Russell Wilson Gets Emotional on Broncos Teammates' Public Support
The end result was the Denver Broncos dropping a 15th straight loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, but the team overall turned in a much more poised and cohesive performance. Among them was quarterback Russell Wilson.
Wilson went 26-of-38 for 222 yards and a touchdown while chipping in 27 additional yards on the ground with two rushing scores. While he tossed an ill-timed interception, the Broncos' quarterback battled and had a chance to snap Kansas City's ignominious winning streak.
Wilson's performance comes on the heels of a tumultuous week wherein his head coach, Nathaniel Hackett, was fired, and certain figures in the national media attacked him, including a Broncos Hall-of-Famer — Shannon Sharpe. Sharpe claimed Wilson's teammates were "seething" at the QB putting himself "above" them.
Multiple teammates came out in public support of Wilson on social media to rebut Sharpe's claim. That only triggered the likes of NBC Sports' Mike Florio to attempt kicking Wilson while he was down, saying the Twitter support from the likes of Jerry Jeudy, Garett Bolles, and KJ Hamler was "orchestrated."
Following Denver's Week 17 loss, Wilson was asked about his teammates closing ranks around him on social media. In a rare moment where the 11th-year veteran's emotional comportment seemed to waver, he expressed his gratitude to his teammates [see above video].
“It meant the world to me because I give my all every day," a verklempt Wilson said post-game. "I don’t know anything less. I’m grateful for these guys because they work their butts off and for them to have my back means the world to me. Jerry works at his craft every day and Kendall [Hinton], KJ, Tim [Patrick] and Courtland [Sutton], all of those guys do. All I want to do is help this team win and us find a way to do it. I know we’re going to overcome all of those obstacles and I’m not going to blink because I know who I am. I know the dedication that I have to this game and how much it means to me."
While it wasn't perfect, Wilson proved that he can still lead, and in some respects, thrive amid intense outside pressure and criticism. Courtland Sutton called it "BS and "noise" when asked about the Wilson hate post-game in Kansas City.
“It shows, even with all the BS going on outside, the ‘noise’, we like to call it, even with all the noise going on, what people think is going on in our locker room, this game showed the brotherhood that we have as an offense, as a defense and as a collective whole," Sutton said. "Every guy is out there fighting for each other.”
To quote interim head coach Jerry Rosburg, it's "unfortunate" that the Broncos' inspired performance didn't result in a victory. But Rosburg revealed a gut feeling that the Broncos laid some building blocks for the future on Sunday.
"We are planting seeds here," Rosburg said post-game. "We want this thing to grow. As I said the other day with Uncle Walt Whitman, ‘Oh captain, my captain!’ I may not see this bloom, but it will be rich at some point in time down the road where these things come to fruition.”
Wilson revealed a similar insight about the future with his last remarks at the podium.
"I believe and all I want to do is help this team," Wilson said. "We’re going to go somewhere, and I’m excited about it. It’s going to be worth it.”
Rosburg knows he's planting a tree under whose shade he's unlikely to sit as interim head coach, but if the "ultra aggressive" Broncos ownership gets its next hire right, that next guy will.
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