. … To be honest with you, that was, what, three months of it? Imagine if we took it all the way to the end of July or if it didn’t work out, then how long it would have gone if we didn’t set the deadline. … That’s where it gets heavy for for everyone involved.”
His mentality during contract negotiations
“I didn’t want to focus on all the other things. I wanted to be able to come here and if it wasn’t going to happen, it wasn’t going to happen. I was just gonna keep my head down and keep working like I always try to do. The situation doesn’t change in terms of my mentality. Let’s get the business part out the way so we can just focus on what we need to do and that’s win another championship.”
Does Russell Wilson pay attention to the draft now?
“I do my research, I pay attention. I know who’s who. … I look on the internet, I watch guys on TV during the season. You see a guy make that catch or make that throw or make that tackle or whatever it is, you’re like, ‘He’s pretty good.’ … What I really love about this time, and I think that this is the reality of this, is that the great players, doesn’t matter where they’re selected, it doesn’t matter what the analysts say or what everybody else says. We’ll see when they get on the football field.”
