Russell Wilson’s new contract with the Seattle Seahawks doesn’t prohibit him from pursuing his second sports passion—playing baseball.
One would assume the Seahawks would have made sure to include language in the deal that would ensure he stayed focused solely on football, but alas, not a word can be found, as Andrew Brandt pointed out on Thursday.
Another nugget on Russell Wilson deal: unlike Jameis Winston deal, no prohibition on baseball. Not a word about it in the contract.
— Andrew Brandt (@AndrewBrandt) August 6, 2015
Tampa Bay blocked Jameis Winston from playing baseball with prohibitive language in his rookie deal, but Seattle chose not to do the same, as Brandt points out. In an age when NFL franchises are doing everything possible to protect themselves from losing valuable assets, this is a rather puzzling move.
There’s almost no way Wilson would suddenly give up football to pursue baseball, but he hasn’t ruled out the possibility of playing both sports. He attended spring training this year with his current baseball club, the Texas Rangers, and stated he “won’t kill the dream” of playing his beloved game. More recently in June he appeared on Conan O’Brien’s show on TNT and said he would “definitely consider” playing baseball if he was traded from the Texas Rangers to the Seattle Mariners.
If he did dive into playing baseball during football’s offseason, a la Deion Sanders and Bo Jackson, then Wilson would be running double the risk of suffering injury along the way—not to mention the incredible wear and tear on his body from playing both sports year-round.
Perhaps the Seahawks knew that putting prohibitive language in his new contract, freshly signed, would keep Wilson from putting his name to paper. Whatever the team’s reasons for keeping the dream alive, it’s going to be fascinating to see if he does pursue baseball in the years to come.
Photo Credit: USA Today Sports