For the first time since any current student at University Prep has attended the school, Russell Wilson suited up in different colors to begin an NFL season. Monday night marked the first game for Wilson on the Denver Broncos, the team he was traded to this past march after 10 seasons in Seattle. Wilson had long been unhappy in Seattle mostly due to offensive line struggles (most sacked quarterback in the league over the past 10 years) and a coaching staff that would rather run the ball than have the offense operate through Wilson’s arm.

Conveniently, the NFL schedule-makers decided to put Wilson’s inaugural game as a Bronco back at his old stomping grounds of Lumen Field under the primetime lights of Monday Night Football against the Seahawks. Despite the intriguing storylines, the reality for most Seattle fans was pessimistic. The fact of the matter was that Seattle did not have Wilson anymore, they instead had aging journeyman QB Geno Smith, who had not been a week 1 starter in 10 years. 

When Wilson ran out of the tunnel for the first time for pre-game warmups, he was welcomed back to a sea of boos. That sound did not let up, as a ravenous 12th-man crowd let him hear it all night. When Smith led Seattle on a 70-yard TD drive to open the game, the crowd went bonkers, a mix of shock and elation. No one saw the game starting out like that. You could not hear yourself think over the crowd chanting “GENO GENO GENO!” These chants only subsided when Wilson took the field for the first time, and the overwhelming uproar of boos returned. 

After taking that initial 7-0 lead, the Seahawks never looked back, holding Wilson and co. to just one touchdown, along with forcing them to cough up the football on the 1-yard line twice. The intensity of the game reached its peak with around a minute left in the game, the Seahawks up 17-16. Seattle’s prospects to win were looking grim. Wilson, notorious for his late-game magic, needed to pick up just 5 yards on the 4th down to essentially seal the win (by getting into field goal range). To the shock of the crowd (and all of social media), Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett elected to go for a nearly impossible 64-yard field goal attempt to win the game instead of trusting Wilson to get them closer. The kick sailed wide left, sealing the Hawks’ revenge win over Wilson 17-16.

Following the game, defensive lineman Shelby Harris (who was traded from Denver to Seattle as a part of the Wilson deal) had just a short answer when asked to sum up the win over Wilson and his former team. “Let’s ride,” Harris said, a direct shot at Wilson, who went viral on social media during the off-season for saying that phrase in a corny tone.