Seattle Seahawks superfan Brett Davern dishes on how former Seahawks seem to feel about the #LetRussCook version of Russell Wilson.
Before Russell Wilson basked in the Seattle sunshine and spread his wings during pregame warmups, there was a fair amount of discussion on how the Seahawks would welcome his return home.
Current Seahawks players made it abundantly clear that they will always root for Wilson, no matter the team.
“I think that Seattle should cheer him on for everything that he’s done — help bring a Super Bowl to this community, all that different type of stuff. He’s an amazing guy,” Tyler Lockett said before the game.
DK Metcalf met up with Russ following the win to swap signed jerseys.
“Greatest player I ever played with,” Metcalf wrote.
Seahawks fans, on the other hand, preferred to let Russ cook for abandoning Seattle. For the first time in his ten-year NFL career, Wilson waltzed onto Lumen Field welcomed by boos.
A conversation with Seahawks superfan Brett Davern, who co-hosts the “Take 12” podcast alongside Lofa Tatupu, sheds light on why Wilson returned to Seattle and saw an anti-hero’s welcome.
“As a Seahawks fan, I understand and understood the way that it ended with Russ. But since then, and some of the comments and then some of the sorts of things you see, it’s only natural as a fan to sort of pontificate on hidden motivations or whatever.
I think a lot of it has really rubbed me the wrong way, I’ll say, from us. And sort of his online presence, the alter ego stuff, the sort of cheesy stuff he does sort of just bugs me, irks me.
There’s a definite difference between the #GoHawks #SeparationIsInThePreparation #WhyNotUs Russ and the #LetRussCook Russ. There’s pre-‘Let Russ Cook’ and then there’s Russ after that.”
When asked to elaborate on why Seattle is no longer keen on Wilson, Davern reveals what many within the PNW have known for years: the Russell Wilson drama has slowly been boiling ever since that fateful moment on the 3-yard line.
“I think that a lot of what’s gone on started on the 3-yard line against the Patriots between Russ and fans like me. And I think it’s sort of deteriorated from there.
No matter how many personal stats and records — because come on, you can’t deny the guy’s ability. You can’t deny the completion percentage. You can’t deny the career passer rating. He’s won us the most games in franchise history as a quarterback, right? I mean, like there’s no denying that kind of stuff.
But when you’re not getting very far in the playoffs year after year, you’re having these great regular seasons but then you go out early in the playoffs, you hold onto the ball a little bit too long sometimes on third down, people are seeing open receivers on the game film and fans think they’re coaches. It just kind of starts to gnaw at you a little bit. Getting the big contracts but not really seeing the results as far as getting far in the playoffs. It starts to rub people the wrong way.
And then come on, what was it, the week before he got traded, he was saying he wanted to be a Seahawk for the next 20 years? And then it comes out that he’s seeking out that trade… That hurts.”
Brett Davern dishes on how Seattle really feels about Russell Wilson after Seahawks departure
The scorn isn’t limited to those in the stands: former players weren’t a fan of the move, either. As Davern noted, there is a distinct feeling of betrayal with Wilson compared to the scores of Seattle players who have followed careers elsewhere. Wilson said he planned on staying while he was secretly plotting a transfer, and while it’s the trend for quarterbacks to rake in millions, Wilson always could have taken a more team-friendly deal the way Tom Brady has throughout his career.
Davern didn’t want to speak for any retired players, but he did say that he has spoken with many players about the way Russ left things.
“As far as former players, what I would say is every former player we’ve had on our show since Russ has left, I’ve asked them about their feelings on it,” Davern said.
That includes K.J. Wright, who spoke with the “Take 12” pod after Wilson shaded the Seahawks at the Broncos’ kickoff luncheon this August. Wilson said that part of the appeal to play in Denver was that he wouldn’t have to carry the team on his shoulders alone.
When Wilson was booed by 12s during Monday Night Football, Richard Sherman and Doug Baldwin Jr. took to Twitter to express their emotions with spot-on GIFs. Shelby Harris, a former Bronco with his own axe grind, said following the game: “I got one thing to say. Let’s ride.”
Harris will have to link up with Tatupu and Davern for one of their “Let’s Riiide” t-shirts — if he hasn’t already.
“There’s a box of shirts on its way to Seattle, and a lot of them have been earmarked by Lofa for a lot of former players,” Davern revealed. “Basically, I’ll just say everybody wants one.”