Athletes are taught to play for the name on the front of their jersey, not the name on the back. However, nobody said anything about the name on their shoes, and Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson has had the opportunity to do exactly that.
Wilson certainly isn’t wearing the Nike Dangeruss shoes on the field while he crafts his MVP-caliber season, but having a Nike shoe still is one of the most surreal experiences of his life.
“It’s been a cool experience, you think about young kids all over the world, all over the country that you want to be able to impact and have an influence on,” Wilson said. “Hopefully they look up to you, hopefully they want to be like you, hopefully they want to be better than you. That’s what I want to inspire in everybody, why not them, why not you?”
Wilson sees all that in the shoe named after him. His ability on the field has allowed him to catapult himself into an influential spot and his shoe is just another positive in the success he’s had in his career.
It means more if people wear the shoe, which according to Wilson has not been a problem.
“People loved them,” Wilson said. “It’s always cool when you have your own shoe, people shout you out. With social nowadays, you get a lot of tweets and Instagram posts, I get a lot of those and try to shout some people out occasionally. It’s always cool when fans recognize all the hard work you put into everything.”
That hard work has manifested itself to success in a career where he was seen as the underdog for so long.
In 2019, the hard work has helped Wilson not only reach MVP numbers, but also lead his team to a 9-2 record.
Week 13 brings another tough test against the Vikings, and a chance to take over the number one seed in the NFC West.
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