Russell Wilson’s 31st birthday wish: Wanting to play quarterback at least until he’s 45
Russell Wilson’s birthday wish?
Fourteen more years of playing in the NFL.
The Seahawks’ franchise and Super Bowl-winning quarterback will make his 137th consecutive regular-season and playoff game to begin his career Monday night when Seattle (9-2) hosts the Minnesota Vikings (8-3) at CenturyLink Field.
He wants to have at least 200 more starts after that.
On his 31st birthday, Wilson reiterated what he has said before: that he wants to play until he’s 45 years old.
“I feel young, younger than ever,” he said on his birthday Friday. “Forever young, I guess Jay-Z used to say.
“I feel good. I feel mature.”
Then, he grinned to underline he didn’t mean old.
“I feel young,” he repeated.
Until he’s 45 means Wilson has set a goal of playing 14 more seasons and, at his rate of supreme health, 208 more regular-season games through the 2032.
That’s a lot of birthdays from now.
Put another way: His coach, Pete Carroll, will by 82 by then.
“No, I’ve always wanted to go for 45. That’s kind of just longevity playing,” Wilson said.
“I think, for me, every year is you’re invested to your body. You’re invested into your mind, your soul, everything else. The game. As you go, you get even stronger and you get even better I feel like. Even more wisdom. I think that helps a lot.”
Wilson doesn’t think being on the verge of making the playoffs for the seventh time in his eight seasons, all as Seattle’s starter from game one, plus six Pro Bowls, two Super Bowls and winning the Seahawks’ only NFL championship is even half of what he will accomplish in his career.
If Wilson reaches his goal, he’s only 40 percent of the way through his career.
“I just think that’s what I feel like I can do. I feel like in my eighth season, I feel like I’m just getting started,” he said. “I feel like I haven’t done anything yet. That’s a good feeling. I’m fortunate to be able to play every game and be out there every play.”
He still hasn’t missed an in-season practice, let alone a game, since Carroll made him the Seahawks’ starter in week one of his rookie season of 2012. That was when he was Seattle’s third-round draft choice many around the league said was too short to succeed here.
“I think that, for me, I feel really young. I feel more vibrant than ever,” he said. “I feel fast. I feel strong. My arm feels great. My mind feels better. Heart feels even better than that. I think just everything—we’ve got a great organization, great people around me.
“I think I’ve just invested in my body and my mind, making sure that my mind is ready to go every week and every season. And, in the offseason. When you invest in that stuff and just really—it’s not just financially—it’s really just the time that you spend on stuff. You keep taking care of that care. You keep taking care of it and you keep taking care of what you need to do to be great.
“I think it makes it easy that way.”
Tom Brady has made it look easy.
Brady is the NFL’s current leader in longevity, and championships. He turned 42 in August, six months after he won his sixth Super Bowl for New England. He is 10-1 this season in his 20th year with the Patriots.
Brady has said repeatedly he, too, wants to play at least until he’s 45. His personal trainer told Boston radio station WEEI this month that Brady has told him he thinks he can play until he’s 46 or 47.”
Asked if Brady makes playing to 45 more realistic, Wilson said: “I think so.”
Wilson isn’t totally accurate when he says he’s “always wanted” to play until 45.
“I think for me, I always wanted to play until I was 40. That was kind of like when I first came into the NFL,” he said. “Really, I wanted to play until I was 43 in my head. I want to play 20 years.
“My favorite athlete is Derek Jeter. I just remember when he retired, playing 20 years for the New York Yankees and tipping his hat and everything. That feeling is something that I always–Jetes is probably my favorite guy I’ve ever watched play sports.
“I think that 20 years is kind of in my head, to be honest with you. I’ve got a long ways to go. I’m just eight years in. I feel better than ever. That’s kind of where it started for me. Then, obviously seeing Tom do it and I’ve gotten to know Tom over the past several years and stuff like that. Just talking to him a little bit and seeing where he’s at and everything else.
“I think for me, it’s realistic. I feel great.”
It’s no coincidence Wilson sets 45 as his age goal for his career. That would be an NFL record for a starting quarterback.
After all, Wilson has said many times he wants to do it better than anyone ever has. About just about everything in his football and his life.
Steve DeBerg set an NFL record by starting a game for Atlanta in 1998 at age 44 years and 10 months. He retired after that season.
Vinny Testaverde had a career renewal and started six games for Carolina in 2007 at age 44. He was eight months younger than DeBerg on the date of his last NFL start. He retired after that ‘07 season, with 214 career starts for Tampa Bay, Cleveland, Baltimore, the New York Jets, Dallas, the Jets again and finally the Panthers.
George Blanda was a legendary kicker and quarterback for the Oakland Raiders through his 48th birthday before he retired after the 1975 season. But his last start in the league came when he was 41.
It’s not like Wilson’s production and winning are dropping off at age 31.
Seven months after signing a new contract for an NFL-record $140 million with a $65 million signing bonus that ties him to the Seahawks through 2023, Wilson has 27 total touchdowns with just three interceptions this season. His 24 passing TDs are tied for the league lead with Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson.
Wilson’s 112.1 passer rating is second in the NFL only to the foe he will start against Monday night, Minnesota’s Kirk Cousins (114.8). Wilson is on track to reset his career best in passer rating, better than his 110.9 from last season.
With five games left in the regular season Jackson and Wilson are the leading candidates to be the NFL’s most valuable player.
In year two under offensive coordinator, play caller and fundamental driver Brian Schottenheimer, Wilson has become even more a master at changing plays and protections at the line of scrimmage.
Thanks to Wilson, the Seahawks are rarely run a bad play.
“I think being able to change plays and call different stuff at the line early on (has been huge),” he said. “Over the past several years, I’ve been able to grow in that and do that. I’ve always done 2-minute stuff and just go after it. Go after it and done that. Also, just to be able to put us in any formation in any situation, no matter what it is. Whether it’s 13 personnel and lot of tight ends in the game. If we’ve got a fullback in the game, if it’s all wide outs. Whatever. We can get to a great play, I feel like.”
Schottenheimer’s career has revived since he replaced Darrell Bevell to be Wilson’s play caller before Seattle’s 2018 season.
“We have a special relationship, I speak to that a lot,” Schottenheimer said of he and Wilson. “He and I talk about way more than just football. Talk about families. Talk about a lot of different things. When I got here, I was excited to get to know him and get to work with him.
“He pushes me every day. He says I push him. He pushes me every day. It’s just a really cool vibe. He’s a tireless worker. He energizes me. ...I get excited coming into work knowing I get to push his buttons and challenge him and take a guy that’s got so much talent and help him in some regards.”
Schottenheimer has helped Wilson’s career, as well. The QB has become sharper in fundamentals such as footwork on hand-offs and then play-action passes. He’s gotten the ball out more quickly on time in the pocket in the last two seasons. He’s being more selective on his improvisation, wild (and long) scrambles so common in the first six years of his career.
The result: the two most efficient seasons throwing the ball of Wilson’s football life.
“In terms of how we’ve helped him, it’s basically the philosophy of how we train the quarterbacks,” Schottenheimer said. “Really, there’s two main things. It’s the command of the system, which I think we all recognize that he’s growing in that regard. The things that he does at the line of scrimmage is unbelievable. It doesn’t get probably talked about enough. He solves so many problems at the line of scrimmage with protection changes, run checks, things like that. That’s the first element that we kind of dove into going back a year. Year two helps.
“The second would be fundamentals. Just the footwork, the drops that he bought into day one. I think we got a long way to go, he and I. Love coaching him. I love the fact that as good of a player as he is that he bought in right away to that philosophy of hey, coach me. Hey, teach me what you know. Teach me what you want. We started with those two areas.”
Wilson is all ears. For all the years he wants to continue playing.
“You just want to be a guru of the game and use all your talent, use all your experience, use all of that and then add that into the mental side,” he said.
“I want to be clutch. I want to be the person that can put us in any great situation and at the end of the day, when the game is on the line, go win it.”
For not just years but decades to come.
This story was originally published November 29, 2019 at 6:42 PM.
