Ex-Broncos OL Lambasts Russell Wilson For Twitter Post
Former Denver Broncos left guard Mark Schlereth, like many ex-NFL players who now comment on the NFL as paid analysts, hasn't liked what he's seen from quarterback Russell Wilson. It doesn't take veteran NFL playing experience to recognize how disappointing Wilson was in Year 1 with the Broncos.
It was bad. We all know it. But perhaps for the guys that laced up cleats on the big stage, it's even more mystifying.
Whatever the case may be, Schlereth — who not only co-hosts the Schlereth and Evans show on 104.3 The FAN in Denver weekday mornings, but also works as a color analyst calling NFL games for FOX Sports — definitely has a Wilson burr stuck under his saddle. In a recent Mile High Football podcast segment, Schlereth lambasted Wilson for posting a workout video that went viral days after the Broncos completed the offseason training program and hit the summer vacation.
"As you remember, Sean Payton came into Denver to be the head coach and his very first press conference was, 'I want more anonymous donors.' And it was all quiet on the western front," Schlereth said. "You didn't see videos being posted, and you didn't see any of that stuff, and you get away from Sean Payton, you go on summer vacation, and two days after summer vacation starts for the players and coach, you get a Russell Wilson workout video on one of them damn slide boards. Forget 'Let's Ride. Let's Slide.'"
Indeed, Wilson and his teammates had obediently stayed off social media and even went so far as to avoid many interview requests from local and national media. It is conspicuous that just days after completing mandatory minicamp and hitting the NFL summer, which lasts about six weeks until training camp rolls around, Wilson opted to raise his head above ground, so to speak, to post a workout video, seemingly violating Payton's preference for "anonymous" donations to the Broncos.
Let's remember, though: this wasn't Wilson posting a hot-take video or any content that would even border on the controversial. Schlereth seems to recognize that. But it still doesn't sit right with the former three-time World Champion.
"It's one of those deals that I know it's probably not a big deal, but it is one of those deals that just makes you go, 'Lord, have mercy.' Like, things were going so well," Schlereth said. "All was quiet. Nobody jumped out of line. Nobody was promoting themselves with stupid workout videos and this, that, and the other —and then you get one two days away from the boss. When the cat's away, the mice will play. Two days away from the company mantra, and you have to post a video. And it probably means nothing. It probably is not going to affect anything, except for the fact—it's the tone-deafness nature of sometimes the way Russell Wilson rolls in his everyday life."
Once again, whether one is inclined to agree with Schlereth's premise, it's true that, since becoming a Bronco, Wilson has displayed an alarming penchant for being tone-deaf. NFL media has pounced on those instances with relish, blowing them wildly out of proportion (like the knee-highs story last fall when the Broncos crossed the pond to play in London).
It might not be Wilson's fault that the media does that. But he can better influence control over the 'Wilson/Broncos narrative' by being strategic with when/what he posts on social media.
With all due respect to Schlereth, this might be one of those instances of an NFL media guy making a mountain out of a molehill. The Denver-area radio host tried to reel the Wilson video into perspective. Somewhat.
"I know it probably doesn't mean anything. But it is one of those things [that] as a fan or as an analyst, or whatever, for me, that drives me a little bit crazy," Schlereth said. "You had such a piss-poor season last year. It was awful. And I'm expecting a huge bounce-back this year. I looked at this, and I understand that you're an influencer and I understand that you probably have obligations to companies that are paying you, but, boy, I tell you what. It just did not—it's not that it totally irritated me, but it didn't sit well. Let me just say that."
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Schlereth concludes by opining that Wilson's workout video "warrants keeping an eye on." Unless Wilson suddenly defaults into his cringeworthy 'Broncos Country, Let's Ride' posture of last season with constant social media posts, I doubt that Coach Payton is going to worry too much about a summer vacation workout video.
Then again, it's not the video itself that Payton likely wishes to avoid, but the reaction to it. The radio shows, podcasts, beat writers, bloggers, and TV segment producers across the fruited plain who take the video, and make a lot of hay by turning it into offseason fodder for downloads, ratings, and social clout— that's what the Broncos' new head coach is hoping to be free from.
Because that's how a seemingly innocuous social media workout video can morph into a major offseason storyline that could possibly, just maybe, threaten to become a distraction to the team. Payton wants to keep everyone's focus on the task at hand: Turning the Broncos ship around and returning this team to competitive relevance.
For what it's worth, I file the Wilson workout video under NOTHING TO SEE HERE. But, obviously, Schlereth isn't sharing a brain with me on that front.
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