Russell Wilson: I used to beat people up, knock teeth out

Derek Jeter launched a new website on Wednesday called The Players’ Tribune, and the goal of the publication is to give professional athletes a means to express themselves first-hand without having their thoughts filtered through journalists and reporters. Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, who has signed on as a senior editor, wrote the first piece for the site on Thursday.

Wilson chose to discuss the hot topic of domestic violence, and he began by revealing that he was a violent bully growing up.

I used to beat people up. Truthfully, I used to beat people up a lot. Many of you readers probably think I have been Mr. Goody Two-Shoes my whole life, but honestly, I was a bully growing up. In elementary and middle school, I threw kids against the wall. I rubbed their heads in the dirt at recess. I bit them. I even knocked teeth out.

I had a lot of anger that I didn’t know what to do with. Thankfully, I was saved by my faith when I was 14 years old, and was able to start living for others instead of just myself. But if you’ve ever been at the bottom of a pile with me, you know that I still have a bit of that bully deep down inside — just ask DeMarcus Ware — and I work hard to keep it there.

The rest of Wilson’s piece, which is worth reading in its entirety, discussed the issue of domestic violence in the NFL and elsewhere. He also wrote about NFL players learning to keep the violence on the field and referred to himself as a “recovering bully.”

Unfortunately, incidents like the one involving Ray Rice and his wife have become all too common. By ignoring them, we become desensitized as a culture. Wilson’s message is that more people, including NFL players, need to own their mistakes.