You probably know him as "DangeRuss" or maybe just the guy who shouts "Let’s Ride" in a way that launched a thousand memes. But if you’re trying to track the actual path of his career, it’s a lot more jagged than most people realize. Russell Wilson isn't just a former Seahawk. He's a guy who has worn half a dozen different jerseys across two different professional sports and two major college programs.
It’s easy to get lost in the noise of his recent years. Honestly, the media cycle around him has been so loud lately that his actual on-field history gets buried under contract drama and "unlimited" jokes.
But if you want the breakdown of who did Russell Wilson play for, you have to look past the NFL.
The College Split: NC State and Wisconsin
Before he was winning Super Bowls, Russell Wilson was the centerpiece of one of the most famous transfer sagas in college football history. Most fans remember him at Wisconsin, but he actually spent the bulk of his college days at NC State.
From 2008 to 2010, he was the guy for the Wolfpack. He was good. Kinda great, actually. He was the first freshman ever to get First Team All-ACC honors for a quarterback. But things got messy. Wilson wanted to play professional baseball in the spring, and his head coach at the time, Tom O’Brien, basically told him he needed to pick a lane.
He didn't pick the lane O'Brien wanted.
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Instead, Wilson used his final year of eligibility to head to the University of Wisconsin in 2011. It was a legendary "one-and-done" season. He led the Badgers to a Big Ten title and a Rose Bowl appearance, setting an NCAA record for passing efficiency along the way. If you ask a Wisconsin fan today, they’ll talk about him like he was there for four years. That’s how much of an impact he had in just a few months in Madison.
The Seattle Dynasty (2012–2021)
This is the "Who did Russell Wilson play for" answer everyone knows. The Seattle Seahawks took a flyer on him in the third round of the 2012 NFL Draft. At the time, everyone said he was too short. People laughed at the pick because Seattle had just paid Matt Flynn a mountain of cash to be the starter.
Wilson didn't care. He won the job in training camp, and for the next decade, he became the face of the franchise.
- Super Bowl XLVIII: He demolished the Broncos (ironic, right?) to bring Seattle its first trophy.
- The Legion of Boom Era: While the defense was the soul of the team, Wilson was the magician who escaped sacks and threw "moon balls" to Tyler Lockett and Doug Baldwin.
- The Iron Man Run: He started 149 consecutive games. That’s insane for a guy who spent half his time running for his life behind some pretty shaky offensive lines.
By the time 2021 rolled around, the "Let Russ Cook" era had soured. The relationship with Pete Carroll had frayed. He wanted more say in the offense; the team wanted to lean back into their defensive roots. It was a classic messy breakup.
The Denver Disaster and the Pittsburgh Pivot
In March 2022, the blockbuster happened. The Denver Broncos traded a king's ransom—including five draft picks and three players—to get Wilson. They immediately handed him a $245 million extension before he even took a snap in Mile High.
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It was, put simply, a train wreck.
His first year under Nathaniel Hackett was statistically the worst of his life. The "Let's Ride" slogan became a punchline. Even when Sean Payton arrived in 2023 to steady the ship, the chemistry just wasn't there. Denver eventually did something almost unheard of: they benched him to avoid injury guarantees and then cut him, eating a record-breaking $85 million in dead cap space just to make him go away.
That led him to the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2024.
He signed for the league minimum because Denver was already paying him nearly $38 million to not play for them. In Pittsburgh, he's had to fight off Justin Fields for the starting spot, finding a weird second act in a blue-collar city that values exactly what Wilson provides: veteran stability and a decent deep ball.
And then, because the NFL is a wild business, Wilson moved on again. As of 2025, he has taken his talents to the New York Giants, continuing his tour of legendary NFL franchises while trying to prove he’s still got that 2013 magic left in his arm.
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The Baseball Footprint: Rockies, Rangers, and Yankees
Wait, baseball? Yeah. If you’re being thorough about who did Russell Wilson play for, you can’t skip the diamond.
Wilson was a legit prospect. The Colorado Rockies drafted him in the fourth round back in 2010. He actually played two seasons of minor league ball for the Tri-City Dust Devils and the Asheville Tourists. He was a second baseman with great range but a struggling bat—he hit about .229.
Even after he committed to the NFL, MLB teams kept his rights "just in case."
- The Texas Rangers acquired him in the Rule 5 Draft in 2013. He actually showed up to their spring training to give pep talks and take ground balls.
- In 2018, he was traded to the New York Yankees, which was a childhood dream for him. He even got an at-bat in a Grapefruit League game against the Braves. He struck out, but hey, he did it in pinstripes.
The Full List of Teams
To keep it simple, here is the official "jersey tally" for Russell Wilson:
- NCAA Football: NC State Wolfpack, Wisconsin Badgers.
- NFL Football: Seattle Seahawks, Denver Broncos, Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants.
- MiLB Baseball: Tri-City Dust Devils, Asheville Tourists (Rockies affiliates).
- MLB (Rights/Spring Training): Texas Rangers, New York Yankees.
The reality is that Russell Wilson has had three distinct careers. He was the underdog in Seattle, the expensive experiment in Denver, and is now the veteran journeyman trying to secure his Hall of Fame legacy.
If you're tracking his stats for a fantasy league or just winning a bar argument, remember that his story isn't over yet. Watching how he adapts to the Giants' system will likely be the final chapter in one of the most polarizing, successful, and strange careers in modern sports history. You should keep an eye on his "big-time throw" percentage this season; it’s usually the first indicator of whether he’s actually "back" or just holding on.