When the Steelers first acquired Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, feelings were mixed.
Many thought Fields was the QB of the present and the future while some thought Wilson was washed up after two relatively underwhelming and turbulent seasons in Denver.
Then Wilson got hurt in the preseason, opening the door for Fields to become the team’s starting quarterback. And while he didn’t overwhelm, he did a very good job, leading the team to a 4-2 record. If a few plays had gone differently, he could have been undefeated.
But after Wilson’s calf healed up, head coach Mike Tomlin made the controversial decision to bench Fields and start Wilson, which incited an uproar across the NFL community.
The backlash wasn’t a dig at Wilson but rather support for Fields, as many thought he deserved the starting role after guiding the team to a great start.
But after beating both the Jets and Giants, Russ has the Steelers offense progressing quicker and the playbook has been opened up to feature a revitalized running attack and the deep ball, something Pittsburgh fans had not seen since Ben Roethlisberger.
Now the team is 6-2 and on its bye week, which gives us a moment to recognize the significance of having Russell Wilson and Justin Fields on the same team.
Watching Russ speak with Fields on the bench during Pittsburgh’s Monday Night game against the Giants showed how close the two are, and how Russ mentors the 25-year-old QB.
Most importantly, it marks the first time that a Black Super Bowl-winning QB has had the opportunity to mentor a young, Black QB on the same team after taking his starting spot.
Doug Williams was the first Black QB to win a Super Bowl, but he never had the chance to mentor a young Black QB as he was done after the 1989 season.
Patrick Mahomes, the third Black QB to win a Super Bowl, hasn’t had a Black backup QB during his Hall of Famer tenure in Kansas City.
And while Russell Wilson, the second Black QB to win the Super Bowl, played with Geno Smith for a few years in Seattle before the former was traded to the Broncos, he was the incumbent starter
Justin Fields is only 25, and showed flashes of his talent while running for his life during his three seasons in Chicago. After being traded to Pittsburgh this offseason, he’s looked much better and showed some of the talents he displayed at Ohio State.
While Chicago threw him into the fire, Pittsburgh offered him a better starting opportunity and the opportunity to learn under a future Hall of Famer in Wilson, and that’s important for a young QB, especially a young Black QB who was thrown to the wolves by his former team.
On Monday night, we watched Wilson talk to Fields while on the bench, even laughing with him at times. Neither speaks with any animosity or tension about their roles; even when Fields was relegated to the bench, he took it as a professional and admitted he didn’t do enough to earn the starting position.
Now he gets the opportunity to learn from a Super Bowl winner. Most importantly, he now has the time to learn the game and develop, something many young QBs in today’s NFL are not given the opportunity to do.
