Russell Wilson told a great story about the first time he met Phil Knight during a recent podcast appearance.
Wilson was a guest on “Pardon My Take” for an episode that was published on Tuesday. One topic the Seattle Seahawks quarterback discussed with the hosts was Wisconsin’s Rose Bowl loss to Oregon in 2012 (the 2011 season). Wilson shared how he encountered the Nike founder after that game.
“After that press conference, I’ll never forget, I still had my cleats on. We were an Adidas team. Sure enough, Phil Knight comes out right in front of me. He goes, ‘oh man, nice game, Russell. I want to make you a Nike athlete one day. When you’re ready to play in the NFL, I think you’re going to be a Nike athlete and one of the greatest athletes of all time.’ That was a cool Phil Knight encounter. That was a special moment for me,” Wilson recalled.
Wilson began as a Nike athlete in the pros, switched to Under Armour, and then returned to Nike on a long-term deal, so Knight did make good on his promise.
But Knight also saw something in Wilson that not many NFL teams saw: that Wilson would be a star. Remember, Wilson was not drafted until pick No. 75 in 2012.
The quarterbacks who went ahead of him include Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III, Ryan Tannehill, Brandon Weeden and Brock Osweiler. You can’t really argue with the Colts taking Luck, who was working on a possible Hall of Fame career before retiring. But everyone else missed badly.
Maybe Knight can help Wilson with his big goal for after football.
Photo: Larry Maurer/Flickr via cc-by-sa 2.0
