Ross: Hang in there, Seahawks fans

We are losing Russell Wilson. For years the seismologists have been warning us of “The Big One” – little did we know how big it would be.

The announcement had a strange effect on me. It sent me back to my first sports crisis, which I don’t believe I’ve ever shared publicly.

As a kid, you get used to seeing certain people in certain roles. You assume your parents will always be the same people, same with your siblings. Growing up in the 50s, I even assumed Dwight Eisenhower would always be the President. When the 1960 election came around – I remember thinking – I didn’t know you could just change the president!

So you get used to people in certain roles. And, as a child of the 50s, I also knew who the Yankees were. They were the world champions. They were Yogi Berra, Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, Elston Howard. They were my baseball family.

And then the trades began. Roger Maris was traded in 1966, and Elston Howard in ‘67 – just as I was coming into manhood – and suddenly it wasn’t the same. And I just stopped memorizing sports names. Because what’s the point? It was like being in a family where your siblings could just be traded to another family. I figured in a world like that, what’s the point of investing in a relationship?

And thus, I became the tepid sports fan I am today.

So I will get past the Russell Wilson crisis.

But for today’s young Seattle sports fans, Russell is the only quarterback they’ve ever known. Some of them — like me with the Yankees – may take it pretty hard and become wishy-washy fans. And I’m here to say: Do NOT do what I did.

Hang in there. Stay engaged.

By giving up as I did after those trades I soon realized I had nothing to say when the conversation turned to sports.

I ended up talking politics – I was pretty good at that – until someone changed the subject to sports to break the tension. And then all I could say was, “How ‘bout that football? It sure has a funny shape!”

So don’t let that happen to you, kids. You will get over this. You have to look at the positive side: This is what parity is all about. This is the genius of the NFL. It’s because of trades like this that every team has a chance to beat every other team.

And be happy you witnessed those 10 years. Because you will be able to tell your kids stories about how you were there the day Russell did whatever amazing thing he did with the funny ball.

And also remember: There was a time when even Russell Wilson wasn’t Russell Wilson. He was too young, he was too short – but you got to know him, you believed in him, and he became a legend, who will someday be in the Hall of Fame.

In a Denver uniform.

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5 – 9 a.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

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