Seahawks’ Russell Wilson going home again to play at Washington full of memories
Russell Wilson’s going home again.
Not exactly home home. Richmond, Virginia, doesn’t have an NFL team. The closest club is in Washington. It’s a two-hour drive north up Interstate 95 from where Wilson grew up.
His Seahawks (9-4) game Sunday at NFC East-leading Washington (6-7) is as close to a home game Seattle’s franchise quarterback gets on the road.
“Any time I get to go back East, it’s a blessing,” the 32-year-old Wilson said Thursday. “I’ve got family in New York. I’ve got family that live in the D.C. area. Obviously in Virginia, a lot of family and friends that live all up and down the coast there.”
Wilson has played two games at FedEx Field, Washington’s stadium in Landover, Maryland, just outside the District of Columbia. He’s won them both.
The first was his first of 15 playoff starts in his first eight seasons leading the Seahawks.
On Jan. 6, 2013, Wilson faced Robert Griffin III, his counterpart as Washington’s rookie quarterback. Griffin was the 2011 Heisman Trophy winner drafted second overall by Washington. The same year, Wilson went three rounds later to Seattle. On chewed-up grass and painted sand at FedEx Field, Griffin’s knee buckled. Early in the fourth quarter, he left the game injured. Meanwhile, Wilson completed 15 of 26 passes for 187 yards and a touchdown to Michael Robinson. Wilson also ran for 67 yards, Marshawn Lynch ran for 132 and Seattle scored the final 24 points to beat Washington 24-14 in a NFC wild-card game.
Wilson had his first postseason win in his first playoff game, on his way to the Super Bowl title the next year to end his second NFL season.
“I go back to that playoff game in (the) 2012 (season) and how many of my family and friends were there,” Wilson said Thursday. “It was a really cool moment.”
Wilson, who was born in Cincinnati then moved to Richmond with his family when he was young, also beat Washington by 10 points on its home field Oct. 6, 2014. He completed 18 of 24 throws for 201 yards and touchdowns to Jermaine Kearse and to Lynch. Wilson also ran wild for 122 yards and a score that put the Seahawks ahead 17-0 in the second quarter of their 27-17 win.
In his two times returning “home” in the NFL, Wilson is 2-0 while completing 67% of his passes, with three touchdowns, no interceptions, a passer rating of 109.4 and 189 yards rushing. That’s 577 total yards by Wilson in two games at Washington.
“I think it’s always really cool to go back home. It’s a blessing,” he said.
Wilson is also well aware the Washington Football Team has moved its training camp to Richmond, right behind the Science Museum of Virginia along West Leigh Street, since he grew up there.
“A lot of my family and friends go to the training camp,” he said.
“Yeah, it always means the world to me to go back home.”
Wilson starred at The Collegiate School in Richmond, where he’s said he was one of the few Black students. When he was a high school freshman there, across town at Hermitage High School a 240-pound star tight end was starring.
Duane Brown was about the same age as Wilson’s older brother, Harrison. Harrison was like his dad of the same name, a wide receiver. The younger Harrison Wilson became a player for the hometown University of Richmond.
Brown was a standout at Virginia Tech. Now 35, Brown is Wilson’s best offensive lineman, a Pro Bowl veteran left tackle, his backside protector on the Seahawks.
“I’ve always heard of the legend of Duane Brown,” Wilson said, smiling. “He went to Hermitage High. I was right down the street. So growing up playing and all that stuff, I kind of always knew what kind of player he was. Went to Virginia Tech and all that.
“So I always knew who Duane was.”
And Wilson always knows where Washington is as Richmond as the NFL gets.
History, and home, says he may have another big game there Sunday.
“You always remember that time you get drafted. You always remember that time you hit your first home run,” Wilson said. “You remember that time you threw your first NFL touchdown pass.
“You remember the time you won your first playoff game. That was a special moment, obviously, for this organization, to go on the road, to win at Washington, in a tough environment. I think there was something like 90-something thousand people there. I remember that. ....
“That was one of those moments, you know. Your whole life you dream about playing your first playoff game. You dream about strapping it up and laces your cleats up and going out there—and hopefully win. ...That was one of those moments, for sure. It was such a blessing, when I think back to it.
“It feels like it was yesterday. It feels like I’m just getting started.”
This story was originally published December 18, 2020 at 7:22 AM.
