Rookie wins Seattle job
Beats prized free agent to lead Seahawk attack
Pete Carroll and John Schneider were overjoyed during the April NFL draft when the Seattle Seahawks were able to grab Russell Wilson in the third round.
But even they couldn’t anticipate that Wilson would be the Seahawks’ Week 1 starter.
That was the word from Carroll after he announced the undersized, but highly successful rookie quarterback from Wisconsin will be the starter when the regular season begins Sept. 9 at Arizona.
“It’s been a very exciting competition that has gone on and Russell has taken full advantage of his opportunities and has done everything that we have asked for on the field and more than what you guys could know off the field in meeting rooms and with our players and how he’s represented. He’s earned this job,” Carroll said on a conference call Sunday night. “It was a legitimate competition as we said from the beginning and with the opportunity he’s taken advantage of he deserves to start.”
Wilson has been a dynamic star during the pre-season. For the first two weeks, his performance came against backups during the second halves of victories over Tennessee and Denver.
But what Wilson displayed during those two halves were enough for Carroll to give him the start Friday night against Kansas City. Wilson’s response: 13-of-19 passing for 185 yards, two touchdowns and a passer rating of 134.8. And if he didn’t show enough with his arm, Wilson added another 58 yards rushing.
The performance had Seattle fans buzzing and most accepting the idea that Wilson would be the starter. Carroll said Wilson took the news in stride.
“He expects to be good and he expects to be successful and he expects to make plays,” Carroll said.
Wilson being named the starter leaves Matt Flynn on the sidelines and according to Carroll understandably disappointed. Flynn was Seattle’s big free-agent splash in the off-season and the most highly sought after quarterback not named Manning after spending the last few seasons as Aaron Rodgers backup in Green Bay. But Flynn failed to show the same flashes as Wilson during his two pre-season opportunities and had an elbow problem.