Russell Wilson crosses line with unnecessary dig at Broncos HC Sean Payton

I guess none of us should be surprised, but Russell Wilson is still upset with the Denver Broncos. Specifically, Russell Wilson is clearly still upset with Broncos head coach Sean Payton, and he's making that very well-known without even saying Payton's name.

Wilson recently did a segment on The Pat McAfee Show and noted that he has played for two "special" coaches in Pete Carroll and Mike Tomlin. No mention of Sean Payton in here anywhere...

Russell Wilson still salty about being benched by Broncos HC Sean Payton

To be fair, Sean Payton recently had a quote about the state of things a year ago at this time, saying they were "misery, sorrow, drudgery...brutal."

And Payton never specifically mentioned Russell Wilson by name, either, but that was what the Broncos were dealing with at this time a year ago. They were dealing with the media circus of having benched Wilson with two games left to play. They were dealing with the reality of having to eat a giant dead cap hit from Wilson's contract.

It certainly was "brutal" to say the very least.

Wilson has made no secret about the fact that he didn't exactly enjoy his time with the Broncos. He was hurt for the majority of his first year with the team, dealing with a variety of injuries, and he endured so much public scrutiny from players, media, and coaches who dragged him for basically demanding his way out of Seattle.

And when Russ got his wish, many folks seemingly wanted to see him fail. And I think we can safely say that's what happened in 2022 for Wilson and the Broncos. Then in 2023, Payton came to Denver despite being courted by a number of other teams. He chose the Broncos, but everyone knew he never really chose Wilson.

Payton ran a tight ship and Wilson was forced to fall in line. Things went horribly for the first quarter of the season before the Broncos went on a bit of a winning streak and Wilson had rehabbed his value to a pretty significant degree. It wasn't until a complete debacle against the Houston Texans late in the season that the train started to come off the rails. Wilson was benched for the last two games of the year after the Broncos were officially eliminated from playoff contention when they lost on Christmas Eve to Bailey Zappe and the Patriots.

Can you really blame Wilson for being salty about his time in Denver and how it ended? On the one hand, it's frustrating because from Broncos fans' perspective, it feels like Wilson completely failed to deliver on his promises and stole from the organization.

From Wilson's perspective, he was completely wronged by the organization and his true value wasn't recognized.

Ultimately, we all saw what happened in Pittsburgh this past season. The Steelers were one of the most disappointing teams in the league to close out the season and Wilson was front and center of that.

For him to not acknowledge Payton among the coaches he's worked with is absolutely wild, however. Payton is a future Hall of Fame coach who came to Denver and took a chance on Russ when not many others would have. It's bizarre to not acknowledge having played for such a legendary coach, but I guess that's how it is when things don't end the way you want.