Russell Wilson’s exit from Denver was one of the biggest stories of the offseason. The quarterback has revisited what led him to the door.
Russell Wilson’s story thus far has been one of peaks and valleys. With the Seahawks, Wilson’s time peaked early with back-to-back Super Bowl appearances.
However, following that, his team found itself as perennial playoff contenders, but never Super Bowl contenders.
Then, after nearly a decade of coming up short in the playoffs, the Seahawks decided to call it an era, shipping Wilson to the Denver Broncos. With Denver, Wilson went on to finish under .500 in both seasons, although he did have an impressive run near the end of his time in Denver.
However, what happened during that run was one of the most shocking stories of the year in the NFL.
Russell Wilson tells story of Broncos threatening to bench him
Speaking in an interview with ESPN that was posted online, Russell Wilson claimed that he was injured in his first season with the Broncos, but things came to a head just before the Monday Night Football game against the Buffalo Bills.
“The truth was, I got to Denver and played my first year and had a torn lat and trying to play through the whole season with my whole lat and my right side torn.
“And last year I played well. When everything happened, it was one of those things for me that I remember going into that Buffalo game and I was told I was going to be benched for the next nine games if I didn’t change my injury guarantee.
“And I said, all right, I’m just going to play my best ball and not worry about the distractions or anything else and keep it internal and just play ball. And I knew that may be the end,” he said.
The Broncos played the Bills in Week 10, winning the contest 24-22, per Pro Football Reference.
Wilson went on to get the team to a 7-8 record before he was benched following a Week 16 loss to the Houston Texans.
Since Wilson’s benching, the Broncos have gone on to maintain a .500 record, going 6-6 without him, and quarterback Bo Nix has been earning some praise.
Russell Wilson since leaving Denver
The quarterback has gone on to join the Pittsburgh Steelers. Initially giving an unimpressive preseason debut, Wilson slipped into an injury and subsequent recovery for the first chunk of the season.
He eventually went on to take over for Justin Fields and has since gone 3-0, throwing for six touchdowns and one interception. One analyst even compared Wilson’s performances to his old Seahawks team.
If there was one knock on his play this season, it is his completion percentage. Wilson has completed just 58.1% of his throws, leaving plenty of room for improvement.
However, with the team winning games, Wilson appears on track to getting his first playoff appearance since he was with the Seattle Seahawks, even if Stephen A. Smith expressed his doubts over the team’s chances of post-season success.
