The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - PTFO: Is Russell Wilson an Undercover Alien Running for President of the United States?

Episode Date: September 26, 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Pablo Tore finds out I am Pablo Tore and today we're gonna find out what this sound is. He created a Twitter and he asked me what he should make his handle. That's a guy I don't know, you can just make it Russell Wilson. And he also made it Dangerous. And I was like, the f*** is dangerous. And he's like, it's what my friends call me. Right after this ad.

You're listening to Giraffe 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 a Harvard shirt and vericine. It's just like public advertisement. But I bring it up to you today because I have a new theory that I have an workshopping. Mm-hmm.

I'll 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 college or you went to college, I believe that every college in America has someone that I like to call that guy. That guy, what that guy? What does that mean and which like Harvard got inspired this?

Like let's go, this guy. I go so loud, I'm opening the mouth, but the words won't come out, you joking half. Everybody's joking now, the clock's run out. Time's up, over, plow, snap back to reality. That's objectively bad, you joking half. Everybody's joking now, the clock's running out. Times up over plow, snap back to reality. That's that subjectively bad. I'm sorry. And I don't want to hear any more of that in case you wanted to.

So that guy in that video is current Republican presidential candidate, Vivek Ramaswami, who has seen their wrapping, pander, pander wrapping, I suppose, at the Iowa State Fair just last month. I mean, I know the name. He's like, and he's in the polls and all this, right for the Republican candidate and all this stuff. He's second right now.

Okay. Second, f***ing second place in the Republican polls right now. And that guy is my, that guy from college, which is especially surreal because of Vick Ramaswami in college when you're both freshman, was famous on campus for his alter ego 20 years ago. And his alter ego was a libertarian rapper that he called David. David. Okay. David. That's like, honestly, that might be the worst thing I've ever heard.

One of the most cringe-worthy 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 about 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 that. So for the podcast audience, it's actually a V. It's not like a amount too. That could also be a V. No, like that's even worse. Wow. Signing a bat signal, his own bat signal for terrible libertarian takes.

And I just want to clarify like what makes a that guy based on these details we've now just got. Yes. Give us the definition, please. That guy is insanely ambitious, right? He's incredibly image conscious. He cares about how he appears. Okay. 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 of effect. I went to Florida Atlantic. I went to FAU. It's a nothing school.

So here and you describe that, particularly the detail about people cringing about you. Yes. 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 cutoff t-shirt from the gym in a tank top.

Oh my God. 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 the... F***ing. Even still. I think when I'm trying to like imagine I didn't know any of the... F***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f***ing f*** 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. Mm. 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, kicked by the dolphins in Mike McDaniel on Sunday, and it was pretty bad. And yet, Russell Wilson still undeniably.

First ballot, that guy, hall of favor. Everybody has to have an ultra-ego, right? And I've been thinking about what my ulti-ego would be and I think I have an ulti-ego. His name, his name's Mr. Mr. Unlimited. Yeah, you gotta be unlimited. You know, you gotta have a thought process of being unlimited.

So when people ask you, you know, what you're thinking about or what you wanna do in life or where you wanna go, you gotta be unlimited. Tell them I'm unlimited. When he came out onto the field free game for warmups, he went to the middle of the field, closed his eyes, held his arms out, and slowly spun himself around. Hey, you want to put 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. and Bronco's 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. And Sean Payton's been critical and Sean Payton was critical of him before they got destroyed. But before they got beat by 50, I mean, like, imagine how despite all of these public jokes, these public criticisms, the real Russell Wilson remains like a super private mystery because 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 games. 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 wanted 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 roamed 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 f*** this story might be going next. I have a feeling that like, Russell Wilson's not gonna like this episode. Well, it's going to be spicy. Ha ha ha. 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 Tyson's son, Vikings head coach, Mike Tyson'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 I my dad is six eight I'm six five or last name is

Tyson 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 and they look at the last name they go oh Oh, got it. At six foot eight inches, Mike Tyson is the tallest coach in NFL history and to the casual observer, this giant isn't very

gentle. Get off the field. I was harsh. They don't even have to say like, is that your dad? They just figured out they're like, Oh, okay, tall, laugh a little too much.

Big forehead, squinny 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, and this isn't coach around the NFL for a long time. I had a player.

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's socks that you're actually a decent guy. So Nate Ties 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. And yeah, if you're watching on the Dragon's Network or on our YouTube channel, that is time a 40-sits-yard touchdown run. And yeah, if you're watching on the Drakings Network or on our YouTube channel,

that is Nate Ties right there. Right there with a literal X on his chest, on his vest. Watching Michael Vic disintegrate his entire family with the greatest walkoff touchdown ever. with the greatest walkoff 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 Wolf Pack was about to join the team.

You are a quarterback, a backup quarterback, in that quarterback's room with Russell Wilson. But Russ is coming in, as he 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 wanna 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, the freshmen, it's usually just freshmen 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. When you go to the meeting room, it's just minor things like that. And another one was, you know, freshman, you have to tuck your shirts in. That is usually like, just, you know, so you look kind of like a dweeb, you know,

you don't have to lose 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 know, you don't have to lose 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 take a shirt out, 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 at then when he ended up becoming Russell Wilson, the freshman actually looked cool because they're copying the starting quarterback. And they kinda, kind of just the first of a seniors 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 one 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 of difference with Russ.

One was, first off, his work ethic as a pro 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 to Russ and I was like, oh, 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 just a Shlub. I'm a 22 year old broke college student. I just probably weren't cargo shorts and just a polo shirt, whatever I'm wearing. And here comes Russ wearing kind of a cabbie hat and like a white button down. And I remember the first thing I 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.

He 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 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 the normal college kid. I usually drink my like, core is light 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, I was surprised and choice even for me, but it was 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. Like, 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'd talk and kind of listen to music as we developed a playlist. What, okay, wait, what music as we develop the playlist. What, okay, wait, what is the playlist development process like with Russell Wilson behind closed doors? It was, it was because our first game was a Thursday night

game against UNLV. So we're sitting in the whole tower room. We have a walkthrough in the middle of the 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, he, I know to kind of break it up, maybe a couple of meals and everything until you get going to the game situation, so I was like, well, let's make a playlist. Let's get going on it. And I'm like, okay, I know you kind of like, it's gospel 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. 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, without us saying, what the Jameson sink in. Oh, that's the dimmer song.

Say, I'm not trying to laugh. Yeah, yeah, yeah, go on and let the party. And Russ, here's that lyric, and we're getting ready for the game, and we're listening to that song. And it looks at me, and Ted serious, he asks, he goes, what is it about Jameson? And I was like, what do you mean? And he was like, well, I've seen you drink it, and you like it. And he's like, what serious, he asks, he goes, what is it about Jameson? And I was like, what do you mean?

And he was 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 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 with a bunch of other questions. So if you want to find Jameson, especially under 21, where would you get it from? This is Jameson. This is what you speak of.

What does it do when it enters your throat as he is holding a tape recorder in front of you? But wait, 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 it the movie that sticks out to me and it wasn't I had not seen it before I met Ross

but saw it in the years ensuing was starman Which starring Jeff Bridges and it's a John Carpenter 80s movie It's actually 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, a 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 question said 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 rust was where it's 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 public tour, I find 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 them a reporter, a local radio reporter asked him, have you a reporter at local radio reporter asked him Have you seen any good movies lately? Or 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 a movie guy or not? Yeah, I am a big movie guy. I saw friends with benefits the other day. Okay, I think Justin Tim looks in it and The girls name I forget her name coolness Yeah, coolness. Yeah, something that's pretty funny. Yeah, that was pretty funny. I started off kind of slow, but I liked it a lot And he kind of like struggled through it didn't seem plausibly human in that answer But then he asked him what about our 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. Yeah, I love watching that. Lot of reruns of that then. Yeah, so 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 apt answer than that?

What everybody loves her, man? 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. It's all 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. Like, what are you guys watching together? Like, what comes to mind when you think about memories that you shared, just like two bros growing 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. Just as it wraps up, Austin, like just a feature starts, you know, Tom Bernoulli, and it was just, you know, Austin starts, and it's about Russell Wilson. And he's laying there right now on the bed next to me, not the same bed, except for beds, but we're just sitting there watching it. And then Austin, it's just this whole feature about Russell Wilson. I'm not watching it, and I'll send just this whole feature about Russell Wilson. In a way, our memories are a theater. The frames of 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. David Jarrett, the director of the violinist, favorite target is Harry Wilson. All I've he's split in from Virginia beats for 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 on. And it's talking about him and his dad. And his dad, who had passed, and about what the influence that he had on his life. And Russ just watched that kind of stoically. And not saying like, dispassionately, but just more like he was really focused on watching that. I think my dad was ready to go because, you know, he knew that I was heading 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. 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 Russa Wilson, hey, 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 still uses today. Right? What's that one about a king, right? There's a king in every crowd. Yes. And like Russ. Yeah, Russ is dead, said this thing. He still says, he's one of his catch phrases 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, what, how am I supposed to be in this, in this emotional dynamic? And I'm already bad at that as it is. Like when someone has bad news happen, I'm always just like, hang in there. You know, like I'm just kind of, you know, a good tap, a 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 respected man. You know, had a high education at Dartmouth, was a good football player. I'm just seem to be a very, you know, someone that really had like, a lot of people looked up to it, 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 they've finished it. And never again, never mentions that they're at the week. It finishes all up. And you 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 good. It was that bad.

And he kind of just looked at me you know, what do you say? Like, it's like, good, it's that bad. And he kind of just looked at me and goes, what'd you think? And I didn't, I was like, I thought that was really pretty. I think that was exactly my phrase. Oh, no. I thought that was really pretty. And I was like, I think that was, 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 watching that with some of the head and mentioned it. And it 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 just little experience talking with him during that, or 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. What are some of the cultural folk ways 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 for me, SPN. It was year of the quarterback or QB, that charter, QB won something like that. And they're doing a whole theme. I was like, oh, so Oklahoma state and 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? Do you know any of this? And all of us in the QB room, including our office coordinator, quarterback coach, who was an alum of Wisconsin.

None of us really knew the words other than on Wisconsin. And that's what the title of the song is. And it's a very famous college fight song, but I think, you know, even to this day, I started with some of the words. But that stuck with him. And then also, and be kind of, kind of, also, I'm 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'm never really here. I wonder, I made that probably was just the one interview we did. Appreciate you guys so much.

Almost constant. He's saying almost constant at the end of every interview. And I was like, and people fricking out with Wisconsin, eated up. Of course. It was massive fanbase. We're like, oh. Thank you guys.

Appreciate it. Almost constant. 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. That can't wait, almost constant. That becomes like a whole thing, a recurring theme throughout his career. Go Hawks. Go Hawks.

Go Hawks. Go Hawks. Broncos Country, let's ride. Broncos Country, let's ride. But even going into Monday night football when you're not your school that it's your school that you went to he would say a whole pack of badgers Well, so Wilson from a whole pack of bad which always cracked me up because it was like always appealing to the To North Carolina delegates that was I was well as well as the Wisconsin ones He's brought a peel here. Now. He's got the Pacific Northwest going. He's he's getting every time zone here

And then now he gets in a Denver land now. He's got the mountain time zone He's getting every time zone here, and then now he gets into Denver land. Now he's got the mountain time zone. There's a savvy, is what you're describing there. There's a public relations, almost political savvy to the idea of- They're right, the polls. And so now he's going to feed it to them every time.

But I feel 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 we're going to have to take game and they want to talk to Russ. You know, it's like the athletic director Barry Alvarie as Kirk Herb Street, a couple people from the Dan Patrick show, a couple people behind the show on Tarash along with some Wisconsin boosters. Of course, as one does. And Russ would always in these situations be like, hey, he tights her 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 I'll slide in and talk to him too. So I was like, okay, all right, all right, you're my gold retriever, gold talk to him, okay, and then I'll slide in and talk to him too.

So I was like, okay, I'm fine with it, I get to figure me Kirk Herbshree, this is great, I'm talking to all of them. So leading into that, the next night, we're in the Friday game, or Friday in the hotel room. And Russ and I are talking about the damn Patrick show because he met those people from it. And he was like, oh, 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 like, oh, 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 is the damn 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. I don't like that. He's like, really?

Just say, Passion Bucket? I was like, 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 phenomenal. I think he was anointed. ESPN put him as the leader, their Heisman race. You know, they would do that every week. He's at the desk after the game. You know, college game days there. And I think he's with Fowler. And sure enough, Fowler asked him, like, how, what'd you have planned for this game? How'd you go? And he, he drops the passion bucket

line. And sure enough, after that game, there he is on a damn Patrick show on that Monday. Wait, Nate, you were his speech writer. Is it what I'm gathers? I was. I was. I was his speech writer. I'm keeping it 1600.

Uh, uh, but he has you, he has you reviewing game film. Is that what's happening here? He's, 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. Sure. 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 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 as successful in NFL quarterback. Some guys are naturally cool, like Lamar, you know, large accent, 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.

Comparin contrast that, right? Because off the field, of course, you're describing somebody who is, who is, who, 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 is, who is, who is 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. Uh, they're him on the field is cool, calm and collected. We had, we ended up losing these games to Michigan State and Ohio State on Hail Mary's, but he single-handedly brought us back because of plays he created.

He, in the Big Ten Championship game brought us back to, to beat Michigan State and then like was with an awesome game. And that Michigan State game, he throws a beautiful touchdown on like third and extra long. Goulson from Michigan State, who's with the Bucks right now, snaps his helmet all way to his side and breaks Russ's nose in the middle of the game. And it was it. It was to take tires.

Why don't we test out? Abracadabra. What a play by Russell Wilson. Everyone's going nuts on the sideline. There's a flag or touchdown. The Everyone's going nuts on the sideline. There's a flag or touchdown. The 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. And but how call me was in that moment? No, that's bad ass. That's action. That's action movie winking at the camera shit. That was it. It was like, he was like, and I couldn't believe it.

As he's coming off the field, as the trainers are coming up to him. And he looks at me and the eye and says that. And I was like, it's like, he was, and I couldn't believe it. As he's coming off the field, as the trainers are coming up to him, and he looks me in the eye and says then, I was like, dude, that's so cool. Like this. That's 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 that whole, in one of our hotel room experiences, when he created his Twitter. Oh, you were there. Which is for the founding of... I was there.

I was there. I was there. And he asked me what I should make, what he should make his handle. That's a guy, I don't know. You can just make it Russell Wilson. I think that's totally fine. Russell Wilson 16, that's what he wore at Wisconsin. And he also made it Danger Russ. And I was like, the f*** is dangerous. And he was 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 then you're gonna make your Twitter handle that. It was like, oh, there's another side to 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 wanna be very blunt about this. You get invited. You're in the inner circle, right? You're at his first wedding. And so tell, paint that picture for me. What's, what, 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 is like the collegiate school. He's, 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 I mean, he had like a long tail for his suit,

you know, like an old school, like tux, like penguin tux. 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, gentle. Yeah, right. But this is getting to that wedding and just seeing that aspect of his life and the wedding that had, you know, that, 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 did. 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 suit.

On your suit. I did not. I did not. Had a nice suit though. Even then, even that I knew to, that we stressed, I think I had a nice suit anyways. Enough. You're a suit at 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. 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, that's exactly how I'm.

It looks like it's been written with a, with a, 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 I 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, I'm a originally born in Seattle or Bellevue, Washington. My dad played for the sea hawks for 10 years. I'm a diehard Seattle Mariners fan. I moved him in 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, an hour away from Seattle near gig 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, what's hanging out?

Yeah, what are the odds? What are the odds? Like, this is continuing. Look at this, and you know, he's drafted into the third round. The sea ox has drafted, 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 4th of July. We went to a bar called, have you noticed a lot of my stories are bar and ball? I've known as this. Yeah, I know. I know. This is a dark period in my life. It is a great period actually.

But we went to a whole bar called FX McCurries in Seattle. And we get there and people recognize my dad. Again, my dad is 6'8. He played for the sioxes for a long time. 6'8, Mike ties, 6'5, Nate ties, 5'11. in Seattle and we get there and people recognize my dad. Again, my dad is six eight. He played for the C.O.X. for a long time. Six eight, Mike, five, eight, five, eleven Russell Wilson is the order of totem polls 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 C.O.X. So you know, it gets him all the time. He was coming up to him. I'll tell you about a dozen people came up to him. And that's happened since Seattle. It's pretty cool. It's a lot of fun usually.

But no one recognized Russell and my dad was he loved us He wanted to draft them to the bears. He thought he was gonna take him to the fourth round That they already had a science-hailing delivery would change a lot of destinies Which might be understating it. Honestly, because at this point in 2012, Mike Tyson 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, just for throughout that counterfactual alternate timeline is. Oh, they're they're bought. They sold sold on it. They were signed off. He was there in the 40 taking up. I know. So it's he loved us, but he kept going, Hey, this is every fan that came up because this is Russell Wilson. This is going to be your guys 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 the next best thing. And coaching, they call that the combine handshake.

It's where it's where you, hey, what's up? Hey, coaching's like some head coach off its coronary 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. Yeah, yeah, good to see you. Good to see you. I know it real well. So, they kept kind of doing that to rest of my dad was like, no, seriously. And then I'm guaranteed to competitive Russ. Yes. Chandled all that and bottle all that. And every person goes, well, I thought Matt Flynn's our quarterback. And and Russ was like, okay. And he like didn't really say much. And you kind of just took it. and he took the starting job and he's never really

Quiseted 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 M&M writes about him in a song And I think with Rihanna. Like, you know, 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 like all the stuff. Then the Super Bowl year happened. And that's kind of when the diverging of our past really started kind of happened 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 a name check by Eminem to, oh wait, now I'm winning the fucking Super Bowl in year two. And year two. It's kind of a nice path to be on.

Yeah. Well, other quarterback won a Super Bowl in year two. Oh, Tom Brady. Oh, wow, this is fun, but 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, oh, this is like, it was more about what happened. And again, don't get me wrong. I was, I still am a big Russell Wilson supporter, but as a football player and just watching him, and it was like, I, 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. Superbowl year on and it's endless. Yeah. So just as a matter of just like,

in no particular order, right? Like his feud with the defense, with Richard Sherman, with Earl Tom, so all those guys because he's Pete Carroll's like favorite son, that whole saga, which is bubbling and bubbling and bubbling in, and anyway, it continues on for years. There is 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, the personas, the Mr. Unlimited, the memes, the voices. Now we have Russell Wilson doing voices. There's cool guy 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. Taste of the alien? Yeah, the star man became a star. And a super star man, in fact.

Yeah, super star man. Man. Yes, the star man became a star man. But I think that kind of weird side and just that kind of, oh, I wanna say again, most quarterbacks are extremely weird and I'm speaking from experience. And it's just a personal, my own experience.

But I think with the watching him and seeing kind of like what gets poked and what got kind of meamed, it was one of those where in the moment, and especially in college, you're just like, oh yeah, whatever, he's weird and whatever. And I think it's stardom 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 is shooting for, this is transcending the business that we are in transcending sports. And so when Sean Payden tells Seth Wicker-Sham,

a former colleague at ESPN, and I wanna 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 president of the United States. And I, 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. For anything economic, personal policy, any international policy, I'm nothing. How does he feel about abortion? I have no idea. So there's a lot of, a lot of aspects that I would have to answer before I could figure that out. And that's me who roamed with them for almost an entire year. Right.

The point there is not, uh, uh, you know, who knows it's, 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 incorporated. 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 live in 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 catch phrases 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 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 my, the crux of my being that is down to just wanting to be liked. So I can understand it. Well, especially like 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 goes into the show.

Go, go hock. 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 of Vivek Ramaswami 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 Tore, Finds Out, a metal-lark media production, and I'll talk to you next time.