After 14 seasons and a remarkable career, Russell Wilson retired from the NFL this offseason to join CBS Sports as an analyst. While he has had a legendary career and is widely known for transforming the way the game has been played, there is a lot more to Wilson that the world was not aware of.
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“I had, like, I really wanted to play football. So I said, let me go try to pursue this, because if I don’t, I could never go back,” said Russell Wilson at the 2026 CBS Sports NFL Seminar. “Especially being short, being black, at the time, there’s a lot against me. So, in terms of doing that, I took a risk. I want to play football and baseball at NC State.”
During his freshman year, Wilson decided to play football at NC State, even after knowing the odds were not really in his favor. The veteran quarterback shared how he entered college football with plenty of uncertainty surrounding him, given his 5-foot-11 frame and lack of ideal height to play quarterback.
“They are actually going to move me to safety my freshman year. They had me back there catching punts. Tom O’Brien had me back there catching punts. And I didn’t, I was called elbows in. But I ended up playing quarterback,” Wilson added.
At NC State, he became the first freshman QB in school history to earn first-team All-ACC honors in 2008. By the end of his college career, he had thrown for 8,545 yards and 76 touchdowns for the Wolfpack.
When Wilson was transferred to Wisconsin for his final collegiate season in 2011, he completed 72.8% of his passes for 3,175 yards, 33 touchdowns, and only four interceptions. His 191.8 passer rating marked an NCAA record.
His time in college led the Seattle Seahawks to select him in the third round of the 2012 NFL Draft, despite his small frame.
As a rookie, he started all 16 games, threw for 3,118 yards and 26 touchdowns, and posted a 100.0 passer rating. He used these challenges as motivation throughout a 14-year career that included a Super Bowl title.
The following years only strengthened the argument. Wilson became a Super Bowl champion with Seattle and developed into a perennial Pro Bowl-level QB, throwing for more than 50,000 regular-season passing yards in his NFL career.
These experiences and adversity Wilson has had shaped more than his football career, it created perspective and awareness and gave the next generation a blueprint to stand out in the NFL.