The Seahawks and rookie quarterback Russell Wilson head to Toronto to face the Bills this weekend carrying some pretty serious momentum. Not only did Seattle pummel the hapless Cardinals 58-0 last weekend, they exorcised their road demons to a degree with a comeback win in Chicago the week before.
“Championship teams have to be able to win on the road and have to be able to do great things when the game’s on the line,” Wilson said of their road win. “We have a long way to do that, we have to play the Buffalo Bills first, and that’s our championship game this week.”
“To have that momentum in terms of beating Chicago, tough situation, in Soldier Field, with all the great players that they have, in that situation with 97 yards to go, and then in overtime. Then to come back here, back in CenturyLink, and play the Cardinals, a team we had a tough loss to the very first game, to win in the fashion we did, that’s great for our momentum, but at the same time, as I’ve said every week, it’s one game at a time. What you did the week before or several weeks before that, it doesn’t matter; it’s the now. We have to be able to play a great game.”
So while their recent success is encouraging, Wilson says the Seahawks can’t do anything but look ahead to the next challenge.
“That’s the challenge of playing big-time sports, playing in the National Football League, you have to be able to have tunnel vision, you have to be able to focus in on what’s going on, what’s the new situation,” he said. “Sometimes people think tunnel vision is a bad thing, but in terms of focusing in on the now and what we can do to win football game, to win this football game coming up right now, we have to be consistent with our approach, with our preparation, with our desire to be great on Sunday… The fear is, they’re going to get too high or too low when things are going on, but great teams are the ones that can weather the storm, hopefully we can do that. Obviously coming off these two big games, we have great momentum but we have to continue that momentum and keep going.”
Wilson also talked a bit about the Seahawks rookie class, which has seen several players, most notably Wilson and linebacker Bobby Wagner, become a big part of the team’s success (shameless plug alert: more on this in Sunday’s Herald). Wilson said he knew from the team’s first minicamp in May that this class could be special.
“I knew that as soon as I got here for rookie minicamp,” he said. “I had a great, great feeling about it, just the passion and energy we brought to practice every day. You wanted to see if that was going to continue into the summer and into the season. Everybody talks about that rookie wall. Well we haven’t hit it. I really don’t believe we’ve hit it, not anywhere close. We’re ready to go.”
At one point in Wilson’s press conference, Pete Carroll hovered behind reporters before tossing in a question of his own.
“You’ve always talked about how Coach Carroll is such was such a great inspiration to you,” Carroll said. “Can you reiterate that?”
Wilson’s only response was, “What’s up Coach Carroll.”
And since Wilson had a brief minor league baseball career, he was also asked about the biggest sports news of the day, Josh Hamilton’s big new contract with the Angels, reported to be worth $125 million over years, a contract that is pretty much unheard of in football. Wilson was asked if hearing that makes him rethink his decision to give up baseball and focus on football, and answered, “Nah, I’m glad I’m here. Josh Hamilton is a great player though. I’ve met him several times, he’s a great human being who has gone through a lot of struggles, and he’s worth it. He can play the game. That’s great for him.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
