Getty Russell Wilson intends to play into his 40's.
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson doesn’t appear to be retiring anytime soon.
According to the 32-year-old quarterback, Wilson is aiming to play 20-plus years in the NFL. Since Wilson entered the league in 2012, that would mean he would play until at least 2031 — when he’ll turn 43 years old.
It would also parallel Tom Brady’s career considering he’s currently in the midst of his 22nd season.
Via The Associated Press:
“I knew I was wildly crazy about the game, but I’m ridiculously obsessed with it,” Wilson said on the AP Pro Football Podcast. “That’s why I want to play 20-plus years. I think the other part that you learn about yourself is to have patience. At the same time, you have to have drive. I think that’s such a critical part. The third thing is [having] unrelenting confidence. You don’t want to mistake that with arrogance. It’s strictly confidence in what you do and how you do it and you’ve done it before, and we’ll do it again and with great faith, all things are possible, and that’s really what’s been very evident to me in my journey.”
Considering it’s commonplace for quarterbacks to play into their late 30’s and early 40’s these days — Brady, Drew Brees and Ben Roethlisberger are a few examples — it’s not far-fetched to imagine Wilson doing the same.
Prior to his middle finger injury that sidelined him for four games this season, Wilson had never missed a single start during his 10-year career. The Seahawks quarterback had started 144 consecutive games — 165 consecutive games including the playoffs. That was the longest active streak in the NFL among quarterbacks and the sixth-longest streak for QB’s in NFL history.
The question is, will Wilson play all of those years in Seattle?
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Odds Against Wilson Playing Entire Career in Seattle
With the exception of Roethlisberger, none of the legendary QB’s from Wilson’s era played with one team during their entire careers. Brady, Brees and Peyton Manning all suited up for two teams before calling it quits.
Head coach Pete Carroll recently stressed the value Wilson has for the Seahawks during his injury absence.
“Let’s say it this way: I’ve been here a long time, and if we didn’t have Russell, I probably wouldn’t have been here a long time,” Carroll said on Oct. 26. “Because of all, think of all the magic that he’s created in the years. He’s got numbers and stats and fourth-quarter thises and thats, and all that stuff. One of the winningest quarterbacks in the history of the NFL. It’ll be really fun when he comes back and plays football again for us this year. We owe a tremendous amount.
Wilson Wants to Pursue NFL Team Ownership
As far as what interests Wilson wants to pursue during his post-playing career, it’s owning an NFL team.
“I definitely want to play for a long time, but I think once I’m done, I’d love to own an NFL football team and to be able to impact a city, a country and just bring people to the game of football,” Wilson said. “I’m very big into the business side of things and just sports in general. I love winning. I love the process of winning. So hopefully I can bring that culture to a team and organization.”
Considering Wilson earns an annual salary of $35 million and has a net worth of $135 million at the age of 32, the Seahawks star could very well be on his way to becoming an owner of an NFL franchise.