Should the media stay away from Russell Wilson’s divorce?
Apr 24, 2014, 4:15 PM | Updated: 4:39 pm
(AP photo)
The Seahawks announced Wednesday that quarterback Russell Wilson has filed for divorce from his wife, Ashton.
Even talking about the news got KIRO Radio’s Ron and Don into some hot water with their listeners.
In his defense, Don pointed out the team released the official statement and KIRO Radio is the Seahawks station.
710 ESPN Seattle’s Danny O’Neil agrees it is news. However, it’s not a sports story. It’s more of a societal story.
“He’s going to get a huge contract, he’s going to get all these endorsement opportunities. The flip side of that is that you lose some of that personal privacy.”
Danny said it was no accident that the 2014 regular-season schedule was released within hours of the announcement. He thinks it was smart for Wilson to lean on the Seahawks for support in figuring out how to spread the news.
“Most athletes don’t do this. Most athletes don’t have the team release a statement. Most athletes don’t have the profile that Russell Wilson does. You’re dealing with someone who is still a very young professional athlete. He’s 25, he’s been married for two years. How do you handle this?”
After recent pictures of Wilson hanging out with Jay Z court side or with the cast of Entourage and now a divorce, Danny says, even Seattle fans have already asked if he was too good to be true.
“The same people who feel that way – you should kind of be ashamed of yourself because you don’t really know what’s happening here,” Danny said. “For all you know, this could be a case where Russell is as good as advertised and he was betrayed.”
Bottom line: we can’t judge because we don’t know the whole story.