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# Top Five Moments of Russell Wilson’s Career With Seahawks
- URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/top-five-moments-russell-wilson-career-seattle-seahawks/
- Published: 2026-06-05T04:43:52.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-08T06:14:33.000Z
- Author: Nick Lee
- Tags: Features, Russell Wilson, Seahawks

\[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="3114"\]

![  Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson (3) throws during the first half against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images  ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1d/f2/1df2f77b-83dd-4bc0-a6d2-6d1bb5df89a3/content/images/2026/10/usatsi_10400672-format-original.jpg)

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson (3) throws during the first half against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images \[/caption\]

In the modern era of sports, it’s hard for iconic athletes to have truly storybook endings. They constantly change teams. Athletes are hard-wired to never know when to quit, which makes it harder for them to end their careers on the same team they started with. Typically, their careers end after bouncing from team to team, trying to hold on to the last bit of glory.

For Russell Wilson, that was what it turned into. In an alternate universe, he is finishing his 14th season with the Seahawks, well on his way to Canton and the Seahawks’ Ring of Honor. As we all know, life does not always go according to plan.

After a solid decade in Seattle, the two sides parted ways, with the quarterback reportedly pulling the strings to make the split happen after the team finished 7-10 in 2021\. Seahawks general manager John Schneider swung perhaps the biggest trade in franchise history, dealing Wilson to the Denver Broncos along with a 2022 fourth round pick in exchange for two first round picks (2022 and 2023), two second rounders (2022 and 2023), a 2022 fifth round pick, Drew Lock, Noah Fant, and Shelby Harris.

By now, we all know this was one of the most lopsided trades in recent NFL history. Wilson’s Broncos career was short-lived, going 11-19 in two seasons as the starter. It was something of an ugly divorce between Wilson and the Sean Payton-led Broncos, leaving some burnt bridges behind. Wilson bounced around, earning starts for the Steelers and Giants over the last two seasons before finally announcing his retirement this week.

When fans think of Russell Wilson the football player, they likely will forever picture him in a Seahawks uniform. He rewrote the passing record books in Seattle. He changed the entire complexion of the franchise. Truly, he is one of the greatest Seahawks of all-time, even if his exit wasn’t pretty.

Let’s look back at the best five moments of Wilson’s career in Seattle, which likely earned him a spot in the franchise’s Ring of Honor. These are in chronological order:

**The “Fail Mary” Pass to Golden Tate vs. Packers, 2012**

The 2012 season was a statement season for the Seahawks. They announced their presence with authority in a prequel to their dominance of 2013, eventually leading to a Super Bowl title. Under the bright lights of Monday Night Football against one of the league’s premier franchises in Green Bay, Russell Wilson showed his mettle even as a rookie. On a night where he only completed 10 passes, Wilson’s final completion was one of the most famous - or infamous if you are a Cheesehead - plays of the 2010s decade.

Trailing 12-7 in front of a sold-out CenturyLink Field crowd, Wilson and the Seattle offense faced a do-or-die 4th and 10 from the Green Bay 24 yard line and eight seconds left. This was the final prayer. To buy time for his receivers to get into the endzone, Wilson did a classic Wilson twirl out of the pocket, to his left. It ended up being around a 47-yard throw all told, from where he tossed it to where it arrived into a mob of Seahawks and Packers. Somehow, through the scrum, the officials ruled it a touchdown for the Seahawks with the clock showing zeroes. Golden Tate had brought in the game-winning touchdown Hail Mary, a play, and call, that were scrutinized for years, given it was officiated by “replacement refs.” However it happened, it was a moment that put Wilson and the Seahawks squarely on the national stage.

**Seahawks Win Super Bowl XLVIII vs. Broncos, 2013**

Ironically, Wilson’s lone Super Bowl title came at the expense of the team that would eventually trade for him nine years later. While Wilson didn’t necessarily have one particular iconic moment that led the Seahawks to hoisting their first Lombardi, he was plenty productive in the biggest game in franchise history.

Wilson was efficient in that game, completing 18 of 25 passes for 206 yards and two touchdowns. More importantly, he took zero sacks and was turnover-free. If there was a dagger in this game for Seattle’s offense, it came when Wilson connected with Jermaine Kearse for a 23-yard touchdown to bring the score to 36-0\. Wilson will forever be associated with the first Super Bowl title in Seahawks history.

**Wilson’s Heroics in Wild 2014 NFC Championship Game Comeback vs. Packers**

After the Seahawks won the Super Bowl in the 2013 season, many wondered if they could run it back. They darn near did. The 2014 NFC Championship Game against the Packers is one of the craziest football games in Seahawks and maybe even NFL history. At times during that game, Seattle trailed 16-0 and 19-7\. Things looked bleak when Wilson threw his fourth interception of the game in the fourth quarter, with Seattle down 12.

The defense gave Seattle another chance and Wilson didn’t let it go to waste. He found Marshawn Lynch on a wheel route to set up a scoring drive, where Wilson would sneak it in for a score from the one. Famously, the Seahawks recovered the ensuing onside kick. Wilson and company orchestrate a perfect touchdown drive to take the lead. In what became one of the wildest plays in franchise history, the quarterback scrambled back from the two to the 17 and hurled up a prayer across the field for the two point try. Luke Willson brought it in for the score to give Seattle a three-point lead. The Packers tied it with a field goal to set up overtime. The Seahawks took the ball in overtime, drove it to the Green Bay 35, and then Wilson tossed his signature rainbow ball to Kearse’s waiting embrace in the endzone for the walk-off, NFC title-sealing score to send the Seahawks to a second consecutive Super Bowl.

**Wilson’s Record-Setting Shootout with Deshaun Watson and Texans, 2017**

With the Legion of Boom era coming to a close in Seattle, it was Wilson and the offense that carried the team in this wild shootout with Houston. Deshaun Watson was a hotshot rookie and unfortunately, this ended up being the final game of his rookie year as he got hurt. Wilson and Watson combined for 854 yards and eight touchdowns. Wilson set the Seahawk’s single-game passing yards record with 452\. He matched Watson blow-for-blow. That included the game-winning touchdown pass to Jimmy Graham with 21 seconds left, giving Seattle the epic 41-38 win.

**‘Cue the Circus Music’ on Thursday Night Football vs. Cardinals, 2017**

In a vacuum, the Thursday Night Football game in Arizona against the Cardinals was not a pivotal win that catapulted the Seahawks to high heights. In fact, that game was a disaster. Richard Sherman ruptured his Achilles tendon in the third quarter after getting tangled up with Cardinals WR John Brown. Kam Chancellor suffered a neck injury in the same game, which also ended his season.

So why is this game on the list? Because this singular play encapsulated Wilson’s entire Seahawks career. It was the perfect microcosm of the peak abilities of Wilson in his prime in Seattle. Facing a 2nd and 21 in the fourth quarter, up by five, Wilson looked to make a big play to get the Seahawks a first down. The offensive line broke down, leaving Wilson running for his life (a common occurrence in the latter years of Wilson’s tenure). As the broadcaster that evening, Mike Tirico, famously said, ‘cue the circus music.”

The play started on their own 44 yard line. By the time Wilson was done twirling and twisting out of danger, he let what would be usually an ill-advised pass go off his back foot way back at his own 28, a good 16 yards behind the line of scrimmage. The ball floated in the air for what seemed like hours until it found the strong hands of Doug Baldwin, who made a fantastic grab in his own right, over a defender. He galloped 54 yards, inside the Arizona five. It set up a game-sealing touchdown. Pure Wilson magic.