Odds are if given the choice, Cleveland Browns head coach Mike Pettine would jump at the opportunity to swap quarterbacks with the Seattle Seahawks, even if he doesn’t think Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is what you could an elite passer in the NFL.
“Would you put him there with the guys that can transcend their supporting cast? The [Tom] Bradys, whether it’s Aaron Rodgers, [Drew] Brees, [Ben] Roethlisberger, the ones that you would consider the two, three, four elite guys? No. But he’s certainly played himself into that next tier,” Pettine said Wednesday, according to Pat McManamon of ESPN.com. On a quick side note, can we stop using personal nouns as a plural? There is only one Tom Brady, just as there is only one Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant. So stop that, sports people. But back to the point.
We have to give Pettine some props here for going to make this point, when Russell has won a Super Bowl in Seattle while Pettine is stuck in Cleveland, a city that would do almost anything to try and find just an adequate quarterback. Either Pettine has some nerve or is so jealous of what Pete Carroll has to work with that he would just mutter any nonsense. Is Wilson an elite quarterback? Heck, I don’t know if we truly know the answer to that yet given this is just Wilson’s fourth year in the NFL and he’s only won one Super Bowl and played in two. I mean, surely this is all a coincidence. Just as I am certain Wilson’s soon-to-be 100 career touchdowns passes in four seasons is a charade to some degree. But hey, who am I to question Pettine’s expertise in this realm? Why not let a calendar decide for us?
@sportspickle Russell Wilson is now officially ELITE! #blessed pic.twitter.com/GFWKVdzIWN
— Caleb Smith (@cdmtalk) December 16, 2015
Well, that should settle this debate once and for all.
Wilson will get a chance to prove just how elite he may be this weekend at home against — you guessed it — the Cleveland Browns. Way to give your opposing quarterback some bulletin board material there, CoachPettine.
