Since being drafted in 2012, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson has never missed a start. When Wilson takes the field against the 49ers on Sunday, it will mark his 133rd consecutive regular season start, which is the second-longest active streak in the NFL.
The key to keeping the streak alive is two-fold: You have to play well so you don't get benched and you have to stay healthy. Based on the way Wilson describes it, that first thing might actually be easier than the second thing, because it appears the 31-year-old spends nearly all of his free time trying to help his body recover and trying to stay healthy.
During a recent interview on the Bill Simmons Podcast, Wilson revealed how much he spends to stay healthy and how that money gets spent.
First, let's find out how much money he pours into staying healthy.
"I probably spend $1 million if not more, a year, just on recovery," Wilson said.
Whoa. That's definitely way more than the $75 per year I spend on myself, but I also don't take as many hits as Wilson. Of course, with the Seahawks heavily invested in Wilson with a four-year, $140 million deal, it's no surprise that the quarterback has decided to invest in himself.
So what does $1 million in performance recovering buy you? Glad you asked.
"I have a whole performance team. I've got a whole group, I've got a full-time trainer that travels with me everywhere, works with [my wife] Ciara too" Wilson said. "I have a full-time [physical therapist]. I have a full-time mobile person that's working on me, that's making sure I'm moving the right way and everything else. I have a full-time massage person. We have two chefs. We have a whole performance team."
Although Wilson has plenty of money now, he's actually been doing this since at least 2014, when he was playing on a rookie contract that paid him an average of just $750,000 per year.
"I've been doing it for five years or so, six years now," Wilson said. "I've got everything. I've got all the toys. I've got two hyperbaric chambers. I've got a little bit of everything. I get in the hyperbaric four times a week, three times a week. I get treatment everyday."
If you've ever skipped a workout, then you have nothing on common with Wilson, who NEVER skips a workout. Well, almost never. In the interview, Wilson revealed that he works out almost 365 days a year.
"I do 365. The only time I don't -- I probably do 363," Wilson said. "The reality is Christmas -- depending on the circumstances, but usually I do because we usually have a game around then -- and Thanksgiving. I'm in between 363 and 365 amount of work that we do every day, something around the work I do. I'm trying to play until I'm 45, at least. For me, my mentality is that I'm going to leave it all on the field and do everything I can to take care of myself."
So far, Wilson has clearly done a good job of taking care of himself. If he does play until 45 and somehow manages to not a miss a game, he'll also eventually set the record for most consecutive starts by a quarterback. However, if Wilson does break that record, it won't happen anytime soon.
The current record belongs to Brett Favre, who started in 297 consecutive games. For Wilson to break that record, he'll have to play at least halfway through the 2030 season when he'll be 42 years old. Of course, if anyone can do it, it seems like Wilson would probably be the best bet (Philip Rivers is second on the list with 230 consecutive starts, but would like have to play nearly four more seasons after 2020 to break the record).
