Pablo Torre Finds Out - Is Russell Wilson an Undercover Alien Running for President of the United States?

Episode Date: December 29, 2023

As the Denver Broncos crumble all around Russell Wilson, the superstar quarterback has never been more fascinating. Or more unknowable. But Nate Tice was Wilson’s backup, roommate, and occasional speechwriter at the University of Wisconsin. And to hear these college confessions — about a shirt-tucked, Timberlake-loving try-hard, who is possibly from outer space — is to finally understand the weirdest athlete on Planet Earth. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Okay, so you should know that this has been one of those weeks where lots of people, again, are talking about Russell Wilson and his deal. Because Russell Wilson, the main character of today's episode, the quarterback of the Denver Broncos, was just informed that he is no longer the quarterback of the Denver Broncos, essentially. He's been benched, which means that if you were to turn on this Chargers Broncos game on New Year's Eve, on Sunday, you would not see Russell Wilson. you'd see some guy named Jared Stedham, who is not very good either. But Russell Wilson, the guy who was the prize of one of the biggest transactions in recent NFL history,

that guy's season has now made it clear that that was one of the worst transactions in recent NFL history. And the Broncos had a weird season. They were plausibly a playoff team for a while. It's not like Russ was terrible. But now it's clear that the Broncos are done with him. They've made this choice not to risk anything

that might trigger various. guarantee clauses in his contract, which would pay him money, and they're like seemingly saying, we're going to move on from this whole thing. And so what is up with that? I don't know, but I have a sense, thanks to this episode, of how we got here. And yeah, I think we answered some questions, even though there are plenty left to be answered in the coming months. So, that's today's show. Please enjoy. Welcome to Pablo Torre finds out. I am Pablo. Lottore, and today we're going to find out what this sound is. He created a Twitter, and he asked me what he should make his handle.

I was like, I don't know, you can just make it Russell Wilson. And he also made it dangerous. And I was like, the fuck is dangerous. And he's like, it's what my friends call me. Right after this ad. You're listening to Draft King's Network. So, Cortez, I really hate talking about college. this much. No, you don't. We've gotten dinner so many times and half the time you're wearing some

form of Harvard shirt. It's embarrassing. It's just like public advertisement. But I bring it up to you today because I have a new theory that I've been workshopping on test it out on you. And it's a theory that's actually not specific to where I went to college or where you went to college. I believe that every college in America has someone that I like to call that guy. That guy? That guy. What does that mean in which like Harvard article inspired? fired this. Like, let's go. This guy. Go so loud. He opens his mouth, but the words won't come out. He's joking half. Everybody's joking now. The clock's run out. Time's up over plow. Snap back to reality.

That's objectively bad. I'm sorry. And I don't want to hear any more of that in case you wanted to know. So that guy in that video is current Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramoswamy, who has seen there rapping, pander, pander rapping, I suppose, at the Iowa State fair just last month. I mean, I know the name. He's like in, he's in the polls and all this, right for the Republican candidate and all this stuff? He's second right now. Okay, second fucking second place in the Republican polls right now. And that, that guy is my that guy from college, which is especially surreal because of Vake Ramoswamy in college when you were both freshmen was famous on campus for his alter ego 20 years ago. And his alter ego was

a libertarian rapper that he called DaVic. D-A. D-A. D-V-V-A. Okay. D-Vick. That's like, honestly,

that might be the worst thing I've ever heard. One of the most cringeworthy thing. That's embarrassing. Even, like, when I think back at our time together at Harvard, Vivek and I wound up

taking the same moral philosophy class as freshman also. And in lecture, I vividly remember, I've been joking by this for 20 years, too. In lecture, a lecture class with, like,

hundreds of students in it. Vivek would raise his hand all of the time. He would raise it conspicuously in the shape of a V. Hold on. So, for the podcast audience, it's actually a V. It's not like a two that could also be a V. No. Wow.

Like, he was shining a bat signal, his own bat signal for terrible libertarian ticks. And I just want to clarify, like, what makes a that guy based on these details we've now discussed. Give us the definition, please. That guy is insanely ambitious, right? He's incredibly image conscious.

He cares about how he appears. But he is totally undeterred by how much the people around him are all cringing at how awful and uncomfortable all of this is. So that's a great definition. Here's the thing. This is the difference between you and I. You went to Harvard. Your classmates are like Mark Zuckerberg and this guy Vivek.

I went to Florida Atlantic. I went to FAU. It's a nothing school. So hearing you describe that, particularly the detail about people cringing about you, I was that guy at FAU. You're looking at him. I'm just going to give you a couple of details, okay?

I wanted to be the editor-in-chief of the newspaper. I showed up to the election wearing a cut-off t-shirt from the gym and a tank top. I won the election. I got chastised by a pro-editor for what I wore. He later lost his job soon after. Shout out to him for being a hater. When I was the editor I put a promo all across the school

advertising for open house Cortez And I put three things about what you should come see Pizza Chicken fingers Cortez The last part Is I had access to a golf cart

I would use that golf cart To go to class And just leave it outside And wait for me to come out of class It was not allowed to do that I just want to stress to everybody That when I decided to start

my show by talking to Ryan Cortez. I didn't know any of this shit. Even still, I think when I'm trying to like imagine the power rankings of that guys in America, I think you're probably, you might be number two. Okay. But number one, in terms of like a deeply image conscious person who sort of does all this theatrical stuff,

does weird hand things, does weird voices, and is, again, numb. forever to the cringe that other people are feeling around him. I would say that the number one, that guy in America, Cortez, is in sports, actually. And I think he's pretty obvious. I think you and I are thinking of the same guy, and I think that guy got his a-kicked by the Dolphins

and Mike McDaniel on Sunday, and it was pretty bad. And yet, Russell Wilson, still, undeniably, first ballot, that guy, Hall of Famer. Everybody has to have an ultra-ego, right? And I've been thinking about what my alter ego would be. And I think I have an alter ego. His name, his name's Mr. Mr. Mr. Unlimited. You've got to be unlimited.

You know, you've got to have a thought process of being unlimited. So when people ask you, you know, what you're thinking about or what you want to do in life or where you want to go, you got to be unlimited. Tell him, I'm unlimited. When he came out onto the field pregame for warm-ups, he went to the middle of the field, closed his eyes, held his arms out, and slowly spun up.

himself around. Hey, you want to split this subway sandwich? It is my signature sandwich. It's called the Danger Witch. And it's dangerously good. Be careful, though. It's spicy. Yeah, if you go on YouTube, there are entire compilations of videos like this.

Just enter in Russell Wilson plus cringe. And you'll get an entire assortment. There's so much more than that. I mean, my skin hurts from cringing at that. Like, that was deeply uncomfortable to listen to and watch. and Broncos country, as you alluded to, is a war zone right now, obviously, right? And things are going so terribly that I actually am more fascinated now by Russell Wilson than I've ever been before. I mean, me too, because the thing is Sean Payton and Russell Wilson, it seems like they've been going at it.

Sean Payton's been critical. And Sean Payton was critical of him before they got destroyed. But before they got, like, beat by 50. I mean, like, imagine now. despite all of these public jokes, these public criticisms, the real Russell Wilson remains like a super private mystery. Because, I mean, I remember ESPN once reported that Russell Wilson used to make people sign non-disclosure agreements

before they entered his private box at Seattle Mariners game. Sounds like some A-Rod behavior. Right. Like, he's hiding something. He wants to hide, it seems like, who he really is. And all of this is specifically, why what I want to do today is find out who Russell Wilson, the ultimate

that guy, was in college. Because before the NDAs, before he won the Super Bowl, before he got divorced, married Sierra, before he became the centerpiece of what is arguably now, the biggest and most disastrous trade in NFL history,

like, he was a college kid. And so what we did was find someone who was in his inner circle. Someone who roomed with him, someone who was at his first wedding and sat behind Russell Wilson

on the death chart at Wisconsin. We found the guy behind that guy. And our guy, it turns out, has a pretty good idea of where the fuck this story might be going next. I have a feeling

that Russell Wilson's not going to like this episode. Well, it's going to be spicy. Nate Tice, I do want to introduce you here for people who may not know your legend, and I believe it is a legend. Because, no, I've summoned you here as a friend who has, in my opinion, the ultimate story of going to college with that guy, right? But I want to make clear that, if not for that guy that I refer to, you, Nate Tice might be for other people, might have.

been for other people, that guy himself. Guess who I go to college with now? Mike Tice's son. Vikings head coach, Mike Tice's son, you are at least that, that guy. Yeah. And it's not like you can hide both physically and also verbiage-wise. When my dad is 6-8, I'm 6-5, our last name is Tice that is a very specific kind of name. It is. It's kind of one that you can't, especially in the football world, you can't really hide too much with that last name. People look at you and they look at the last name and they go, oh, got it. At six foot eight inches, Mike Tice is the tallest coach in NFL history.

And to the casual observer, this giant isn't very gentle. Get off the field. That was horses. They don't even have to say, like, is that your dad? They just figure it out. They're like, oh, okay, tall, laugh a little too much. big forehead, squeenny eyes.

Yeah, okay, I think I know who that is. I just don't have the New York accent. But no, I went to Wisconsin. I played football there, and there was pretty awesome because my dad was a coach for the Minnesota Vikings for a while,

an assistant coach around the NFL for a long time and a player. Yes. But going to Wisconsin was pretty funny because it was a lot of Packer fans who all, I got at least a dozen teammates that said, dude, I used to hate your dad.

And like, it sucks that you're actually a decent guy. So Nate Tice, in all of his decency, is kind of underselling himself here because Nate would go on to become a scout for the Atlanta Falcons, a coach with the Oakland Raiders, and now the co-host of the athletic football show. He's real smart. But my favorite biographical detail is that Nate was also a ballboy for the Vikings while his dad was the head coach there, which meant that Nate was on the sideline in 2002. for the best play in the history of dual threat quarterbacking. Second and eight, off the play fake, has some running room. Inside the 30, inside the 20. Vic, into the end zone.

Falcons win in overtime. A 46-yard touchdown run. And yeah, if you're watching on the Draft King's Network or on our YouTube channel, that is Nate Tice right there. Right there with a literal X on his chest. on his vest, watching Michael Vick disintegrate his entire family with the greatest walk-off touchdown ever. And when Nate got older, he himself became a quarterback for the University of Wisconsin Badgers. At the very same time that another dual threat quarterback, a certain graduate transfer from the North Carolina State Wolfpack,

was about to join the team. You are a quarterback, a backup quarterback, in that quarterback's room with Russell Wilson. But Ross is coming in, as you say, he's a fifth year senior. He has never been to Wisconsin before. He shows up as a would-be savior. That's what he hopes to be. And I just want to know, do you haze the guy? Like, what does the Wisconsin football team do to a guy who shows up under those specific circumstances?

The Wisconsin hazing was not what you've seen in the news recently. It's very kind of innocent. Can't walk on the logo. You have to, okay, Wisconsin, oh, the freshman, it's usually just freshman and transfers. We don't have a lot of transfers. You can't use the elevator to go to the offices. You have to use the stairs, you know, when you go to the meeting rooms, just minor things like that. And another one was, you know, freshman, you have to tuck your shirts in.

That is usually like kind of like just, you know, so you look kind of like a dweeb. You know, you don't have the loose shirt. You're tucking it in. What are you going to the golf course? You're working out here. And so, of course, Russ comes in and we're like, okay, you got to tuck his shirt in. Wait a minute. He already tucked his shirt in when he worked out.

So that kind of takes away a little bit of our like a little innocent hazing that we had there that this new guy that comes in already tucked his shirt in. And so then when he ended up becoming Russell Wilson, the freshman actually looked cool because they're copying the starting quarterback. And it kind of just the rest of us seniors were like, oh, well, that just took that away a little bit. So he just embraced all of it, but it was a little bit of a problem for us anyways, that what part of the hazing was something he already did in his day-to-day life. I appreciate that Russell Wilson is totally oblivious to the idea that what you're trying

to make fun of him for, he actually just is organically. There's a couple difference with Russ. One was, first off, his kind of, like his work ethic as a pro kind of stood out right away, and I think that's what made Wisconsin guys embrace him right away. and that's always something that stuck with me. It's like, I thought I worked hard, and then I got around Russ and was like, oh, and then off field was Russ doesn't drink.

So I would go to this comedy club on State Street, Madison, and I was like, oh, let's do that. So I go to the comedy club with him, and I'm showing up. I'm a 12-year-old broke college student. I just probably wearing cargo shorts and, you know, just a polo shirt, whatever I'm wearing. And here comes Russ wearing kind of a cabby hat and like a white button down.

And I remember the first thing I said, said to him was like, oh, you're lucky you're getting that in before Labor Day. And he had no idea what I meant. He just stared at me. It was like, yeah. And I just was, oh, okay, okay. With his fiance, that's also a notable thing. He was like, oh, you're in a serious relationship with someone from high school.

Coming from an apartment that was like opposite side of Madison on the lake. And I was like, oh, yeah, you play professional baseball already. And it was just all these types of things, how he carried himself that I'm like, you're a little bit different than a normal college kid. I usually drink my like Korzite and Miller lights with. Yeah, but wait. So Russell Wilson, who again, yes, it's a great reminder, had played professional baseball, was a draft pick,

was a two-sport athlete in ways that are just sort of mind-blowing. You go out with him. And as you guys become close to each other, like how close do you get? Like, now you're on the team together. Yeah. What's the level of proximity you guys share in football life? Well, we were roommates on the road, which was a surprising choice even for me, but the thinking was. And I actually think Russ requested it from what I was told was that because he wanted to talk over the game plan the night before the game.

That was his number one reason for it. It wasn't because, oh, Nate Tyson is my best friend. But we would room on the road. And then we ended up getting along. Great. We would hang out. And we played a few night games that year. So we would hang out in the hotel room all day during the day.

and we talk and kind of listen to music as we developed a playlist. What, okay, wait, wait. What is the playlist development process like with Russell Wilson behind closed doors? It was because our first game was a Thursday night game against you and LV. So we're sitting in a hotel room. We have a walkthrough in the middle of day. And that's really the only thing to kind of break it up, maybe a couple meals and everything until you get going to the game situation. So I was like, let's make a playlist.

Let's get going on it. And I'm like, okay, I know he kind of, kind of like, scosspled. music and what is he going to go with. So I think there's a lot of Justin Timberlake on the playlist. And then he also requested a Rihanna song, Cheers, I Drink to that. And I was like, that's an interesting choice for someone that doesn't drink. For people who aren't familiar with the lyrics, what is the song about? It's about drinking and having a good time.

And that is one of the lines that always stuck out with me. And that is Rihanna saying, like, well, the Jameson sink in. And Russ, here's that lyric, and we're getting ready for the game and we're listening to that song. And he looks at me, and Ted's serious. He asks, he goes, what is it about Jameson? And I was like, what do you mean?

And he's like, well, I've seen you drink it and you like it. And he's like, what do you like about it? And I was like, I don't know, it gets the job done. It makes me feel nice. And he was like, okay, I just, you know, I've seen you drink it. I've seen other people drink it. And I hear Rihanna mentioning it. and she sounds like she likes it so much.

So there must be something special about Jameson, right? The question was so sincere. Yeah, I mean, admittedly, it kind of sounds like he asks questions that an undercover FBI agent might, if he was embedded. Right. With a bunch of comments. So if you were to find Jameson, especially under 21, where would you get it from? That's exactly what it was.

What does it do when it enters your throat as he was holding a tape recorder in front of you? But wait. But, oh, but so. Okay, let's take this in a different sense. Like, if this is a movie, and again, in my mind, it's already a movie, what movie are you thinking of, Nate? And who is Russell Wilson in that movie when it comes to just guy asking all of these questions all of the time? It's the movie that sticks out to me, and it wasn't, I had not seen it before I met Russ,

but saw it in the years ensuing, was Starman, which starring Jeff Bridges. And it's a John Carpenter 80s movie. It's actually a very sweet film, but it's about an alien that comes, God, that sounds so mean. It sounds like an alien that comes to Earth and stumbles upon a recently widowed wife or widowed woman. And he clones himself into Jeff Bridges, which was the woman's former husband. That's right. And it's about the story of Jeff Bridges or Starman learning to become a human and become that husband. And the questions that he asked and how genuine they are and how he asked them,

that kind of is what reminds me of us. This body has a terrible emptiness. This is called hungry? Yeah, and when people get hungry, they have to eat food. Eat. Yes, we must do that. We will stop at food station. You have hungry, too. That's the one that more than any other flick or any other thing,

any other pop culture artifact that I think is like, that's kind of how Russ was, where it was just like these innocent questions to figure things out. Yes, from another planet trying to figure out how you humans get down in Madison, Wisconsin. You know, when I was doing research for this, and I tried to do as much research as I can on Pablo Tori finds out, of course, I dove into the YouTube archives of just interviews Russ had given in the year 2011.

And they asked him, somebody asked him, a reporter, a local radio reporter asked him, Have you seen any good movies lately? Our listeners, they want to get to know Russell Wilson a little bit. So why don't you tell me what's the best movie you've seen this summer? Best movie I've seen this summer. Wow. To be honest with you, I haven't seen too many movies.

Big movie guy or not? Yeah, I am a big movie guy. I saw Friends with Benefits of the other day. Okay, with I think Justin Timbligson in it and the girl's name, I forget her name. Coonis? Yeah, that's pretty funny. Yeah, that was pretty funny. Start off kind of slow, but I liked it a lot.

And he kind of struggled through it, didn't seem plausibly human in that end. answer. But then he asked him, What about favorite TV show? What are you watching on TV when you're not, you know, getting ready for the season? Favorite TV show, probably everybody loves Raymond. Yeah, I love watching that. A lot of reruns of that then, huh? He gets that all the time. Everybody loves Raymond.

That's such a perfect answer. What's a better answer than that? Like, what is more like an act answer than that? What's so amazing to me is that it feels like what an alien would say because he's like, It's in the title, everybody loves Raymond. All of you guys, I'm told, love Raymond. And so me, too, I love Raymond. Right?

Just, I'm everybody. I like this. But hold on. Take me behind the closed doors of this hotel room that you guys share on the road. Yeah. Like, what are you guys watching together? Like, what comes to mind when you think about memories that you shared, just like two bros browing out?

We're getting ready. We're sitting in our beds in the morning. We just finished breakfast and we're watching the end of college game day. And just as it wraps up, all of a feature starts. You know, Tom Rinaldi. And it was just, you know,

all of a sudden starts and it's about Russell Wilson. And he's laying there right now on the bed next to me, not the same bed, separate beds, but we're just sitting there, we're watching it. And then all of a sudden, it's just this whole feature about Russell Wilson. In a way, our memories are theater.

The frames of the world, our past flicker as we project our own light onto the screen and into the story. For Russell Wilson, the story begins with his father. Dave is a dark-cold-bile player, and his favorite target is Harry Wilson. All-Ivy split-in from Virginia Beach, Virginia. And I'm kind of just, where does this come from? He didn't mention this. He never mentioned it once during the week. He never mentioned it once that morning. And it just starts. And I'm right next to the guy that they're doing this whole feature. and it's talking about him and his dad.

And his dad who had passed and about the influence that he had on his life. And Russ just watched that kind of stoically and not saying dispassionately, but just more like he was really focused on watching that. I think my dad was ready to go because he knew that I was headed in the right direction. This fall, the movie plays on.

Russell Wilson's final season of college football is unfolding with the Badgers. The team and the setting are new, that the quest is the same to achieve that dream that still stretches from father to son. Very surreal experience for me as I...

I do want to clarify this picture because the story is a really meaningful, heartfelt one. Like Russell Wilson, Nate, what I've read, everything I've read and seen from features like this is that Russ's dad is the man who sort of imbued him with a lot of the phrases that he's still,

uses today, right? Like, what's that one about a king, right? There's a king in every crowd. Yes. And like Russ... King in every room. Yeah, Russ's dad said this to him. He still says it's one of his catchphrases that he's now kind of made fun of for today.

But in this scenario, the reason I bust out laughing is because I'm imagining you being just a normal guy who's like, how am I supposed to be in this emotional dynamic? And I'm already bad at that as it is. Like when someone has bad news happened, I'm always just like, hang in there. You know, like I'm just kind of, you know, big tap on the back guy. And that is unfolding. And like you said, it's from, by all accounts, his dad was a very successful man and very, you know, respected man. You know, I had a high education at Dartmouth, was a good football player. Just seemed to be a very, you know, someone that really had like a lot of people looked up to,

especially Russ. And when he, I didn't know any of this, any of this. I knew he had passed, but I didn't know any of this until leading into that, watching that feature. And it finished, again, never mentioned this throughout the week. It finishes all up. And he kind of, you know, I'm like, I didn't really say a word. You know, what do you say?

Like, it's like, it's like, good. It was that bad. And he kind of just looked at me and goes, what did you think? And I, I didn't, I was like, I thought that was really pretty. I think that was exactly my phrase. Oh, Nate. I thought that was really pretty. And I was like, I think that was good.

I didn't know what to say. And he was like, yeah, I did too. And then we just moved on. And that was it. It was just such a, again, surreal experience to be, to be watching that with someone that hadn't mentioned it. And not to be just like this little fun video, but to be this really, really passionate, heartfelt message throughout it. And it just really, that always stuck with me. That's just little experience talking with him during that.

not even talking with him, sitting near him while he watched it. I'm an outsider, too, to Madison, Wisconsin, the greatest college town in America. Yes. What are some of the cultural folkways that Russ just wanted to know about that he was relying on you for? So we at that time had a documentary crew following us from USPN. It was Year of the Quarterback or QB Deptard or QB1, something like that. And they're doing a whole theme. It was like, us, Oklahoma State, and some of us.

some other spots. But when Russ came in, I think the producers for that documentary kept asking him to sing the fight song. Do you know the words to the fight song yet? Do you know any of this?

And all of us in the QB room, including our office coordinator or quarterback coach, who was an alum of Wisconsin. None of us really knew the words other than on Wisconsin. And, you know, that's what the title of the song is.

It's a very famous college fight song. But even to this day, I struggle with some of the words. But that stuck with him. And then all of a sudden to be kind of, all of a sudden I'm here. hearing in interviews, he finishes the interviews, and he will finish it with, on Wisconsin. Russell Wilson, enjoy the game on Saturday. Thanks for giving us some time.

Thank you guys so much, on Wisconsin. And I was like, oh, that's kind of cute. All right, I've never really heard that. I wonder, that probably was just the one interview he did. Appreciate you guys so much, on Wisconsin. He's saying on Wisconsin at the end of every interview. And I was like, and people freaking out Wisconsin ate it up. Of course. You know, the Madison fan base were like, oh. Thank you guys. Appreciate it. On Wisconsin.

Russell, we're sorry this season has been such a disappointment for you, but hopefully in the Rose Bowl, you'll be able to have some fun. Yeah, I can't wait. All Wisconsin. That becomes like a whole thing, a recurring theme throughout his career. Go Hawks. Go Hawks. Go Hawks. Go Hawks. Go Hawks. Broncoe's country, let's ride. Roncoe's country, let's ride. But even going into Monday night football,

when you announce your school that you went to, he would say a whole pack of badgers. Russell Wilson, from a whole pack of badgers. Which always cracked me up because it was like, Oh, he's appealing to the North Carolina delegates, as well as the Wisconsin ones. He's broad appeal here. Now he's got the Pacific Northwest going.

He's getting every time zone here. And then now he gets into Denver land. Now he's got the Mountain Times zone. He's kidding. There's a savvy is what you're describing there. There's a public relations, almost political savvy, to the idea of... They read the polls.

And so now he's going to feed it to them every time. But I feel like, like when I think back to that 2011 season, I think of that Nebraska game. What do you remember about like Nebraska Week? Okay, so we're on the sideline for that game or leading up to that game. And they want to talk to Russ. You know, it's like the athletic director, Barry Alvarez, Kirk Herb Street, a couple people from the Dan Patrick show, a couple people behind the show entourage

along with some Wisconsin boosters. Of course. Of course, as one does. And Russ would always in these situations be like, hey, hey, Titzer, come with me. it's like, dude, I'm the backup quarterback. I played like 20 snaps in my college career. They don't want to talk to me. But he kind of almost used me as like a human meat shield to like, kind of like,

okay, all right, you're my gold retriever. Go talk to him. Okay, and then I'll slide in and talk to him too. So I was like, okay, I'm fine with that. It's a frigging meet Kirk Gurb Street. This is great. I'm talking to all them. So leading into that, the next night, we're in the Friday game,

or Friday in the hotel room. And Russ and I were talking about the Dan Patrick show because he met the people from it. And he was like, oh, you know, hopefully. I can be on the show. And I think if we win, we might be on the show. I could maybe get on there. And then he goes, what, what are the Dan Patrick guys like like, like anything, anything in particular? And I was like, well, if you do an interview after the game, if we win, say Passion Bucket.

They'll like that. And he's like, really? Just say Passion Bucket. I go, yeah, rope it in, rope it in. Like the Passion Bucket's full or something like that. He's like, okay. So we win this game. Russ plays phenomenally.

I think he was anointed ESPN, put him as the leader of their Heisman race. You know, they would do that every week. He's at the desk after the game. You know, college game day's there. And I think he's with Fowler. And sure enough, Fowler asked him, like, what did you have playing for this game? How'd you go?

And he drops the passion bucket line. And sure enough, after that game, there he is on a Dan Patrick show on that Monday. Wait, Nate, you were his speechwriter. Is what I'm gathering. I was. I was his speechwriter. I'm keeping it 1600.

But you guys are, but he has you, he has you, he has you, reviewing game film? Is that what's happening here? It's game film of actual game film and then media film. He's asking me how his answers were coming across. Is that funny? Is that something people like?

And again, none of this sounded like a shallow person or someone that was like evil. It sounded like someone that was generally asking and was truly trying to go like, okay, is this good? And I think that's what Russ is, I think it was a pleaser when it comes to. down to it, but also a lot of weird. And I think that that's exactly what Russ is. Like, you have to be wired a certain way to be an NFL quarterback, especially a successful NFL quarterback.

Some guys are naturally cool, like Lamar, you know, Lamar Jackson, even Josh Allen in his own kind of weird way is kind of cool, Joe Burrow. And also just, I think that's Russell on the field is so different than Russell, you know, as we see him in the media. in the media world, the media landscape. Compare and contrast that, right? Because off the field, of course, you're describing somebody who is,

who's like the epitome of try hard, who is trying hard to come off as somebody who is cool. On the field, what are you seeing as a scout? He's a psycho competitor. Him on the field is cool, calm, and collected. We ended up losing these games to Michigan State and Ohio State on Hail Marys, but he single-handling brought us back because of plays he created.

He in the Big Ten championship game brought us back to beat Michigan State. And it was an awesome game. In that Michigan State game, he throws a beautiful touchdown on like third and extra long. Golson from Michigan State, who's with the bucks right now, snaps his helmet all the way to his side and breaks Russ's nose in the middle of the game. And Wilson breaks to Dave Wilson. Everyone's going nuts on the sideline. There's a flag, a touchdown.

Crowd's going nuts. And Russ just looks at me and goes, like, and always says to me, he goes, do I still look pretty? and he meant it as a joke. But how calm he was in that moment. Now, that's badass. That's action movie winking at the camera shit. That was it.

It was like, and I couldn't believe it, as he's coming off the field, the trainers are coming up to him. And he looks at me in the eye and says that. And I was like, dude, that's so cool. I was like, dude, you're a baller, man. But this is what's so difficult when we talk about trying to summarize who a person really is,

is that you've now described a couple of different personas inside of Russell Wilson. It sounds like. I will say that, and this just kind of came to me, was when he created a Twitter in one of our hotel room experiences, when he created his Twitter account. Oh, you were there for the founding of it. I was there.

The inauguration. And he asked me what he should make, what he should make his handle. I was like, I don't know, you can just make it Russell Wilson. I think that's totally fine. Russ Wilson 16. That's what he wore at Wisconsin. and he also made it dangerous.

And I was like, the fuck is dangerous. And he's like, it's what my friends call me. And I was like, I've never heard you say that. I'm like, ever once. And you're going to make your Twitter handle that? It was like, oh, there's another side of you that I have no idea about. And also just like what, you know,

just this other aspect that you kind of unravel and show a little bit more. And it's, yeah, it's a little odd. You're living the dream alongside a guy who is achieving his. and the wedding story. What is, because you get, I mean, I just want to be very blunt about this, you get invited. You're in the inner circle, right? You're at his first wedding.

And so, paint that picture for me. What does it look like to go to Russell Wilson's wedding? I think also you have to remember with Russ. Russ is from Richmond, Virginia. And the school he went to was like the collegiate school. He's from a nice area. And that wedding was very nice. It was one of the nicer weddings I've ever been to.

And this is before, again, that he was even drafted in the NFL. And yes, he had a baseball contract and everything. But he, I mean, he had like a long tail for his suit, you know, like an old school, like tux, like penguin tucks. Yes. Had that. I believe they had top hats and white shirts or white gloves as well. And, you know, it was a very southern, like, southern. Gentile.

Yeah, right. But this is getting to that wedding and just seeing that aspect of his life and the wedding that had, you know, champagne with strawberries. But that's, but that, again, this is what it's like to be friends with someone in college. One day you realize you're also this guy? Oh, it's one of those. Yeah. Oh. Ah.

I didn't. Ah. You mentioned this, but I didn't put it together. You didn't have tails is what you're saying. You didn't have tails on your, on your suit. on your suit? I did not. I did not.

Had a nice suit, though. Even then, even that I knew to at least dress. I think I had a nice suit anyways. Enough. Your suit had cargo pockets, Nate. I was like, I knew I kind of was getting into

when I got the invite. And I think I even, like, I pushed to get, like, a new suit for my parents for, like, Christmas or something like that. I was like, hey, can you help me out here? I'm going to the Rose Bowl. I got a real wedding to go to.

Yeah, Russell Wilson's wedding invitation has cursive that I can't read. So I feel like I got to go get a better suit. That's exactly how I thought. It looks like it's been ridden with a feather. But wait, so I want to keep on following this arc because your path at this point, I'm placing you at this wedding, and you're there. You're in the inner circle.

And where does it go from there? Like, when do the paths begin to diverge? I guess when he gets to the NFL? Like, when did, how does that go? He gets drafted by Seattle and by the Seattle Seahawks. my background, I'm originally born in Seattle or Bellevue, Washington. My dad played for the Seahawks for 10 years. I'm a diehard Seattle Mariners fan.

I moved to me when my dad became a coach for the Vikings is when I moved to Minnesota. But until that point, we had a house during the summer, because coaches would take vacation in the summer before camp, out an hour away from Seattle near Gate Harbor, Washington. So he gets drafted. And so he's kind of still part of my life because I'm like, hey, I'll be there this summer. Let's hang out.

Yeah, what are the odds? What are the odds? Like, this is continuing. Look at this. And, you know, he's drafted in the third round. The Seahawks just drafted Matt, or signed Matt Flynn from the Packers. So, who knows? I'm realistic about quarterbacks in the NFL.

It's like, okay, he's kind of a huge outlier, his size and everything. I've had experience seeing what quarterbacks work and what don't. Who knows? He was amazing. He's a much better pastor than I think he got credit for. But who knows, if he starts or not. So we were there that summer. He comes to our house for Fourth of July.

We went to a bar called, you know, I've noticed a lot of my stories are bar involved as well. I've noticed this. Yeah, I know. I know. This is a dark period in my life.

It's a great period, actually. But we went to a old bar called FX McCrory's in Seattle. And we get there and people recognize my dad. Again, my dad is 6-8. He played for the Seahawks for a long time. So 6-8 Mike Tice, 6-5-8-8-Tis, 5-11, Russell, is the order of totem poles here.

So everyone comes up to my dad. My dad's kind of like a people's champ. He was a blocking tight end for the Seahawks. So, you know, get some old timers coming up to him. I'll say about a dozen people came up to him. And that happens in Seattle. It's a lot of fun, usually. But no one recognized Russell.

And my dad was, he loved Russ. He wanted to draft him to the Bears. He thought he was going to take him in the fourth round. They already had a sign sale delivered. That would change a lot of destinies. A lot. Which might be understating it, honestly, because at this point in 2012, Mike Tice was the offensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears,

and his quarterback was Jay Cutler. Russ's brother lived in Chicago at the time. You just broke so many hearts. Right. Fourth round. That counterfactual alternate timeline is, ugh. They were bought, they sold on it. It was signed off.

He was there in the fourth. Wow. I know. So he loved Russ. But he kept going, hey, this is every fan that came up, he goes, this is Russell Wilson, this is going to be your guy's starting quarterback.

And every guy goes, every person kind of gave the, you know, this handshake. Oh, yeah, nice to meet you, but they're looking somewhere else because they're trying to look for the next best thing.

And coaching, they call that the Combine Handshake. It's where you, hey, what's up? Hey, coach. And it's like some head coach or offense coordinator and you're like, you're really excited to talk to him.

But then as they're talking to you, they're already looking for the next conversation to get into it. Oh, yeah, yeah, good to see you. Oh, I know it real well. So they kept kind of doing that to Russ, and my dad was like, no, seriously. And then I guarantee you, competitive Russ. Yes.

Channeled all of that and bottled all of that. And every person goes, well, I thought Matt Flynn's our quarterback. And Russ was like, okay. And he didn't really say much. And he kind of just took it. And he took the starting job, and he's never relinquished it or he never did through his time. But that was my experience. And as he's going through his rookie year, and he has a successful rookie year,

the fail Mary happens that year, I believe, against the Packers. And we're texting after that game. Like, ha, ha, ha. He gets Eminem writes about him in a song. And I think with Rihanna. Oh, my God. It's right. It's like all this surreal stuff happening.

And we're still texting all the time. And I think we met up that next spring. Like, we were both back in Madison. We hung out. all this stuff, then the Super Bowl year happened. And that's kind of when the diverging of our past really started kind of happen a little bit more and more. So this is year two, right? This is all happening fast.

He goes from what is Rihanna singing about here to, wait a minute, now I'm being name-checked by Eminem to, oh, wait, now I'm winning the fucking Super Bowl in year two. In year two. It's kind of a nice path to be on. Yeah. What other quarterback won a Super Bowl in year two? Oh, Tom Brady? Oh, wow, this is fun. This might be a great path I'm going on.

So that is the tone of voice of a person who used to be in the inner circle but is now watching from below the overpass. He's just like, oh, oh, this is like. It was more about what happened? And again, don't get me wrong. I still am a big Russell Wilson supporter, but as a football player and just watching him. And it was like, he deserved all the success. He was awesome. He's freaking awesome.

He's so good. And I think it's just, as the years have gone along and other things happened throughout his career, but it's like, this dude was awesome and such an electric talent that I was very excited at that time, always to be like, yeah, I know Russ. Yeah, I know Russ. I would name drop him left and right. Of course I would. Of course I would.

I mean, I would too. I demand, so I demand, though, honesty from you. as you now are watching the trajectory diverge from yours. Because, right, I'm looking through, like, just my mental rolodex of stuff that happens, Super Bowl year on, and it's endless. Yeah. I mean, so just as a matter of just, like, in no particular order, right?

Like, his feud with the defense, with Richard Sherman, with Earl Thomas, all those guys, because he's Pete Carroll's, like, favorite son. That whole saga, which is bubbling and bubbling and bubbling and, And anyway, it continues on for years. There's him, I mean, marrying Sierra. And by the way, as this is happening, so too, is where, like, the jokes. Right.

I mean, this is where, I mean, you, again, you were there on the ground floor. And you're watching now the jokes, the personas, the Mr. Unlimited. Right. The memes, the voices. Now we have Russell Wilson doing voices. Like, there's cool guys. Russ voice, there is normal guy Russ voice, there is all of this happening. And now the world is getting a taste of the alien that you taught about Earth.

A taste of the alien. Yeah, the star man became a star. A super star man, in fact. Yeah, super star man. Man. Yes, the star man became a star man. But it's, I think that kind of weird side and just that kind of, oh, I want to say again, most quarterbacks are extremely weird and I'm speaking from experience.

Yeah. And it's just personal, my own experience. But it's, I think with the watching him and seeing kind of like what gets poked and what got kind of memed, it was one of those where in the moment, especially in college, you're just like, oh, yeah, whatever, he's weird and whatever. And then I think would start him. and becoming relevant when people poke and poke and poke and try and find any holes with you, it became more of a thing.

When you don't have success, that's when people are going to just try and bring you back down. I think his personality was one of those where it's like, he's too clean. You know, he's too, he says, oh, he's too boring, he's too corny. And it was kind of like, yeah, he kind of always was like that, wasn't he? And it's just that I kind of got highlighted a little bit more. Well, the Sean Payton thing, right? Like, Sean Payton is now inheriting this quarterback who has increased the magnitude of his goals. You just alluded to some of them.

But he has told USA Today, Russell Wilson has, that the biggest goal, quote, is to be able to influence and change the world. Right. Like, this is the stuff that he's shooting for. This is transcending the business that we are in, transcending sports. And so when Sean Payton tells Seth Wicker Sham, my former colleague at ESPN, and I want to get this completely. correct here. Quote, will you fucking stop kissing all the babies? You're not running for public office. End quote. What was your reaction when you heard that? Right. Like, right? Like, that was my reaction. I have had a long developing theory about Russell Wilson from even my experience with him at Wisconsin

and every step of the way afterwards is that everything he does is to be. be president of the United States. And there's been nothing to dissuade me from that opinion. That's about quarter joking and it's becoming less and less quarter. It might be one-eighth joking after the next couple of years.

What party? Which I don't know. I think whichever one he thinks will win that I wish I could say. But I have no inclination of how he feels like for anything like that. But this is...

economic, personal policy, you know, any international policy, I have nothing. How does he feel about abortion? I have no idea. So there's a lot of aspects that I would have to answer before I could figure that out. And that's me who roomed with him for almost an entire year. Right. The point there is not, you know, who knows, it seems almost deliberate that he has not revealed his actual beliefs about things in an effort to make.

sure that the coasts and the middle and all of these precincts across the country may, in fact, be really into Russell, Inc. Yes. And it's Michael Jordan said, you know, Republicans buy Jordans too. And I think Russ is like, everybody buys Levi's. And I think that's what, I think that's really something that he's taken to heart and is really trying to just make sure that that's his message no matter what. It's also kind of a nightmare.

And I want to leaven the nightmare by pointing out. that some part of me does actually relate to Russell Wilson. And it's not just the part of me that also leans on crutches of catchphrases when I got nothing else good to say on camera. It's the fact that trying hard is his sin. And on some level, Nate, trying hard, wanting to be liked, wanting to be approved of is kind of the most human quality that an act,

that an actual genetically natural human might have. And as someone that is a media person now, it's like, can't really throw stones here about being well-liked. I think there's a lot to the crux of my being that is down to just wanting to be liked. So I can understand it. Well, especially in an interview like this, where I think if we're being very honest with ourselves and our listeners, you've just watched two people try to be a heightened, likable version of themselves

while also trying to convince you that this is just who we are. Right. And in that way, I feel like saying on Wisconsin to conclude this, I feel like it's only fair. I just hope a whole pack of badgers listen to this show. Go hawks. So what I found out today is kind of chilling. Because I'm more like Russell Wilson than I ever realized.

There's the desire to seem cooler than I am. There's the fact that I had a black tie wedding. Also, I don't get why people like Jameson so much, admittedly. But what I know now, most of all, I can't unknow as much as I might try. Because there is a decent chance that Russell Wilson retires soon and winds up the running mate of Vivek Ramoswamy as part of some new libertarian rap party that fulfills the dream of every that guy you ever met in college and takes over the White House by like 2032.

This has been Pablo Torre finds out a Metal Arc Media production. And I'll talk to you next time.