Wilson and Ciara also used their platforms to encourage voices, especially among young people and color communities, through the I AM A VOTER campaign. They also announced in 2020 the establishment of the Why Not You Academy, a tuition-free public charter school in Des Moines, Washington, which opens in the fall of 2021.
“For me personally, 2020 has really changed my perspective,” Wilson said. “I’ve always thought of others and it’s always important to me and Ciara, but when you realize that so many people can be affected every day in so many different ways, it was so important that we give back. It felt like God was giving us asked to do something, asked us to use our resources, use our networks of relationships and so on to get together and really try to make a difference. Eventually it made me think about my children, that I pray that it is not that one day, that’s why we really tried to act in 2020 and make a difference. ‘
On the field, Wilson excelled as he was during his career, earning the Pro Bowl honors for the eighth time in nine seasons, helping the Seahawks to a 12-4 record and an NFC West title. , and passed a career high of 40.
And throughout his career, Wilson’s success on Sundays and in the community was not just as important, but the rhetorical question his father, Harrison Wilson III, always posed to his three children, Russell, Harrison IV and Anna.
Harrison III died in 2010 from complications of diabetes, but not before he and his wife, Tammy, used their three children as the driving force to excel not only in sports but also in life.
The thing my father always told me as a young child was, ‘Son, why not you? “Why don’t you play pro baseball, why do you not play pro football, why do you not study early, why do you not do this and that?” At a young age when I was 6, 7, 8 years old, I realized that it was the driving force question consciously and unconsciously that I was asking myself all the time. And I think that’s the question we all need to ask ourselves. ‘
It is therefore only fitting that this prestigious award, which Wilson has won, in recognition of his excellence on and off the field, should be hailed as one of Harrison Wilson III’s favorite athletes.
“My dad probably smiles from ear to ear because (Payton) was probably one of my dad’s favorite athletes of all time, and he always talked about what he did off the field and who he was as a person,” he said. Wilson said. ‘… I know my dad smiles at me, and I know Walter is there too, they’re probably hanging out, maybe they’re even smoking a cigar, who knows? What a blessing it is.
“If I can serve others, I think it’s my responsibility. It’s my responsibility as a quarterback to help my teammates, but more importantly, it’s an opportunity and a gift to be able to give back to others across the country, around the world., and I think that’s why God has me just where I am, and I’m thankful for that every day. ‘