10 years into his NFL career, Russell Wilson has checked just about every box you’d expect from a Hall of Fame quarterback. While he hasn’t gotten an MVP vote yet (shame!), Wilson has made seven Pro Bowl appearances, been to the playoffs eight times and won a Super Bowl. A lot of players would be more than proud to finish their career with that list of accomplishments.
To hear Wilson tell it, he’s only about halfway through his journey, though. Spreaking on the AP Pro Football Podcast, Wilson said he wants to play 20+ years and own a team, per Rob Maaddi.
“That’s why I want to play 20-plus years. I think the other part that you learn about yourself is to have patience. At the same time, you have to have drive. I think that’s such a critical part. The third thing is (having) unrelenting confidence. You don’t want to mistake that with arrogance. It’s strictly confidence in what you do and how you do it and you’ve done it before, and we’ll do it again and with great faith, all things are possible, and that’s really what’s been very evident to me in my journey.”
You can’t fault Wilson for his ambition, but playing any sport professionally for 20 years is an extremely rare occurence – especially one as physically punishing as football.
Most great quarterbacks never make it that long before injuries and attrition bring their careers to a close. Peyton Manning and Dan Marino made it 17 years, while Joe Montana played 15.
It has been done, though. Tom Brady is currently in his 22nd season in the league. Drew Brees played exactly 20 years, as did Brett Favre. Time will tell if Wilson can join this group. Either way, he should be in the conversation among the greatest QBs of his generation.
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