ciara reaction russell wilson as Russell Wilson made it official this week: he is stepping away from football and moving into television with CBS Sports' The NFL Today. The move closes a 14-year playing career if his NFL days are indeed finished and sends the former Seahawks quarterback into a national analyst role.
Russell Wilson and CBS Sports
Wilson said “thank you to the game of football” in the video announcing the move, and he used it to thank his coaches, teammates, fans, family and others. The video did not use the word retirement, but the message pointed to the end of his playing career and the start of his work on The NFL Today.
That shift gives him a clear next stop after four seasons away from Seattle. Wilson is taking on a television role as an analyst, moving from the field to a studio setting after 14 years in the league.
Seahawks Draft Pick 2012
Seattle drafted Wilson in the third round of the 2012 NFL Draft, and he won the starting job as a rookie. The Seahawks reached the playoffs that season and won Super Bowl XLVIII the next year, the centerpiece of his 10 seasons in Seattle.
Over that span, he earned Pro Bowl honors nine times and set franchise marks with 37,059 passing yards, 3,079 completions and 292 touchdown passes. He also posted a Seahawks single-season best of 40 touchdown passes, numbers that still define how far he pushed the passing game in Seattle.
Wilson's Seahawks Legacy
Wilson’s run in Seattle also included the 2020 season, when he won the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award, becoming the second player in team history to do it. Steve Largent had done it before him, and Wilson’s award added another line to a résumé already built on production and longevity.
The Seahawks traded him to Denver in 2021, and that move brought draft picks back to Seattle. Those picks later became Charles Cross, Devon Witherspoon, Derick Hall and Boye Mafe, part of the roster-building path that followed Wilson out the door.
He played two seasons with Denver, then one with Pittsburgh and one with the Giants before this offseason brought the move to CBS Sports. For Seattle, the story now is less about what he once was under center and more about what he leaves behind: a first Super Bowl title, franchise records and a career that ended with a microphone instead of a snap count.
