Russell Wilson

Russell Wilson has been married twice. He met his first wife Ashton Meem in high school and they got married in 2012, but the couple separated two years later. Russell then started dating American R&B singer Ciara in 2015 and tied the knot with her the very next year. The couple became parents to a girl child in April 2017. The couple also owns two dogs - Prince and Naomi - that they claim are part of their family.

Russell is quite an active social worker and helps collecting funds for diabetes patients and for creating awareness about the disease. He also provides funds to Seattle Children Hospital and visits it regularly.

Born on 29th November, 1988 in Cincinnati, Ohio, Russell Carrington Wilson hailed from a highly athletic family. He is the second child of Tammy Wilson and Harrison Wilson III. He has an older brother, Harrison IV, and a younger sister, Anna.

The Wilson household has a great history of sports; Russell’s grandfather happened to be a two sport superstar at the Kentucky State University back in his time, while his father played football and baseball for Dartmouth. However, his father chose a career in law once he was done with sports and Russell’s mother worked as a nurse.

Russell started playing football when he was 4 years old along with his father and brother. Russell was a fast kid and learned quickly and as he grew up. He got the chance to play in the Collegiate School team in 2004 where he led the team to a state championship and eventually earned the honour of Richmond Times Player of the year.

Russell Wilson got enrolled at the North Carolina State University in 2006, despite earning a scholarship from the much coveted Duke University. Playing for NC State, Wilson became the very first freshman quarterback to secure all-ACC first team honours. However, what caused trouble for Wilson was his desire to play baseball, which enraged Coach Tom O’Brien.

In 2010, Colorado Rockies drafted Russell for the Major League Baseball. Seeing the situation getting out of hand with his previous coach and team, Russell made a transfer to University of Wisconsin for his final year of college. It turned out to be a great senior year for Wilson, as he led his team to win the Big 10 conference title. He also managed to set a new NCAA record owing to his passing skills. Even then, he was considered not fit for NFL due to his smaller frame but somehow Seattle Seahawks signed him on for the 2012 NFL draft.

In May 2012, Seahawks signed Russell on a four year contract and he played his first pre-season match against Kansas City Chefs. In September that year, Russell got to make his regular season debut in a loss against Arizona Cardinals. Russell eventually caught up with the vibe and his game kept improving one game at a time and in the week 10, he was honoured as ‘Pepsi Rookie of the Week’. The regular season ended with Wilson reaching the 4th rank in the NFL passers. By the end of the season, the NFL’s performance based pay program awarded him USD 222,000 for his impactful performance in his debut season.

Wilson ended the 2013 Super Bowl Season with a magnificent personal score of 26 touchdown passes and 9 interceptions. By the 13th week, he had already been honoured with ‘NFC Offensive player of the Week’ award for the second time in his career. Upon defeating the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC championship match, Seahawks ensured their entry into the Super Bowl XLVIII. Wilson performed magnificently and earned a cash bonus of USD 169,141 through the league’s Performance Based Programme.

In July 2015, Wilson’s contract was extended for 4 years with the Seahawks. Wilson’s performance wasn’t up to the mark for the first few games but he caught up with his best performance and set the record as the only quarterback in the history of NFL to throw 3+ touchdown games without any interceptions in 5 consecutive games.

As of June 2017, Russell Carrington Wilson’s net worth is USD 120 million.