Markovich: What my dad’s car and Russell Wilson have in common

Growing up, my dad was always stingy letting us kids use the family cars.

One of his cars is a 1985 BMW coupe two-seater manual transmission, a terrific car to drive on twisty country roads. He would drive it every once in a while.

But growing up, I could not drive it.

My dad is about to turn 90 and I’m just a couple of decades behind him.

It wasn’t until the last 10 years or so that he would let me drive that BMW. It basically just sat in a garage.

Now he’s letting me sell it and he thinks it’s worth about $130,000 to some car collector because he has kept the car in the garage in such good condition.

My son who used to sell cars for a living did some research, and he told me he might get about $13,000 for it. That’s not quite what my dad thinks it’s worth.

How a 1985 BMW relates to Russell Wilson

With that being said, you may have heard that the Denver Broncos are benching what was Seattle’s and my favorite quarterback Russell Wilson for the last two games of the 2023 NFL regular season. He hasn’t had a bad year, according to his stats.

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He’s fun to watch but it’s a coaching decision, we’re being told.

But the way pro sports financing works, the Broncos have decided to put Wilson in the garage, and, maybe, bring him out as the backup if Jarrett Stidham, the (new) starting quarterback goes down.

Jared Stidham.

I’m sure those Denver fans who were lured into big-dollar season tickets because Wilson was coming to the Broncos are thrilled to hear that name.

The Broncos are benching Wilson because his 2025 base salary is $37 million. And if the team wants to release him and make a deal with another team, the Broncos would be on the hook to pay him that $37 million if Wilson got hurt. So, he’s being put in the garage just like my dad’s car, so neither will get dinged or have a rock chip and their value drops.

Too bad sports financing is benching someone I like to watch play football, just like my dad’s cars is in the garage rather than me driving it, which I really liked to do.

Unfortunately, neither are as valuable as the owners think they are.

Matt Markovich often covers the state legislature and public policy for KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of Matt’s stories here. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, or email him here.

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