Russell Wilson has taken the black and yellow hearts of Steelers fans by storm. The new quarterback in Pittsburgh missed the start of the season due to a calf injury, but he has now made his mark on more than just the game for the Men of Steel.
It should be known that DangeRuss, his social media username, is a game changer on the field. And word has also gotten around that he is a special type of person with an extra big heart.
But you probably didn’t know some of the following things about the NFL veteran.
1. Russell Wilson, the baseball star
Russell Wilson has been a quarterback in the NFL since 2012. It was always clear to the American that he would one day become a professional athlete. But his career could have taken a different direction. Wilson was already a gifted baseball player in high school and would probably have made it into the US professional league Major League Baseball (MLB) early on.
In 2007, after he had just graduated from high school, the Baltimore Orioles selected him in the draft – but Wilson decided to go to college. At North Carolina State University he continued to play successfully both football and baseball at the second baseman position.
On June 8, 2010, while still studying, Russell Wilson was selected again in the MLB Draft. The Colorado Rockies drafted him in the fourth round and Wilson then played 32 games in the minor leagues, the MLB’s junior leagues. After two seasons, Russell moved to the University of Wisconsin and from then on concentrated fully on his football career. A commitment that enabled him to enter the NFL in 2012.
But even as a professional football player, Wilson was still courted by baseball teams. The Texas Rangers signed him in 2013 and the then newly crowned Super Bowl champion actually trained with the team in 2014 and 2015, where he wore jersey number 3 – just like in the NFL. Wilson was officially under contract with the Rangers for around five years, but was never used in an MLB game. In 2018, the Texas team traded him to the New York Yankees. In doing so, Russell Wilson fulfilled a childhood dream and fulfilled a promise to his father that he would one day play for the legendary Yankees. And indeed: On March 2, 2018, he made his debut as a pinch hitter (a kind of reserve player) for Yankees legend Aaron Judge.
“I will forever remember hearing them call my name and walking onto the field,” Wilson said after playing for his childhood favorite team. “This is not a PR stunt for me. Anyone who knows me knows that baseball is part of my DNA,” he clarified.
2. “Why not you?” – more than a guiding principle
“Why not you?” – Russell Wilson lives and works according to this motto. Even as a child, these words had great meaning for today’s NFL star, because his father, who died in 2010, raised his son according to these principles. He should convey to young Russell that he can achieve whatever he sets his mind to, despite any circumstances – no matter how big and unattainable those goals may seem.
