“God’s got me. I am excited for what’s next.” With a heavy heart, Russell Wilson penned down a farewell note for his Broncos Country in March this year. Shortly after that, Mr. Unlimited signed with a new team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. He did that with the aim “to hold two more Super Bowl trophies” in the next five years. But what inspired him to join the Steelers? It’s definitely not just the contract!

Russell Wilson joined The Rich Eisen Show on October 25, where he talked about his life in Steel City, coach Mike Tomlin, his role in the team, and more. During the discussion, he reflected on how, as athletes get older, people often question if they still have the same spark. Hence, explaining his point, the 35-year-old mentioned icons like LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Tom Brady, who’ve all faced similar doubt at some point. And that’s the reason he said that he is ignoring all the “noise.”

But that doesn’t mean he isn’t aware of the ups and downs in his career. In the podcast, Russell Wilson highlighted that for him last year was challenging, especially the first year(2022) with Denver where he dealt with several injuries—in his first season with the Broncos, he suffered a non-specific shoulder injury, a partial hamstring tear, and a Grade 1 concussion, which continued in his second year with the team. But still, in 2023, he felt he was back to his usual self. Playing in a way that truly felt like him. However, the Broncos clearly didn’t think so as they released him from the five-year, $242.6 million deal, after what can only be described as a lackluster run.

However, as per Wilson, the subsequent release (after being benched for the last two games of the 2023 season by Sean Payton) was also because he refused to renegotiate his contract to give up certain salary guarantees. Why the renegotiation, you ask? The team was reportedly concerned an injury would trigger guarantees in the QB’s contract beyond 2024. And so the Denver Broncos pulled off a move that left many surprised. They essentially took a $85 million hit in dead money over the next two seasons—a rejection according to many—for Wilson to join the Pittsburgh Steelers.

But if you ask the quarterback, it was a solid push that gave him direction, “When I was released and all that, I was like you know what, wherever I go, I want to be in a place that we can go win it and win it all, and if I can be healthy and be myself. I’ll be able to do all the things I’ve always aspired to do.” This motto helped him to join the Steelers. He thought Pittsburgh could give him the platform where he could be himself and at his best.

So, has his Broncos’ rejection paid off? Well, it might be too early to comment. The QB has played only one regular-season game with the Steelers on Sunday—which they won against the New York Jets 37-15.

Though the newly inducted QB led his team to a win, many analysts and former NFL players still think he has yet to show his best. Nevertheless, Wilson and his coach Mike Tomlin, whom he sees as the “leader of the men” are happy with the results.

Russell Wilson mentioned some good traits about Mike Tomlin!

As opposed to the animosity the former Broncos player shared with his then coach Sean Payton, things couldn’t be more different this time around. When asked about the good traits of Steelers coach Mike Tomlin during the same episode in the Rich Eisen Show, the QB mentioned how the HC has helped the team to stay motivated. He even described Tomlin as an incredible “motivator” and communicator. Recalling his “monologue speech,” the QB highlighted that it’s Tomlin’s way of pulling his team together, inspiring them to be ready for anything.

“I think is that every day coach Tomlin comes in, he gives his monologue speech…This guy is a a tremendous motivator…his ability to uh communicate, his ability to lead, Inspire…we spend an hour every every Wednesday and Thursday with coach and just spend that quality time with him talking about the vision of what this week’s going to look like, who we’re playing…what we want to attack. And it’s a closed closed room meeting and just his ability to communicate that and really paint a picture of what’s going to happen in the game and what’s it going to look like…I think that’s that’s fascinating.

This guy is unbelievable Mentor. He’s also a great leader of men and there’s a reason why he’s won 17 years in a row I think that it doesn’t happen by accident. I think his demeanor on the field, just how he can be in the middle of the second quarter, third quarter, fourth quarter and give you a little wink and laugh and you know that you’re right where you want them and you know right where want to be and think that’s a real thing with Coach is he eases the nerves of of of young men. And I think that he he gives confidence and belief into us and then,” the 35-year-old concluded….

This comes days after Mike Tomlin publicly appreciated his Week 7’s starting QB saying, “I thought he [Wilson] was excellent…I thought he got better as the game went on. But I’m not surprised by that. It has been a while since he’s played some ball, but I thought he settled in, knocked the rust off and distributed the ball around and played well.” Notably, Wilson orchestrated the offense to a season-high 37 points and 409 total yards in the win over the Jets, in his Steelers debut.

Hopefully, Wilson’s dream and form will both get realized this time around. What do you think?