{"id":90090,"date":"2025-05-30T07:44:11","date_gmt":"2025-05-30T07:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/90090\/"},"modified":"2025-05-30T07:44:11","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T07:44:11","slug":"russell-wilson-grateful-for-time-with-steelers-pittsburgh-was-a-good-place-for-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/90090\/","title":{"rendered":"Russell Wilson Grateful for Time with Steelers: \u2018Pittsburgh Was a Good Place for Me\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Despite things not working out, Russell Wilson has had nothing but good things to say about the Pittsburgh Steelers organization since departing to New York. He was <a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/article\/russell-wilson-reflects-time-steelers-181328848.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:complimentary;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">complimentary<\/a> of the Steelers during his introductory press conference with the Giants in March, and he had similar sentiments during a recent interview on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?si=_qMVbyA5HsvgRJZb&amp;v=h4r10R8JcMo&amp;feature=youtu.be\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:7PM in Brooklyn;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">7PM in Brooklyn<\/a> with Carmelo Anthony.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPittsburgh was a good place for me,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cIt really helped rejuvenate me in every way because of the locker room there, the pros, guys like T.J. Watt and Cam Heyward, guys like Miles Killebrew, those captains. And then just the guys I was around, the hard work those guys put in.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI remember seeing a guy like Calvin Austin III, young star, who just wanted to be great, came to San Diego, wanted to work with me. Just guys that I really appreciate. Guys like Najee Harris and how he went about practicing hard every day. Different guys you get to know, teammates like Dan Moore, who I got to be really close with, and many others.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Pittsburgh Steelers QB Russell Wilson Pro Bowl\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"788\" height=\"549\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"standard-img\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cbf6192b46b1774c08e40c2b3b0eb3b9.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson at practice for the 2025 NFL Pro Bowl Games on Feb. 1, 2025. \u2014 Alan Saunders \/ Steelers Now<\/p>\n<p>Wilson <a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/article\/russell-wilson-heads-nfc-steelers-190203811.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:signed a one-year deal;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">signed a one-year deal<\/a> worth up to $21 million, including $10.5 million guaranteed with the Giants this offseason.<\/p>\n<p>Wilson, 36, spent the 2024 season with the Steelers in what was a tale of two halves. After returning from <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/steelers-qb-russell-wilson-aggravates-calf-injury-limited-in-practice\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:a calf injury;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">a calf injury<\/a> in Week 7, Wilson helped rattle off six wins in seven games. But his play took a downturn on the team\u2019s five-game losing streak to end the season.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>During that span, the Steelers failed to score more than 17 points in every game,<a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/steelers-did-something-2024-haven-165631190.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:\u00a0a streak that hasn\u2019t occurred;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">\u00a0a streak that hasn\u2019t occurred<\/a>\u00a0since Chuck Noll\u2019s first season in 1969. It\u2019s safe to say that left a sour taste in the Steelers mouths and played a role in Wilson not returning.<\/p>\n<p>Wilson reportedly also didn\u2019t see eye to eye with Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith.<\/p>\n<p>In February, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.post-gazette.com\/sports\/steelers\/2025\/02\/04\/russell-wilson-arthur-smith-rift-tomlin-justin-fields\/stories\/202502040067\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette<\/a> reported that Smith did not want Russell Wilson changing plays at the line of scrimmage despite the QB\u2019s big game in the Week 13 win over Cincinnati. The Steelers scored a season-high 44 points against the Bengals and Wilson posted an impressive 414 yards passing to go along with three touchdown passes.<\/p>\n<p>Former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger <a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/article\/big-ben-backs-russell-wilson-151814754.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:confirmed;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">confirmed<\/a> on his Footbahlin podcast with Pat McAfee that Smith was not fond of Wilson changing play at the line of scrimmage.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>\u201cArthur Smith has to understand he has to let the quarterback have some rein,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/20QGeQC4Y0A?si=afAeKgd4kmu3rCTY\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Roethlisberger said;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Roethlisberger said<\/a>. \u201cI was told he really pulled the reins back on Russ. In the two-minute drill, wouldn\u2019t let Russ call his own plays. You have to let a quarterback do that stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This article originally appeared on <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Steelers Now;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Steelers Now<\/a>: <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersnow.com\/russell-wilson-grateful-for-time-with-steelers-pittsburgh-was-a-good-place-for-me\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Russell Wilson Grateful for Time with Steelers: \u2018Pittsburgh Was a Good Place for Me\u2019;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Russell Wilson Grateful for Time with Steelers: \u2018Pittsburgh Was a Good Place for Me\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Related Headlines<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Despite things not working out, Russell Wilson has had nothing but good things to say about the Pittsburgh&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90091,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[4829,6594,8741,344,227,54,5852,7,519,1720,4125,6,520,57,2360,572,426,5226],"class_list":{"0":"post-90090","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-arthur-smith","9":"tag-ben-roethlisberger","10":"tag-calvin-austin-iii","11":"tag-cam-heyward","12":"tag-cincinnati","13":"tag-cleveland-browns","14":"tag-dan-moore","15":"tag-football","16":"tag-giants","17":"tag-miles-killebrew","18":"tag-najee-harris","19":"tag-nfl","20":"tag-pittsburgh","21":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","22":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","23":"tag-russell-wilson","24":"tag-steelers","25":"tag-t-j-watt"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114595670497116330","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90090"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90090\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}