Russell Wilson's Super Bowl Comments Show Extra Challenge Facing Athletes

At this point, Russell Wilson's stock is pretty low. The quarterback landed in Denver as the Broncos' potential savior, but he never found his footing. Now, it looks like he could be leaving town, even if that would leave the club staring down a major financial burden.

It was in that context that Wilson appeared on the I Am Athlete podcast and spoke about his aspirations for the future. And, as you might expect from a professional athlete, he has big plans in mind.

"I got more fire than ever, especially after the past two years, what I've gone through," he said. "Whether it's in Denver or somewhere else, I hope it's in Denver. You know, I hope I get to finish there. I committed there. I wanted to be there, I want to be there. For me, it's about winning. Over the next five years, I want to win two [championships]. I want to feel the chill of that trophy again."

And, as you might expect, the comments weren't received favorably. Consider that Wilson has gone 11-19 since joining the Broncos and, despite some statistical improvement during the 2023 campaign, no longer looks like the same signal-caller who starred in Seattle. And, at 35 years old, he's not getting any younger.

Online, there were plenty of jokes at the quarterback's expense.

Elsewhere, he was called out for essentially burying his head in the sand.

"Look, I get Wilson is an athlete, and being confident in oneself is part of the deal. I understand he's supposed to believe he can still shine in the NFL, and answers like this are probably things he's supposed to say when talking about what else he can accomplish. No one's disputing this," Robert Zeglinski wrote in a For The Win piece. "But at a certain point, a tiny modicum of self-awareness would be more helpful."

And while that's certainly a reasonable perspective, it hits on an additional challenge that professional athletes face. Beyond performing at a high level, they also have to comport themselves in a way that aligns with an impossible standard. You have to be confident, but not too confident while also showing humility. If there's too much deference, though, you lack the killer instinct necessary to thrive.

For proof of the importance of confidence, consider a 2015 NFL.com post written by Jeffri Chadiha on the subject of "swagger." While various players, including Cam Newton and Richard Sherman, were discussed, the underlying idea is that swagger is part and parcel of success.

There's something of a cyclical nature (good players have swagger, and swagger theoretically helps you play well), but Chadiha seemed to boil it down to one underlying point: If you're confident, then you're able to execute.

"We have an outspoken group," then-Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll was quoted as saying. "We have a bunch of young guys that have great confidence in what we do as a team and in themselves. And it gets expressed at times....Sometimes it's demonstrated with their actions, sometimes with their words. What I think is really important is when a team knows they can carry out what's asked of them. That's a very, very powerful thing to have."

And even if that's a bit more eloquent than usual statements around confidence, it does make sense with a narrative that's familiar to all sports fans. When you think of players like Michael Jordan, Tom Brady or Patrick Mahomes, there's a sense of inevitability. Whether they talk trash or simply march down the field, just about everyone watching knows how the game is going to end.

But wait, you might be saying, those players are winners. They've earned the right to be confident. Wilson is at a low point, so he should be eating some humble pie.

The problem is that those answers aren't an automatic recipe for PR success, either.

Consider, for example, the negative reaction to Russell Westbrook telling his Los Angeles Lakers teammates to have fun regardless of the result.

Or, elsewhere in the basketball world, think back to when Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo insisted that it wasn't a failure to crash out of the 2023 NBA Playoffs at the first hurdle. There was plenty of discussion over whether the Greek Freak's point was accurate—is every team except the champion a failure?—or not, but there was plenty of dialogue suggesting that he did come up short.

And if you were someone like Shaquille O'Neal, you weren't handing out too many bonus points for self-awareness. The Diesel did say he liked and understood Antetokounmpo's explanation, but that didn't change the underlying point.

Or, in the world of football, consider the way quarterback confidence is discussed. Julian Edelman, for example, tied Mac Jones' struggles to a lack of confidence. Elsewhere in the AFC, Keenan Allen said that Justin Herbert was only lacking "the confidence to just be like 'F this, I'm about to do me.'" Jake Browning's success stepping in for Joe Burrow was connected to, you guessed it, his confidence.

And on the flip side, remember when cameras caught Jets QB Sam Darnold talking about "seeing ghosts" on the bench? That became something of a running joke around the NFL and the Jets were unhappy that the audio ever reached the public.

What's to say that Wilson showing self-awareness wouldn't be seen in the same way? Had the quarterback, who is, again, probably going to be looking for a new job at some point, stepped up to the microphone and said something about not being at his best but really wanting to work hard, would that really have been well received?

Or would that lack of conviction have been held up as a reason why Wilson shouldn't be trusted to lead the team onto the field on Sunday?

That's not to say that Wilson should have to put on a facade, only acting like he's the most confident man to ever play football. If he was feeling a bit shaken, that would be understandable.

Instead, the solution probably lies in having a fuller perspective. We can't complain when players only trot out surface-level cliches if we also give them stick when they show any genuine humanity.

Shining as a pro athlete can be tough enough, but winning the PR battle can be an even tougher tightrope to walk.