Pro Bowl 2013: Russell Wilson Replaces Matt Ryan on NFC Roster
By Josh Hill
There will indeed be a rookie quarterback on the NFC’s Pro Bowl roster, however it will be Russell Wilson rather than Robert Griffin III. With Matt Ryan’s sprained AC joint keeping him out of action, Wilson was named as Ryan’s replacement on Monday afternoon.
Wilson has without a doubt become a leader for the next generation of NFL quarterbacks. Along with Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III and second year man Colin Kaepernick, Wilson is involved in a seismic movement that is seeing the NFL shift from the days of Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and others to the era of the young mobile quarterback.
He wasn’t even drafted to be the starter when Seattle took him in the third round of last April’s draft, but Wilson soon shot up the depth chart and earned the role of starter before the season even started. What makes the move even more gutsy, is the fact that Matt Flynn had signed a contract that offseason that paid him $10 million in guaranteed money.
Wilson beat him out in August (due in large part to “injury”) and has pretty much beat him out of a job for good. Wilson’s story is truly one of the best we had during this NFL season, and a Pro Bowl honor is absolutely fitting.
This time around he’s a replacement, but expect to see Wilson return to plenty of Pro Bowls the proper way before his career is over.