Russell Wilson’s evolving press conference taglines

Russell Wilson always says the right thing, rarely ever stepping out of his comfort zone. That’s why, sometimes, the most entertaining aspect of his most recent press conferences comes at the very end: How will he say goodbye?

Since signing on as an investor with the billionaire entrepreneur Chris Hansen’s Seattle Arena Group one month ago, the Seahawks quarterback has been carrying his weight as a pitchman for the venture almost every time he addresses the media with a last-second shout out to “SoDo” in one form or another. It’s almost as if he’s channeling Dave Chappelle’s “Kobe!” call — but way less vulgar.

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Wilson announced on Nov. 14 that he would be the fifth member of a group that is attempting to build an arena in SoDo that could host NBA and/or NHL teams. Beyond being just a figurehead, Wilson is also a contributing investor to the team that has proposed to fund entirely and build in the SoDo district. He made the partnership announcement with a tweet, followed up by explaining his passion for the project and the city for an article he wrote for the Player’s Tribune and discussed it more during his weekly press conference.

Leading up to the matchup against the Eagles on Nov. 17, Wilson spent the first nine minutes of his press conference fielding questions about the partnership and finished his talk with the media the same way he has since he was a rookie, a proud “Go Hawks.” From then on, he’s started to dabble with some new taglines.

On Nov. 20, after defeating the Eagles, he tried out his new ending line with a smile: “Go Hawks, SoDo Arena, make it happen,” which got a substantial laugh in the CenturyLink press box from reporters cranking out stories on deadline. That shtick didn’t stick, though, with Wilson switching his Thursday press conference on Nov. 24 to “Go Hawks, SoDo Arena.”

He ditched that line on Nov. 27 during the ensuing loss to the Buccaneers, going back to his standby, “Go Hawks” call. Then came the age of a simplified “SoDo” that Wilson dropped for the first time on Dec. 1, and stuck with it following the Panthers win on Dec. 4 and on Dec. 8 leading up to the Packers game. He returned to his standby “Go Hawks” closer — albeit slightly melancholy — on Sunday, and again on Tuesday’s media meeting before the Thursday night matchup with the Rams.

What does all this mean? That Wilson’s extracurriculars are interfering with his day job? Come on.

As Wally Walker told KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson, Russell Wilson is a football player first and foremost.

“Here’s the important thing for Russell: He is engaged, as I said, on doing this and he’s a huge help to us, but it’s not like he’s forgotten about his day job,” Walker said on Nov. 17. “This is a focused guy and he’s gonna be completely focused and be the great player he’s always been.”

Of course, the press conferences aren’t the only pushes Wilson has made thus far for the SoDo arena. Here’s a timeline of his other notable SoDo discussions over the last month.

• Russell Wilson brought the message to a more national audience when he explained his support on the Dan Patrick Show on Dec. 6.

• When the Seattle Arena group sent a new proposal to Mayor Ed Murray and the Seattle City Council on Dec. 8 that changed a few terms and emphasized that the street vacation wouldn’t go into effect until an NBA or NHL team is secured, Wilson bolstered the proposition with his own blog post. His pitch included how the return of the NBA “can benefit Seattle youth, particularly those in traditionally underserved communities.”

• Even the Sounders’ dramatic MLS Cup championship win was reason for an arena callout.

Watching the Seattle @SoundersFC Win the Championship truly shows how it unites Our Amazing City!

Even more of a Reason for the #SODOArena

— Russell Wilson (@DangeRussWilson) December 11, 2016

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