Russell Wilson may have been a two-sport athlete in college, but no baseball team plans on giving him the opportunity to do so professionally. The current Seattle Seahawks quarterback was drafted by the Texas Rangers after spending a brief period of time with the Colorado Rockies and now he is reporting for duty at spring training. However, manager Ron Washington has no plans for him to actually play.
Seahawks fans can breathe easy. Wilson might have showed up to Rangers spring training, but Washington is not letting him take the plate when the team plays a game Monday in the Cactus League.
"The guy's a Super Bowl champ," Washington said, via ESPN.com. "You think they want him to come down here and get hurt? The guy hasn't seen a pitch. I'm not running him up there. He's an infielder, so you know I'm open to taking him over there [to a back field to work with him] if he wants to do it. But it's up to him."
The Rangers are aware they have precious goods on their hands. Wilson is fresh off leading the Seahawks to a Super Bowl and will be expected to return healthy come next season. So while the team is happy letting him get his baseball fix in, it will be nothing permanent. The quarterback will report to the complex on Monday and work out with the team. He will be in uniform for the game, but likely will not be leaving the dugout.
"Our intentions are to see if there's anything he can say that may help anyone around here that has on a baseball uniform," Washington said. "This guy is a winner. He has tremendous character. He has attitude and undoubtedly has a lot of commitment to what he does. That's what we're about, and we just want him to feel comfortable."
The Rangers took Wilson in the Rule 5 draft in December even though he has not played in a game since 2011 when the Rockies originally drafted him in Class A. While with the team he hit .228, knocking out three home runs and recording 15 RBIs in 61 games. He then opted to play quarterback at Wisconsin before getting draft to the Seattle Seahawks.
Certainly Wilson is reporting to camp with the intentions of playing so he could be disappointed when Washington cuts that chance off. However, Seattle Seahawks will be thankful.