The first time Russell Wilson ever picked up a football, it had a San Diego Chargers logo on it. It was a ball his dad, Harrison Wilson III, caught for a touchdown in a preseason game in 1980. The elder Wilson didn’t see his NFL dreams come true, but that brief stint with the Chargers remains a special memory for the Seahawks quarterback, so this trip to San Diego will be a special one for Wilson.
“Yeah, it will be a special thing for me,” Wilson said. “The first football I ever touched was a San Diego Chargers’ football that my dad scored against the 49ers, ironically. For me it’s a special thing to get to go back there to Qualcomm Stadium and play in that stadium.”
Harrison Wilson had an odd path to a very brief tenure with the Chargers, playing at Dartmouth, then attending law school at the University of Virginia before deciding to pursue an NFL career. Because of that background, as well as the big glasses he wore, Harrison Wilson earned the nickname “Professor,” which was given to him by teammate Kellen Winslow Sr. When Kellen Winslow Jr. spent training camp with the Seahawks in 2012, he and Wilson shared some memories about their fathers’ brief time as teammates.
“The first thing he said to me was that, ‘hey my dad just wanted me to let you know he still remembers your dad’ and all that,” Wilson said. “I have those memories. That’s how I really learned to throw a football. That was the first football I ever touched, the first football I ever threw.”
However Wilson said all the nostalgia has to go on the backburner Sunday: “At the end of the day though, it’s not about that, about going back and thinking about those memories. It’s about trying to win the football game and focusing on that moment.”
Wilson also shared a funny little bit of personal information, admitting that the “no time for sleep” mantra he so often posts on Twitter isn’t entirely accurate. Since his rookie year, we’ve heard stories about Wilson coming in early and leaving late, and by his own admission he only sleeps five or six hours a night, but it turns out that doesn’t apply to the weekend. By Saturday night, Wilson, exhausted from his week, sleeps plenty, which helps him have some extra energy on game day.
“I think I’ve trained myself in terms of sleeping,” he said. “I don’t get much sleep—this may sound crazy to you guys—but I try not to get much sleep during the week. I may try to get five to six hours. I would probably say roughly right around six hours, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Friday, I come in a little bit later. I get in around 8:30 and then we have our meeting at 9, kind of relax a little bit, try to ease my mind a little bit because I believe I put all my work in during the meat part of the week. Then Saturday, I sleep like a rock. I probably sleep 10 to 12 hours. That’s why I think I have so much energy on Sunday because I haven’t gotten any sleep. I don’t know if this is a trick or what but I truly believe in it. I don’t get much sleep at the beginning of the week but then come Sunday, I get all this sleep. I’ve learned how to function really well without much sleep so when I get a lot of sleep, it’s like gold.”
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