Russell Wilson is desperate for Steelers fans' approval as their starting QB

The Steelers starting QB, Russell Wilson, is doing his best PR campaign to try and win the hearts of Pittsburgh.
Boston Red Sox v Pittsburgh Pirates
Boston Red Sox v Pittsburgh Pirates / Justin K. Aller/GettyImages
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Everyone knows the complete restructure of the Steelers quarterback room from this past offseason. Russell Wilson has entered the room as the anointed starter at quarterback for the black and gold this upcoming season. Everything that Wilson has done to date has been something only politicians do. He is campaigning for popularity in the city that he now calls home.

One thing many people have called Wilson, who has covered him throughout his career, has been an odd person or an "extra" person.

Wilson is running his entrance into Pittsburgh as a political campaign with his public appearances both in the city and across the country sporting his Steelers gear. That is not bad, but his track record makes it come off as somewhat staged or "fake".

All the events he has gone to have not been too memorable. But they have been calculated moments for Wilson to try and take advantage of.

Wilson was present for the Kenny Chesney concert this past weekend, which seemed similar to what Kenny Pickett did last offseason. We know how things ended with Pickett, so hopefully for the sake of the success of the team, it will be different this time around.

His most "real" outing of publicity was when he went out to a Pittsburgh Pirates game to lend some support and throw out the first pitch.

He went to the game and spent a ton of time at the ballpark. It was no shocker as Wilson loves baseball and even considered playing professionally before committing to football full-time. The Steelers quarterback was in his element and seemed to genuinely enjoy his time at PNC Park. That might have been one of his most genuine moments thus far.

Russell Wilson is coming off as desperate to win hearts of Steelers fans

But why does Wilson want the fans of the Steelers and the city of Pittsburgh to love him so much?

Well, that is fairly easy to pick out as Justin Fields is right behind him on the roster. Wilson is no fool as the quarterback needs to rebound in Pittsburgh, or his starting days at the position could be over. He isn't getting any younger and is coming out of a disastrous situation with the Denver Broncos. Add in Fields and he is trying to get ahead of the curve.

If the city can connect with Wilson, then it will make things harder for the team to get behind benching him for Fields. For the most part, fans are indifferent to whoever starts at quarterback as long as they win football games. No matter how you look at things, Wilson seems less genuine as he seems to be trying to run a political campaign for people to like him more than Fields.

No matter how things play out from here, Pittsburghers want genuine people. They turn against people that they read as "fake". Just be real Mr. Wilson and win football games. You do that and the city of Pittsburgh will defend you until the end of time. If you fail at those two things, then Fields will hear his name chanted at home games.

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