Sean Payton Gives Seahawks Ex Russell Wilson 'The Denver Boot'; Broncos 'Entourage' is OUT
The Denver Broncos' training camp in 2022 featured a dual practice with the Dallas Cowboys, and I was fortunate enough to be in attendance ...
But unfortunate enough to find myself sitting in a shaded tent area where I wrongly assumed credentialed media might be allowed to take a load off.
"Are you with Mr. Wilson's group?'' a security type asked me.
"Nope, I'm just part of the lowly media,'' I explained ... at which point I was escorted out of the shaded tent area that was designated as the personal "entourage'' area for ...
"Mr. Russell Wilson.''
Maybe that should've been my first hint that there was something about last year's Broncos that was destined to broken. Did the other 89 players have their own "entourage tents''? Nothing against Ciara, Russell's wife, or his adorable kids. But if one player gets an "entourage tent'' - not to mention an office at the facility and permission to bring his own "personal performance team made up of outside trainers and physical therapists'' - might that not create a locker-room chasm between the new $243 million guy and all his (non-$243 million) teammates?
"That's foreign to me," new coach Sean Payton said in his first meeting this week with the Denver media. "That's not going to take place here. I'm not familiar with it, but our staff will be here. Our players will be here.
"And that'll be it."
There were rumors from the start that Wilson never quite bonded with his teammates. Some Broncos players dispute that, and Russ did, too.
"We don't have division in our locker room,'' Wilson said. ... But we will never know if Denver's catastrophic collapse to 5-12 following his trade "escape'' from Seattle might've come in part because Russ wasn't "one of the guys.''
Wilson is saying all the right things about Payton, and the coach is doing the same when it comes to the skills of the quarterback, who built a Hall-of-Fame level resume during his time in Seattle.
And now, under Payton, where does Wilson's career sit?
Not in his own office at team HQ.
And now, if I attend Broncos training camp, where do I sit?
Maybe, boldly, in the shaded tent area of my choosing!
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