Russell Wilson has been the quarterback of the Seattle Seahawks for eight years and counting, and each time he has made a public statement of any kind, he has done so in that capacity.
On Wednesday, more than a week after the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minnesota, Wilson spoke under a far more powerful title: a black man in America.
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“Some of this police brutality is staggering,” Wilson said on a virtual conference call with local media. “Honestly, it’s not something I understand fully. It’s pretty emotional to watch some of the videos. Even in Seattle, watching some of the things that I have been, it’s pretty heavy.”
Wilson, 31, is not necessarily obligated to speak on issues of race, systemic oppression or social injustice. Known for his consistent political correctness in public, Wilson chose to exclusively talk about the plight of the black American during his 30-minute session with the media. “It’s important that we understand me being African American, being black, is a real thing in America,” Wilson said during an emotional opening statement. “The history, the pain in my own family, personally. My great-great-grandparents were slaves.”
Wilson was born in the Midwest and moved with his family to Virginia early in his childhood. Wilson’s late father, Harrison, was a lawyer. His mother, Tammy, was a nurse. They attended a black church. Russell went to the private Collegiate School in Richmond, where he played multiple sports with primarily white teammates.
“I was around a lot of different socioeconomic statuses and races,” Wilson said. “Experienced a lot.”
Among those experiences was The Talk, a tragically common ritual for black parents, who have to instruct their children how to behave — and how not to behave — when encountering law enforcement. The instructions themselves vary — be polite, keep your hands visible, don’t make any sudden movements — but the gist is consistent: Don’t do anything to get yourself killed by the police. It’s imperative to arm children with the recipe for survival.
“I remember my dad telling me all the time, every time I get out at the gas station, ‘Don’t put your hands in your pockets.’ That was a real reality,” Wilson said, adding that he didn’t fully understand the command as a child but grew to comprehend it as a teenager. “That my dad even had to tell me that is a problem. Going into the grocery store, the assumption someone may accuse you of stealing or something like that is a terrifying thought.”
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Wilson spoke of an event that happened in California not long after winning Super Bowl 48 in February 2014. Wilson recalled being profiled by another restaurant patron. It was at that moment that he thought back to his father’s words.
Nine years into his NFL career, Wilson has become a highly respected businessman, husband, father, stepfather, role model, friend and teammate. He’s a superstar with the sort of success many would assume makes him impervious to racial discrimination. And even though his career hadn’t entirely taken off when he led Seattle to football’s mountaintop in his second season, a Super Bowl-winning quarterback is hardly considered a potential victim of racial injustice.
But what happened to Wilson in that moment illustrates a sobering reality for black men in America: No level of success can erase your blackness. No amount of fame and fortune disguises the first thing people see when they see you: that you are black.
“Man, this is really still real. I’m on the West Coast; this is really real right now,” Wilson recalled thinking at the time. “That really pained my heart.”
Heeding additional advice from his father, Wilson kept a level head and avoided an altercation. But the snapshot of that moment illustrated the significance of the warning issued to him by his father. “In that little glimpse, even though it didn’t turn into something … what if it did?” Wilson said. “That’s the sad part about this, what we’re talking about.”
One of Wilson’s role models in the league is Saints quarterback Drew Brees. On Wednesday morning, in response to a question from Yahoo Finance about police brutality, NFL player protests and his role in all of this when football resumes, Brees said, “I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country.”
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Brees’ comments, which have been heavily criticized, illustrate the distortion of the message that Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner cautioned against on Monday. When asked about how Brees characterized the protests started by then-49ers QB Colin Kaepernick in 2016, Wilson spoke in broad terms but made sure to stick to the message. He asserted that Kaepernick’s peaceful protest was meant to be a symbol of the oppressed and called standing up for black people “the right thing” to do, even though people might have taken it the wrong way.
“(Kaepernick) stood up for something that’s way more greater than football — that’s peoples’ lives,” Wilson said. “He was standing up for his kids’ lives one day, he was standing up for people who have come and gone and standing up for everybody else’s kids who are African American.”
Wilson’s ex-teammate Doug Baldwin had a harsher critique of Brees on Twitter.
.@drewbrees the reason my children have to live in a world that won’t empathize with their pain is because people like you are raising your children to perpetuate the cycle. Drew, you are the problem.
— Douglas Baldwin Jr 🧢 (@DougBaldwinJr) June 3, 2020
The Seahawks have had team meetings about police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement dating back to the 2016 season, and those discussions have continued in the wake of Floyd’s death. Wilson had no interest in talking about football Wednesday, and knowing how the Seahawks operate, coach Pete Carroll will leave the floor open for anyone who wants to use the team’s online meetings to speak during this time of nationwide unrest.
Wilson said he shared the story of The Talk with his teammates, and there are plenty of other black players on the roster who can recall a similar conversation. Wilson will likely continue to participate in the conversations with his teammates and coaches, both as their quarterback and team captain.
What we should always remember, though, is that he’s also doing so as a black man in America.
(Photo: Fox via Getty Images)
