Russell Wilson Says NC State Coach Said He'd Never Play in the NFL

Seattle Seahawks star quarterback Russell Wilson revealed in a commencement speech at Wisconsin that a coach at North Carolina State told him he'd never be an NFL quarterback.

Here's an excerpt from that speech, per Sheil Kapadia of ESPN.com:

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The summer before my senior year of college, I'm playing minor-league baseball. I called my football coach at NC State and said, 'Hey coach, I'd like to come back for my senior year.' He told me I wasn't coming back. He said, 'Listen son, you're never going to play in the National Football League. You're too small. There's no chance. You've got no shot. Give it up.' Of course, I'm on this side of the phone saying, 'So you're telling me I'm not coming back to NC State? I won't see the field?' He said, 'No son, you won't see the field.' Now this was everything I had worked for. And now it was completely gone. If I wanted to follow my dream I had to leave NC State. I had no idea if I would get a second chance somewhere else.

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That second chance did come, however, as Wilson transferred to Wisconsin and threw for 3,175 yards, 33 touchdowns and just four interceptions in 2011 while leading the Badgers to the Rose Bowl. He was picked in the third round (No. 75 overall) of the 2012 NFL draft by the Seahawks.

Wilson and Seattle won the Super Bowl in the 2013 season, and the signal-caller has led the team to the playoffs in each of his four seasons. In 2015, he had his best statistical campaign as a professional, throwing for career highs in passing yards (4,024) and touchdowns (34) while throwing just eight interceptions. He also rushed for 553 yards and another score.

Wilson said there was another time an N.C. State coach doubted him. He recounted being told in 2008 that he was going to be moved to safety and wouldn't play quarterback for the Wolfpack. He thought things over and decided he didn't want to change positions:

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So a few days after our first meeting, I walked back into my coach's office, chest big, feeling good. I'm 18, 19 years old at the time. And I said, 'Coach, I'm going to be your starting quarterback. I'm going to be first-team freshman All-American. And I'm going to be first-team All-ACC. I'm going to play in the National Football League for a long time. I'm going to win multiple Super Bowls, and I'm going to be a Hall of Fame quarterback. What do you think?' He looked at me like I was crazy, scratching his head. But three days later, he named me his starting quarterback.

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Wilson was both a freshman All-American and a first-team All-ACC pick in 2008, and he was a late-game interception away from winning back-to-back Super Bowls in the 2014 season. The Seahawks are also one of the NFC's top teams, so Wilson should have another chance—or several more chances—to win a second title.

Suffice it to say, he's well on his way to living up to the guarantee he made to his coach in 2008.

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