A Super Bowl Win, A Prayer on the Field, and the "Blue Tuesdays" that Help Keep Seattle Seahawks QB Russell Wilson Grounded

"It's almost too good to be true. But it's really this simple: He was raised right, and he has amazing morals and ethics. He's an avid Christian, and he wants to walk the talk. I think his dad is in his heart every time he goes room to room. I think it's something that would have made his dad very proud." –Eve Kopp, Seattle Children's Hospital

This commentary first appeared in Breaking Christian News.

At the risk of over-satiating our readers with anything involving the Super Bowl; the many articles and blogs swirling around the internet, regarding the game's players, have brought to light some heartwarming (off-the-field) facts about this year's winning quarterback. (Photo via New York Times) 

Sunday's annual final NFL competition took many by surprise as the Seahawks, fairly consistently, dominated the highest-rated offense of the Denver Broncos; claiming a lopsided victory of 43-8.

According to a CBN News report, as the green and blue confetti began to fall, and the grid iron of MetLife Stadium became a sea of players, coaches, reporters and cameramen; Seahawks QB Russell Wilson grabbed some teammates around him, and led them in prayer as they knelt together on the field.

"God is so good. He brought me a really long way," said Russell in a post-game interview. "It's unbelievable. It's kind of surreal to be honest with you. Sitting there holding that trophy up and I'm looking up, I'm just so thankful for everything that I've been given."

But that's just a small window on the heart of Wilson.

The Seattle Children's Hospital knows more about that.

They've designated each second day of the week there as "Blue Tuesday," because that's when Wilson and his wife, Ashton, visit with patients and their families there.

In a recent ESPN article, Eve Kopp, the director of corporate annual giving for the Seattle Children's Hospital foundation, explains how skeptical she was when first contacted by Wilson—then just a third-string quarterback with the Seahawks, just out of college. (Photo via ESPN)

Russell had asked her if he and his wife could come by regularly, to spend some time with the patients.

Knowing that some players have charity written into their contracts, Kopp doubted Wilson's sincerity.
"Typically, we see them once and that's about it," Kopp told ESPN. "We figured with Russell, we'd see him once or twice, and then never again."

However, Russell surprised her; he and Ashton showed up repeatedly—every Tuesday.

Keeping it relatively quiet from publicity; Wilson and his wife meet not only with even the sickest children, but also spend time with those patients' families, to encourage them.

One of the patients Russell and Ashton have visited is little Abi Sayers, born 16 weeks premature. According to the report, Abi has needed five different brain surgeries in her first 7 months of life. (Photo courtesy Sayers family/via ESPN)

Abi's father Chris describes when he, his wife and his daughter were first visited by the Wilsons at the hospital.

"I was so awestruck, I could barely speak to the man," Sayers said in the ESPN article. "But after that, he kept coming back to visit us. He never wanted to talk about himself, he just wanted to give us a hug and ask how Abi was doing. He asked me if we could pray over Abi one day, and after that, it just felt like the lines of communication were open and we could talk about anything.

In the ESPN article, Kopp remarked about Wilson, who lost his father in 2010 to complications from diabetes:

"A lot of people hear about the visits and they start speculating what the real motive really is," said Kopp. "It's almost too good to be true. But it's really this simple: He was raised right, and he has amazing morals and ethics. He's an avid Christian, and he wants to walk the talk. I think his dad is in his heart every time he goes room to room. I think it's something that would have made his dad very proud."