Russell Wilson addresses New York Giants rumor, says he can play '10 to 15 more years'
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is pretty confident about his future heading into the final year of his current contract.
Whether it’s with his current team or possibly a QB-needy team in New York.
The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon said he “heard a rumor” that Wilson “could sign” with the Giants (which obviously can’t happen now with the quarterback under contract), and Fallon asked Wilson on Friday about that possibility.
“We are in New York,” Wilson said, “but I’m not sure the Seahawks are going to let me get away.”
He added: “I love Seattle. Seattle is a special place, so ... been able to win a Super Bowl there, been able to go to two Super Bowls.” But he also talked about his love for the New York Yankees, and he and his wife, singer Ciara, certainly hold their own as a power couple in the Big Apple.
Then Wilson attempted to diffuse the semi-awkward situation with an awkward joke of his own.
“Are you bribing me to New York?” he asked Fallon back rhetorically, and at that moment any real news value to the appearance seemed to go out the window.
The Giants certainly have enough trade ammo to offer up the Seahawks a sweet package if, say, they were having doubts about paying Wilson long-term. But we put the chances of that right now somewhere between slim and none, as neither team has made a peep about such a possibility.
About that contract ...
But Fallon actually brought things back toward the newsy side, or as close as one can get with the typically deflective and diplomatic Wilson. The host asked him about the possibility of being the highest-paid quarterback in the history of the league, which actually could be in the realm of possibilities.
Wilson actually acknowledged the possibility.
“Well, there’s a great potential of that,” he said with a smile. “We’ll see what happens.”
Hmm.
Could Wilson have a Tom Brady-length career?
Maybe Wilson knows something we don’t. Maybe he was just being kind to Fallon, a non-NFL media member asking him NFL-related questions. But he did entertain the idea of what such a contract might mean to Wilson in terms of how far he has come as a football player.
“Being a kid, an African-American kid, 5-foot-11, came from Richmond, Virginia, went to a private school, people said I wouldn’t make it in Division I-A, going to N.C. State, going to Wisconsin, ... and getting to where I am now — just finishing Year 7 going into Year 8 — I believe I have 10 to 15 years left,” he said.
Wilson turns 31 in November. Ten to 15 years would put him ending his career somewhere in the Brady age (42 in August) to ... almost George Blanda age? It’s certainly a wild concept, but then again, Brady and Drew Brees and other fortysomethings keep rewriting history on that front.
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