Never far from his mind. Super Bowl winner Russell Wilson gave a shout-out to his fiancée, Ciara, when he delivered the commencement speech at the University of Wisconsin on Saturday, May 14.
The Seattle Seahawks quarterback joked with graduates during his 18-minute speech, telling the crowd that it’s not enough to believe in yourself, you have to know yourself as well.
“I love singing,” he said. “Michael Jackson, I’m Michael Jackson’s Tito. I’m Janet Jackson’s long lost brother. My moonwalk cuts the rug. Dancing machine, smooth criminal, this guy. But no matter how badly I want to be a pop star, it would not matter how much self-confidence I had or have or how many hours I spend at the studio. Trust me on this. I cannot sing. So the question I asked when life told me no was: What am I capable of?”
“Once you know the answer, don’t be afraid to let everyone else know it too,” he continued.
The 27-year-old, who proposed to Ciara, 30, with a massive diamond ring in March, then shared another lesson he learned: “If you’re dating a woman that’s way out of your league, ask her to marry you.”
Wilson — who is well on his way to building an empire, with his own men’s clothing line Good Man Brand, as well as endorsements from companies including Nike and Microsoft — also shared the biggest hurdle he has faced in his life, the loss of his father.
“I got drafted to play baseball on June 8, 2010. And the next night, my dad passed away,” he said. “I miss my dad every single day. People have asked me, if I had five more minutes with him, what would I say to him? But I wouldn’t say anything at all. I would just hug him. That’s what I would do.”
