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While the Seattle Seahawks received high grades across the league for their selections in the 2023 NFL Draft, the city’s NHL team, the Seattle Kraken, was applauded on Sunday, April 30 for becoming the first expansion team to defeat the reigning Stanley Cup champions in their inaugural playoff run against the Colorado Avalanche.
Seahawks star DK Metcalf has been cheering for the Kraken during their historic playoff run, however, the wide receiver was unhappy when NFL drama bled into the Kraken/Avalanche series. Game 7 of the series took place at Ball Arena in Denver, during which former Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson was in attendance with his wife, Ciara, and they were both rocking Avalanche jerseys.
The feud between Denver and Seattle sparked back up following the Kraken’s 2-1 victory. One fan tweeted, “Seahawks fleece broncos in russell wilson trade. Mariners sweep the rockies in April. Kraken send the avalanche (defending champs) packing in round one. This is an all time own by an entire sports city.”
SeattleSports.com editor Brent Stecker tweeted, “It started with Super Bowl 48. It continued with the Russell Wilson trade. Now it’s the Kraken knocking off the Avs. Seattle just making up for lost time when it comes to revenge on Denver for this,” sharing. GIF from when the No. 1 seeded SuperSonics lost to the Nuggets in the first round of the 1994 playoffs.
However, numerous messages were directed toward Wilson, blaming his presence at the game for Avalanche’s loss, and Metcalf was sick of it. Metcalf retweeted a fan’s message, which has since been deleted, and wrote, “Can y’all f****** chill on Russ…”
Metcalf’s message received mixed reactions on Twitter. One Seahawks fan responded, “Yeah it’s getting weird now, we already got their pick and used it. We root for Russ over here,” while another wrote, “Hard to defend him publicly going out of his way to oppose something seattle related.”
DK Metcalf Showed Respect to Russell Wilson When He Returned to Lumen Field, Gave Him Credit for Preparing QB Geno Smith
Metcalf admitted he was caught off guard when the Seahawks traded Wilson. “I never thought he was gonna leave Seattle,” Metcalf said during an appearance on KG Certified last year. “I was in just in shock because I didn’t think it was gonna happen.”
The Seahawks’ former second-round pick from the 2019 NFL Draft spent the first three seasons of his career catching passes from Wilson, and Metcalf had nothing but love for his former QB1 when he returned to Lumen field as an opponent in Week 1 of the 2022 NFL season. After the Seahawks upset the Broncos 17-16, the two exchanged jerseys. Wilson wrote on Metcalf’s shirt, “Greatest player I ever played with.”
During an appearance on The Herd with Colin Cowherd on April 14, Metcalf exuded his confidence in quarterback Geno Smith, who took over the starting role following Wilson’s exit.
“I believe sitting behind Russ really like motivated him and really showed him how good he could really be in this league cause even at practice, he’s yelling at the practice squad guys to run their routes right. He’s like, ‘This is my opportunity too.’ And I’m like, ‘Ok I respect that because you understand what’s at stake,’” Metcalf said.
“The year we traded Russ and he’s the starter, he comes into training camp and he’s locked in, like body wise, mentally, watching the film. I saw the transition from ‘Ok, I’m a backup’ to ‘Ok, this is my team, I’m a starter.’”
While Wilson statistically had the worst season of his career in 2022, Smith had his best, throwing for 4,282 yards, 30 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions, along with 366 rushing yards and one rushing score.
The Russell Wilson/Broncos Trade Is Officially Complete Following the 2023 NFL Draft
When the Seahawks traded Wilson and a fourth-round pick to the Broncos, they received two first-round picks, two second-round picks, a fifth-round pick, quarterback Drew Lock, defensive lineman Shelby Harris, and tight end Noah Fant. This trade is why Seattle had 10 picks in the 2023 NFL Draft, including two selections in the first round.
The Seahawks were able to land cornerback Devon Witherspoon at No. 5 thanks to Wilson, as well as outside linebacker Derick Hall in the second round.
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