The great debate still roils on about Russell Wilson’s cool factor or lack thereof in the popular opinion of football fans and general pop culture enthusiasts. Now the way he pulled up to training camp in his new home stadium in Denver has people convinced that Wilson is out of luck in the suave department.
On Tuesday, the one-time Super Bowl winner Wilson showed up at Sports Authority Field at Mile High to the Broncos’ training camp facility in an enormous truck that looked straight out of a Mad Max movie. For Wilson, a Virginia native that spent his entire NFL career in the Pacific Northwest as the quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks, perhaps he overestimated Denver’s snowy reputation.
Let's ride.
(via @DangeRussWilson) pic.twitter.com/qjK1VkpKct
— NFL (@NFL) July 26, 2022
However, it is summer nationwide. For a diminutive QB standing at 5 feet 10, the ride seemed like he was overcompensating for a potential shortcoming to some.
Still, fans were quick to point out that Wilson showed up to camp, his first with the organization, wearing his own jersey. Whether in poor taste or was trying to signal the new era of the Denver Broncos, Wilson’s intentions are always seen as just short of the awesome threshold.
Although Wilson has been a media darling since his breakout Super Bowl-winning year in 2014, two years after he entered the NFL, he has been a fan favorite for the NFL. His likable guy persona shone through, and seemed like the new role model for the NFL marketing to rally around.
Then he stepped up many levels in the public’s minds when he aligned with R&B singer Ciara, whom he eventually married in 2016. The fact that Ciara married Wilson after a very public romance with Wilson’s exact opposite in trap rapper Future gave him cool points by proxy.
— Raider Dave (@LVRaider_81) July 26, 2022
However, many still questioned his “gangsta,” with some of his football peers even making it a point of actual contention. On an episode of “The Pivot Podcast,” co-host Channing Crowder, the former Miami Dolphins linebacker, took aim at Wilson, questioning why Ciara would be with him versus the ultimate in commercial trap cool in Future.
“Russell and Ciara. Yeah, if Russell ain’t have that bread, Ciara ain’t going to be with him,” Crowder said in disbelief. “Russell’s square, Russell’s square, Russell’s square, Ciara, she has a good situation, but you don’t leave Future and get with Russell Wilson.
“It’s a type; everybody has a type. You don’t leave Future and get with Russell Wilson; he’s so godd-mn square, and I love him on the field. He’s a square; he’s a f**king square.”
— Cody Lee (@HartzheimCody) July 26, 2022
Crowder went even further.
“Goofball? You want to get with goofballs, huh,” Crowder said and paused.
Now Wilson is in a division where he will face other QBs that will challenge him in offensive prowess and pre-established dope points. In a division with the likes of Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes, Los Angeles Chargers’ Justin Herbert, and Las Vegas Raiders’ Derek Carr and Wilson is looking like a regular Joe Blow in a sea of blue-eyed soul.
The great debate is afoot and Russell Wilson now has to manage winning games along with winning over bros for his apparent lack of the “man-you-want-to-be factor.”
Until Ciara shows up.
