Investigation finds Russell Wilson’s charity is embarrassingly inefficient

In the latest attack on the Denver Broncos quarterback, Russell Wilson is under fire for not using his foundation’s funds on charitable activities.

Denver Broncos’ Russell Wilson does not, in fact have wolverine’s blood in him. It’s more likely he has Scrooge’s blood based on recent reports that reveal his charity, the “Why Not You Foundation”, has spent just 24.3 cents of every dollar on charitable activities in 2020 and 2021.

While Wilson was up in the air doing high knees, USA Today got down and dirty in a six-month long investigation into Wilson’s foundation. The investigation found that Wilson’s foundation spent $600,000 on charitable activities in 2020 and 2021 but spent nearly twice as much, $1.1 million, on salaries and non-charity related benefits.

Wilson received the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award back in 2020, which recognizes a player for his outstanding community service and philanthropy, making this recent bit of news all the more excruciating.

Wilson’s name has since been splashed across headlines with pundits and fans bashing his apparent fraudulent off-field altruism.

Russell Wilson’s charity’s shortcomings make 2022 his Year From Hell

The Year From Hell for Wilson just got a lot worse, but let’s not be so quick to judge just because it’s Russell Wilson.

Wilson’s eccentric antics from 2022 combined with his pitiful quarterback play makes him a natural target for humiliation, and news of his charity’s individual profit has many tut-tut-tutting Wilson yet again.

However, one would do well to read the damning report side by side with a Seattle Times 2007 report on athlete-run charitable foundations and how they more often than not go awry. Per the article, many of these foundations fall short of expectations due to pure ignorance rather than deceitful corruption — in other words, the intent is there, but the experience of actually running a successful charity is not.

Whether or not Wilson was ignorant or conniving in this case is difficult to tell, and it’s not like Wilson is going to outright admit he was scheming all along.

Make no mistake, the optics are still bad, of course. Wilson’s charity, much like the Broncos quarterback himself, at least appears to be more of a façade than the real deal.