Russell Wilson has taken his wristband-inspired beef with Pete Carroll to a whole new level during a Denver Broncos press conference.
While in Seattle, Russell Wilson was no stranger to one certain descriptor: corny. Everything from “Mr. Unlimited” to imitating run-throughs came across as a little corny, but it was unapologetically Russ, so it seemed.
However, Wilson’s Denver rebrand has had former NFL players and analysts alike tacking on a new, more harmful descriptor: fake. From the leaked “Let’s Ride” greenscreen to touting high knees on the way to London, everything Wilson does has come across as less genuine and more calculated to align with his brand. Clearly, that hasn’t worked out well, with everyone from T.J. Lang to former Seahawks players questioning Wilson’s intent.
At last, Russ has done something to let us know that things do get under his skin, and he’s conjured up a perfectly petty response to a beef stewing in Seattle. Recently, Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll took an unnecessary dig at Wilson while complimenting quarterback Geno Smith.
“If you notice, Geno’s going off the wristband, and that’s a big help. It’s smoothed things out, sped things up, cleaned things up. And that’s part of it, too. We never did that before. There was resistance to that, so we didn’t do that before.”
Wilson was asked about Carroll’s comments during a Nov. 9 press conference, and the Broncos quarterback seemed to be caught off-guard by Carroll’s comment.
That was a good thing, because Wilson smiled while firing back a missive of his own.
“Won a lot of games. Didn’t know winning or losing mattered whether you wore a wristband.”
Since then, “wristband-gate” has recorded a few wins for Wilson: he wore one in the Nov. 13 loss to the Titans, followed by a press conference appearance with the infamous wristband. It’s a side of Russell that football fans haven’t seen during the decade of his career, and everyone seems to be a fan of seeing his scathing sense of humor.
Could Seahawks wristband-gate be the rebrand Russell Wilson needed all along?
Wilson’s comments off-script, and his subsequent use of the wristband, could have been the best thing for him brand-wise. Wilson’s corniness has gotten so unbelievable that after the high knees commentary, Pat McAfee openly wondered if Wilson is fooling all of us by secretly filming a “bit” for a mockumentary. At this point, it’s one of the more plausible explanations for his behavior in recent months.
Perhaps Wilson has had enough. He’s had a rough go of it during his entire career with the Broncos, with vitriol from betrayed Seattle fans and frustration from disappointed Denver fans. Then, there’s the rest of the NFL that has delighted in the spectacular disaster of “Let’s Ride.”
If Wilson can finish strong, win a few more games, and own the wristband, maybe Carroll’s criticism could finally help Wilson after all these years sans wristband.