NFL Network’s Kyle Brandt Unloads On ‘Poser’ Russell Wilson

The Russell Wilson era in Denver is off to a horrendous start, and the superstar quarterback is taking more and more heat.

The Broncos lost in overtime Thursday night to the Indianapolis Colts behind yet another uninspiring performance from Wilson. The supposed savior completed 21 of 39 passes for 274 yards with no touchdowns and a pair of interceptions. Wilson posted a lower passer rating than his 59.4 rating in just 10 games in his career.

And despite all that, Wilson and the Broncos had a chance to win on what would be the final play of the game, but the quarterback missed a wide-open K.J. Hamler on fourth-and-1 from the 5-yard line to end it in overtime.

Wilson has taken plenty of criticism for his performance Thursday night and for the totality of his Denver stint thus far. Perhaps no one was harder on the former Pro Bowl QB than NFL Network’s Kyle Brandt, though, who ripped Wilson on Friday’s “Good Morning Football” not only for his play but how fake he is.

“I think Russell Wilson is one of the least authentic personalities we have in this league. I think Russell Wilson is a poser,” Brandt said Friday on NFL Network. “I don’t think that makes him a bad person, I think he’s a good person. I think he tries to be something that he’s not. When you make the $245 million, you’ve either gotta be a great guy with the locker room who loves you, or you’ve gotta be an amazing player.”

Brandt argued that Wilson, at least right now, is neither, while saying players like Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes check at least one of those boxes. Brandt also shared a story from his time working the NFL Honors, the league’s postseason awards show, in which Wilson and his wife, Ciara, supposedly stiffed the media. That might sound like an axe to grind, but Brandt believes it’s emblematic of the whole point.

“I worked the NFL Honors, I worked the red carpet. (Travis) Kelce comes by, Rodgers comes by, Russell Wilson shows up with his sunglasses and his wife, and I think they think they’re Jay-Z and Beyonce and they will literally put their hand up and say ‘No, we’re not talking,'” Brandt recalled. “Why? Because you think you’re that cool and you’re that famous and you’re that amazing and everything is so perfect. That does not work in the locker room unless you’re really good or a really, really good guy. It just doesn’t work.”

The Broncos now are 2-3 with one of the worst offenses in the NFL. They have a first-year coach who seems in over his head and a ridiculously paid quarterback who looks like one of the worst at his position in the league. It doesn’t get a lot easier anytime soon, either. Denver is at the Chargers next Monday before a home date with the Jets and a road game at upstart Jacksonville. A 3-5 record going into the Week 9 bye is very much on the table if things don’t turn around soon.

Or, as Brandt said, the entire Broncos experience could go off the rails really fast.