-I'm so happy you're on the show.
It's your first time. -My first time.
We've been trying to figure this out for a while, now.
-I'm so happy, 'cause we're fans of you here.
You're amazing. -I appreciate that.
-I want to talk to you about a bunch of stuff --
the Academy, the Passing Academy--
but you just got back from Brazil.
-We did.
-And what did you do there? You just -
You just partied it up?
-It was a blast. We went down there.
It's been a lot of fun.
Obviously, sports and music in Brazil --
it's real down there. So, to be able to go down there
and have a lot of fun down there --
-Were you trying to bring football to Brazil?
-Yeah.
American football is growing like crazy.
I was actually -- Ciara and I were both shocked
at how many fans we had down there.
You know, obviously, they've known Ciara for years.
But you know, football's growing like crazy,
you know, rapid-fire down there.
So, it's pretty fascinating.
And then, obviously, went to Carnival,
and had a good time.
It's like Coachella times 10.
-Is it really?
-Oh, there's a good picture. Yeah, that's a good one.
-I mean, come on. This looks like a rager.
-I mean, it is, all night.
They go from eight o'clock at night
to eight o'clock in the morning for a whole straight week --
whole straight week.
And they have block parties, and everything else.
-I wouldn't survive, dude. No way.
I couldn't do it.
You are a great quarterback, obviously,
but tomorrow -- is this true --
you're going to spring training with the Yankees?
-Yeah. Technically, I'm with the Yankees.
So, last year I was able to go.
[ Cheers and applause ]
Pretty cool.
-This is crazy, though.
I didn't know that you played baseball.
Did I know that?
-I've always loved baseball, my whole life.
My great uncle lives on the Upper East Side.
He loved the Yankees for years.
I used to go with him when I was a young kid,
and always been the Yankees.
And I went last year,
and then, I'm coming back here this weekend,
you know, for two, three days.
-What does it feel like? I mean, have you --
Have you been in the locker room, and all that stuff?
-Well, you know, the coolest thing is,
you know, when you wear the Yankees uniform --
and my favorite baseball player of all time --
favorite athlete of all time, honestly -- is Derek Jeter.
So...
[ Cheers and applause ]
-I love that guy. -Jetes.
-Jetes is the best. I love Jetes. I love him.
-But we into the - to go into the locker room,
and just the experience, and going to the training room.
And no matter where you go, one of the things they say is,
"When you put the pinstripes on, you become immortal."
And it's just amazing, right,
if you're the guy who just got drafted
to the minor leagues, all the way up
to Aaron Judge and Stanton, or Derek Jeter.
They all kind of share the same mentality,
which is pretty amazing.
-Well, is there any way where we would see you
in the big leagues?
-You know, I don't know about that.
The only way, probably, is if I was playing in New York,
and the Yankees.
But that's - I'm not sure if that's gonna happen.
-Yeah. Wow.
I heard a rumor -- and you can just tell me,
because I won't tell anybody.
[ Light laughter ]
Everyone, just, earmuffs. Yeah.
There's a rumor that, maybe, you could --
you may be signing with the New York Giants.
I'm just saying. I just heard a rumor.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-We are in New York,
but I'm not sure if the Seahawks are gonna let me get away.
-Yeah, no. -I love Seattle.
Seattle's a special place.
So, yeah, you know, being able to win a Super Bowl there,
go to two Super Bowls, multiple playoff games,
and everything else, and...
-I know, but you know, you're still young.
You know, you should go -- -Are you bribing me to New York?
-No. No. I'm, just saying, dude, travel.
Travel's good for you. -[ Laughs ]
-Travel's good for the brain, dude.
That could be fun, to have you here.
-I did win a Super Bowl here.
So, New York, New Jersey's pretty good.
-Yeah, all right, well...
[ Laughter ]
I heard that, your next negotiation --
your next contract -- there's a possibility that
you will be the highest-paid quarterback
in the history of the league.
-There's a great potential of that.
We'll see what happens. -Well, how does that...
Does that make you feel good?
-Well, you know, it's not gonna make me feel bad.
[ Laughter ]
-I mean, to think about, you know,
Russell Wilson growing up, and...
-Yeah, well, I think, you know,
being a kid -- African-American kid,
5'11" coming from Richmond, Virginia.
I went to a private school.
Everybody said I wouldn't make it playing Division 1A.
And then, being able to do that, going to NC State,
going to Wisconsin --
[ Light cheering ]
NC State and Wisconsin fans. I like it.
And then, getting to where I am now,
just finishing year 7,
and you know, going into year 8.
I believe I have 10 to 15 more years left.
You know, it's blessing.
To work hard -- I mean,
there's 7.5 billion people in the world.
There's, like, 3.5 billion men in the world.
And to be one of 32, you know, it's a special thing.
And so, I'm grateful. And all the hard work pays off.
-Yeah. And were there people that said "no" to you?
There must have been. -Many times.
And I think that, for me, you know,
anybody who has done anything relatively great,
or tried to do anything great, they've been told "no."
And so, I'm sure that you've experienced that,
and everything else.
-So, what I meant to say was, "Will this make you go 'Ha ha'?"
[ Laughter ]
I really kind of meant to say,
"Yeah, look who you're talking about now, yeah.
Too short, yeah? Can't do it, yeah?
I'm the highest paid in the league."
-It would be fun. -Yeah, of course it would.
You also do this cool thing -- Russell Wilson Passing Academy.
-Yeah. -Talk to me about that.
That started when?
-Well, crazy, I actually --
my best friend, Scott Pickett --
to this day, I say it was chemistry class.
He says he was too smart.
He wasn't - We weren't in the same class.
He says it was a study hall in the library, or somewhere.
But 11th grade, I leaned over to him,
and I said, "Scott, I want to create these passing academies
where we go around the country, go around the world.
And when I'm in the NFL -- starting in the NFL,
I want to do these. Let's start it now.
Let's start practicing now."
So, literally, that summer, we started doing football camps --
Russell Wilson Passing Academies.
And we literally did them --
had 150 kids at our first camp.
And now, we've coached over 10,000 kids around the country,
around the world. It's been amazing.
And so, it's really special.
-And where do the kids come from?
-They come from all over.
The coolest that that we do with RWPA is,
what we do is, we also have scholarship kids.
So, the kids who might not be able to afford it,
or whatever it may be, we give them scholarships.
And they're sponsored. And it's a pretty special thing.
And then, in addition, we have RWQB,
which is kind of an all-year-round thing,
rather than just one day, or whatever.
It's all year round, where a guy who played with me before,
Jake Heaps, who is actually helping run the camp,
and directing the camp all year round --
He played in the NFL, played quarterback,
was in the room with me, was in the fire.
He really knows what he's doing.
You know these guys -- quarterback gurus.
Well, he's really a guru. He really played the game.
And so, it's pretty special.
And we're coaching some of the kids who go on to
the University of Washington,
some of the best schools in the country,
coaching Eric Dungey, a guy who -- out of Syracuse,
actually, coming out.
So, it's a special thing.
-Good for you, man. I love that you do that.
You give back. It's great.