“Good luck with that” - Rich Eisen scoffs at Russell Wilson’s plan for season-opener versus Seattle
Fans of Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos circled Week 1 as must-see football. However, the contest will also be watched on a national stage. The entire country will have their eyes on Seattle, Washington, to get their first look at the new quarterback in a new uniform.
Fans on both sides expect an emotional affair. Wilson acknowledged that emotion would play a factor, but he will be doing everything in his power to make it feel like just another game. Speaking at a press conference during OTAs, the quarterback responded to a question about the game. Here's the strategy he outlined, according to Fox Sports.:
"I think it’s going to be an exciting time. Obviously, Seattle’s meant the world to me over the past 10 years. It’s a special place to play, Lumen Field. I have a high regard for all those guys over there and what they do. I think for me, it’s non-emotional, though—it’s got to be non-emotional."
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Some scoffed at the quarterback's ability to keep emotions out of the Monday Night Football game, including NFL analyst Rich Eisen. Speaking on the Rich Eisen Show, the host immediately shot down optimism about the quarterback's ability to control his emotions.
Eisen said:
“And then Monday Night Football being Russell Wilson at Seattle. You don't receive this Joe Buck's first game right? And ESPN and Aikman and those guys and the return of the Emmy award-winning Manningcast and so the while we were gone, Russ was asked about Week 1 [and said he's] just gotta take the emotion out of it. I'm like, 'Good luck with that.'”
Russell Wilson said Peyton Manning has “taken me under his wing in kind of a beautiful way” since he arrived in Denver. They’ve sat down to watch film and talk together. Wilson said he likes learning from Manning. The plan is to do it more in the future.
There's a precedent set by Russell Wilson's predecessor
Of course, the addition of the Seahawks quarterback is reminiscent of the addition of Peyton Manning back in the early 2010s. At the time, like the Seattle quarterback trade, the acquisition of Manning was the biggest move of the offseason. While the revenge game didn't occur in Week 1 of the following season, the quarterback eventually played his former team.
In 2013, the Broncos played the Indianapolis Colts on October 20, 2013. It was the first time the quarterback had faced his former team since landing in Denver. It was also an emotional time as the quarterback had spent more than a decade in Indianapolis. The team went 13-3 and made the Super Bowl that season but lost to the Colts 33-39 per Statmuse. Many said the emotion of the moment compromised the team.
Will history repeat itself in Week 1 of 2022 when Russell Wilson takes on his former team?