Russell Wilson

[MackStrongIsMyHero]

https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/details/

Anyone interested can go to the link and check out the tax filings of the Russell Wilson Foundation (a.k.a Why Not Us Foundation.) EIN: 46-4784365.

His two directors made $190k and $54k, respectively, in 2019. Nothing on file from 2020 onward.

[Aseahawkfan]

63% of the average charitable organization donations goes to the stated cause. According to the link in this thread, in 2020, Russell's organization was at 21.3%. 3 times 21.3 is 63.9, so as I said, it's nearly 3 times.

I agree that it's not embezzlement and probably doesn't meet the threshold of a criminal act. But as you indicated, it is at the very least highly unethical and most likely in violation of IRS regulations that govern nonprofits.

Russell almost certainly didn't have anything to do with the day-to-day management of his charity, but he is the president of it and as such bears at least some of the responsibility. It's sure been a bad 6 months for Team 3, hasn't it?

The numbers are all over the place in these articles. It's a very shoddily written article.

One part says 24.3 percent of each dollar is going to charity. Another party says 39 cents of every dollar is going to charity. There is some discussion of amounts with no real supporting evidence other than inexact tax forms that don't outline many specifics. It talks about this amount over ten years, which seems low for ten years.

Article could have been better written. I'm not seeing any criminal activity. I'm really not sure what to think given the shoddy nature of the article. Seems like a weak hit job with a bunch of insinuations backed up by I'm not sure how many years of tax returns. It provides no comparison to other similar charities. It is written so that people who hate Russell will assume the worst. While people like me are kind of baffled as to what this is supposed to mean or the purpose of it other than to add more negative press for those who are already ready to crap on Russell more.

It's a charity spending money on helping people. As with all things Russell, apparently it's not spending enough. I don't see any financial benefit to Russ from this other than it's not being managed very efficiently.

I guess I'll see if anything more comes of it or it turns out to be another Russ hit job for those that already don't like him to make a bunch of assumptions about him.

[MackStrongIsMyHero]

The tax filings matter; obviously, that's how they report compensation and expenses.

Also significant is that he's not even breaking 50% to the recipients, and he's not very close at that. Not criminal, but not a good look. I don't Russell is benefitting personally, but it is very possible the people he appointed to the charity are.

[Stream Hawk]

I read that article. Is that different for other charities? The article didn't indicate if this is standard operating practice for a charity or not.

The salaries for administering do seem very high.

There was no accusations of embezzlement, so not sure where that is coming from.

I used the term embezzlement when it was fresh off the press, and I hadn’t really read much into it yet. Doesn’t sound like that is the case, but on the other hand he clearly overlooked a lot of the charity. That is some good coin for the executives, that’s for sure!

As I heard on 710 a lot lately, it has been quite a bad year for him. Carroll curse?

[RiverDog]

I came across something that offers a bit of a defense for Russell, albiet a very poor, two wrongs don't make a right, monkey see-monkey do excuse:

As far as the amount of money that actually goes into a charity, (USA Today's Jason) Wolf said the percentage isn’t unusual. He noted that many athletes’ nonprofits pay about 25 cents on the dollar.

“So this is not exclusively a Russell Wilson issue. It is an issue with NFL players, the league, and the union encouraging these guys to be philanthropic with their most prestigious awards,” Wolf said. “But then not doing enough clearly to educate them on the front end to ensure they don’t find themselves into these kinds of terrible situations.”

And it mentions the very lame, non response response from Russell's charity:

Wolf said that Wilson and his representatives had many chances to respond to the story, but of all the nonprofits evaluated, Why Not You was the only one that did not respond. After the story broke, Shayla Tait, the foundation’s executive director, did Tweet and emailed a statement but did not directly reference the report.

The statement goes on to describe the Why Not You Foundation's partnership with the Seattle Children's Hospital, from Wilson's 10-year tenure with the Seattle Seahawks, to raise money for pediatric cancer research as well as the opening of Why Not You Academy, a charter school for underserved children, in 2020. It claims that more than $1 million has been pledge for the school in 2023.

The statement, however, does not refute or even address Wolff's report, nor does it promise any changes to the foundation's operations as a result.

Wilson himself has not commented on the situation. Fans and donors to his cause would certainly like to hear him address the allegations soon.


https://mynorthwest.com/3815476/russell ... ion-there/

https://athlonsports.com/nfl/look-russe ... ing-report

I don't think it is incumbent on the league and/or the player's union to educate these guys on how to run a nonprofit other than to refer them to a tax accountant or some other resource.

[Aseahawkfan]

If there is any fire to this smoke, more will come out. I will wait until then. Right now I'm seeing some smoke that looks like it could lead to more or be nothing. I guess we'll see.

At least it is not something like the Brett Favre welfare scandal at the moment. That would truly be terrible and disappointing.

Right now it looks like a very inefficiently run charity with some directors looking like they're getting paid too much. I hope there isn't much more to it and Russell takes this report as an opportunity to improve how his charity operates.

[NorthHawk]

With Russ being very conscious about his image, it wouldn’t surprise me if he made changes to increase the %
that goes to the charity in an effort to improve the narrative.

[RiverDog]

If there is any fire to this smoke, more will come out. I will wait until then. Right now I'm seeing some smoke that looks like it could lead to more or be nothing. I guess we'll see.

At least it is not something like the Brett Favre welfare scandal at the moment. That would truly be terrible and disappointing.

Right now it looks like a very inefficiently run charity with some directors looking like they're getting paid too much. I hope there isn't much more to it and Russell takes this report as an opportunity to improve how his charity operates.

I doubt that there's any more to come out, at least as far as it concerns Russell. It will be interesting to see if the IRS audits them and levies any fines.

This is quite different than Bret Favre's scandal which involved misappropriation of taxpayer money and involved government officials. Russell's charity involved 100% voluntary contributions from private citizens and companies. But it does smell the same, and if there are more players involved as the writer of the USA Today article claims, the league will probably step in and do something, perhaps have them register with the league office so they can oversee it.

[RiverDog]

With Russ being very conscious about his image, it wouldn’t surprise me if he made changes to increase the %
that goes to the charity in an effort to improve the narrative.

I'd be shocked if he didn't. And if there's any truth to the claim that he's not alone, that other player's charities are overpaying their directors, there'll be a mad scramble for everyone to get their books in order. Contributing a meager 25% of donations to the stated cause is absurd.

A long time ago when I used to do a lot of bird hunting, I was a member of Ducks Unlimited, and they claimed that 90% of the donations they received went to habitat restoration and conservation.

[Hawktawk]

I listened to the author on Brock and Salk yesterday . He pointed out that this is a 5 part series on Walter Payton MOY winners in general .

Among notable names besides Russ Calais Campbell had a charity golf tournament they LOST money , a net loss of 27 k . Anquan Bolden had a foundation that at one point was as inneficient as Russels . The author points out that Campbell cancelled his tournament .

Boldens hired new directors to turn in around and they did so.

Russell’s 10 year contribution was 39 % but in 2020 it was 21 % and and around 25 % in 21. More troubling is that the top 3 people pay wise work full time for Wilson as well . He as well as his Agent Rogers sit on this board .

At the top salaries of 200 k and 150 k they make twice the industry average for a charitable organization. A third Wilson employed makes 60 k for part time work . Looks to me like massive bonuses for employees with charity funds . For me it looks worse all the time .

[NorthHawk]

He might be complicit, but it might also be people he trusts (or trusted) taking advantage of the situation to help themselves.
It's not good, but as you pointed out, it does happen and probably more than we think all across the charitable organizations which is a shame because it can stain the good ones who run efficiently.

[RiverDog]

In addition to the subjectivity of the proposed rule, I have questions and concerns about the injuries it's designed to prevent.

First of all, the types of injuries these types of tackles contribute to are limited to the lower extremities, ie the legs. Under no circumstances are any of those going to be life threatening or with significant long term consequences. Although it should be a goal that they reduce the risk of all serious injuries, those to the legs simply don't have the same priority as head, neck, and spinal column events. No one's going to end up in a wheelchair for the rest of their life because of a high ankle sprain.

Secondly, how many injuries like this have occurred per season relative to all other types of injuries? What's the average number of games missed per injury? In other words, what do we hope to gain from implementing this rule change, and is it worth it to create such a subjective, difficult to interpret rule for the officials to call and the players to abide by?

[Aseahawkfan]

I doubt that there's any more to come out, at least as far as it concerns Russell. It will be interesting to see if the IRS audits them and levies any fines.

This is quite different than Bret Favre's scandal which involved misappropriation of taxpayer money and involved government officials. Russell's charity involved 100% voluntary contributions from private citizens and companies. But it does smell the same, and if there are more players involved as the writer of the USA Today article claims, the league will probably step in and do something, perhaps have them register with the league office so they can oversee it.

It doesn't smell the same at all at the moment.

What Favre did was egregious, personal, and involved defrauding the government of payments in cooperation with government officials. This is not even close to that. Not even in the same ballpark at the moment, not sure why you would insinuate that.

There was nothing in the article indicating funds were misappropriated, any criminal action took place, or Russell personally benefited or willfully defrauded anyone as Favre did in his welfare, as in taking money from the poor children, scandal.

Not even close to the same smell or level at this point in time. That is a terrible comparison.

[RiverDog]

I doubt that there's any more to come out, at least as far as it concerns Russell. It will be interesting to see if the IRS audits them and levies any fines.

This is quite different than Bret Favre's scandal which involved misappropriation of taxpayer money and involved government officials. Russell's charity involved 100% voluntary contributions from private citizens and companies. But it does smell the same, and if there are more players involved as the writer of the USA Today article claims, the league will probably step in and do something, perhaps have them register with the league office so they can oversee it.

It doesn't smell the same at all at the moment.

What Favre did was egregious, personal, and involved defrauding the government of payments in cooperation with government officials. This is not even close to that. Not even in the same ballpark at the moment, not sure why you would insinuate that.

There was nothing in the article indicating funds were misappropriated, any criminal action took place, or Russell personally benefited or willfully defrauded anyone as Favre did in his welfare, as in taking money from the poor children, scandal.

Not even close to the same smell or level at this point in time. That is a terrible comparison.

I'm not the one that made the comparison, and I specifically said that Russell's scandal was quite different from Favre's.

Saying that the smell is the same is completely subjective. Both stink, so IMO they both have the same smell.

[Hawktawk]

Yeah stink is stink . One overlooked aspect of the story is that Russ personally plugged this charity and verbally misrepresented the amount of money the charity was putting into projects . An example cited was a partnership with several large grocery chains to raise money .

Russ said in a press conference that why not them had raised nearly 11 million when in fact the contribution by his foundation was under a million with the supermarkets donating 10 million , most of it before a partnership with why not them was even finalized .
Kind of a huckster , overselling the foundation .The suggestion Russ is completely detached from what was going on is laid waste by these new revelations . He was an active cheerleader .

Another thought is the timeline of the drastic drop in contributions. 2020 hit too much . 2021 checked out and wanting out . Did they check out on any pretense of operating the charity for anything but lining their pockets knowing the gravy train might be ending ? That would be even worse but the timing is undeniable with the precipitous drop relative to 39% over the previous 8 years . Still bad but no comparison . Far as I know Russ hasn’t commented. I’d like to hear from him .

[RiverDog]

Yeah stink is stink . One overlooked aspect of the story is that Russ personally plugged this charity and verbally misrepresented the amount of money the charity was putting into projects . An example cited was a partnership with several large grocery chains to raise money .

Russ said in a press conference that why not them had raised nearly 11 million when in fact the contribution by his foundation was under a million with the supermarkets donating 10 million , most of it before a partnership with why not them was even finalized .
Kind of a huckster , overselling the foundation .The suggestion Russ is completely detached from what was going on is laid waste by these new revelations . He was an active cheerleader .

Another thought is the timeline of the drastic drop in contributions. 2020 hit to much . 2021 checked out and wanting out . Did they check out on any pretense of operating the charity for anything but lining their pockets knowing the gravy train might be ending ? That would be even worse but the timing is undeniable with the precipitous drop relative to 39% over the previous 8 years . Still bad but no comparison . Far as I know Russ hasn’t commented. I’d like to hear from him .

Russell did comment, and it was a bit disappointing to say the least:

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/100 ... ite-report

There's no mention of the salaries the directors are getting, no mention of the lack of independent oversight, and no mention of any changes in how they plan to operate going forward. It would have been nice had he or someone with his foundation acknowledged some of the unethical things they'd been practicing, but all he did was put his own spin on the controversy by engaging in a little accounting sleight of hand.

He's using the Safeway-Albertson's donations to Seattle Children's Strong Against Cancer campaign in order to inflate the amount of total contributions to his charity by $10M to make their percentage of expenses vs. what actually went to charity look better, claiming that 70 cents on every dollar when to the intended recipient vs. the 24 cents the article cited. Here's a couple of problems with Russell's math:

The Albertsons Companies Foundation confirmed it has donated nearly $10 million to Seattle Children’s Hospital since its Strong Against Cancer campaign began in 2012 — five years before the company said it partnered with the Why Not You Foundation — and provided documentation to substantiate its payments.

Based on Albertsons data that predates the Why Not You Foundation’s collaboration with the grocery store chain, however, Wilson’s involvement in the company’s Strong Against Cancer campaign does not appear to have boosted its historic annual growth rate, underscoring questions concerning the foundation’s possible noncompliance with compensation requirements.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/r ... r-AA17fLHK

So in other words, Wilson is claiming an undetermined amount of money that was contributed well before his charity partnered with the grocery store chain and his involvement did not result in any verifiable increase in contributions beyond what they had been receiving before he got involved.

[Aseahawkfan]

I'm not the one that made the comparison, and I specifically said that Russell's scandal was quite different from Favre's.

Saying that the smell is the same is completely subjective. Both stink, so IMO they both have the same smell.

No, it isn't subjective.

One is a criminal coverup of misappropriation of funds from a government welfare fund. Why Favre isn't be prosecuted is one of those situations where you claim conspiracies don't exist, yet we all know that this is being covered up by powerful people when anyone else doing what Favre did would be on trial and charged.

Russell's is a report about a charity in an article with numbers all over the place, no involvement of the government is currently known, and nothing even close to criminal has been done. It's a maybe mismanaged charity with salaries that seem high depending on the year.

Stink is not even close to the same. I'm not even sure this story has enough in it to have any legs other than to provide some ammo for those that already dislike him. I'll have to see if more comes out, but what they have right now is nearly nothing. No crime. No misuse of funds by Russ. Just a badly managed charity that could use some more oversight depending on the year as most years 39 cents of every dollar was going to charity but recently 24 cents. It's not a very deep or well-detailed story and certainly not close to the criminal activity and breadth of the welfare fraud cover up Favre is involved in.

I certainly hope it doesn't reach anything like that because Favre committed an actual crime that involved a lot of other people in some massive welfare fraud scam.

[RiverDog]

I'm not the one that made the comparison, and I specifically said that Russell's scandal was quite different from Favre's.

Saying that the smell is the same is completely subjective. Both stink, so IMO they both have the same smell.

Russell's is a report about a charity in an article with numbers all over the place, no involvement of the government is currently known, and nothing even close to criminal has been done. It's a maybe mismanaged charity with salaries that seem high depending on the year.

You call it how you see it and I'll call it like I see it. IMO both Favre and Wilson stink. As to how much or to what degree is debatable.

And I wouldn't say that what they have is "nearly nothing". From the original article:

(Ryan) Tarpley’s job for the nonprofit required 40 hours of work per week, according to its federal tax returns. But Tarpley also served as chief strategy officer for the Wilson family office, a business relationship divulged on his LinkedIn page and biography on the website for the Why Not You Academy, a nonprofit charter school he helped develop, but omitted from the Why Not You Foundation’s federal tax returns.

“If he’s with the family office,” (nonprofit attorney Andrew) Morton said, “then that relationship must be disclosed.”

Chief among them: Was Tarpley compensated by the Why Not You Foundation to provide services for the personal benefit of Ciara and Russell Wilson? “It is absolutely, categorically illegal to have a nonprofit pay you to do work outside of supporting its charitable purposes,” Morton said, “let alone furthering private interests.”

For the Wilson family office, Tarpley wrote he helped “establish a growth strategy and objectives” for Ciara and Russell Wilson.

“I directed development of the brand marketing strategy to substantiate the overarching brand identity,” Tarpley wrote. “I also advised the Co-CEOs on the procurement of new business opportunities, and guided individual businesses with integration of equity and inclusion and recruitment process and strategy. Businesses include Evolution Advisors, House of LRC, West2East and Why Not You Productions, and Dare To Roam.” Key achievements included helping the Wilsons establish “two new businesses, Evolution Advisors (Insurance/Financial Products) and House of LRC (Fashion).”

Tarpley listed both jobs as full-time positions.

"The vast majority of the work that Ryan Tarpley did was for the foundation,” Rodgers said, adding that Tarpley was paid separately for his work for the Wilson family office.

Morton said the purported division of labor is difficult to believe. “Tarpley spends 40 hours a week supporting the foundation and did all these other things with his time?” Morton said. “No way. The more he said he did for the family office, the less credible this becomes. Those are significant undertakings that would be in addition to his full-time commitment to the foundation, which I don’t buy, and I don’t think anyone with a full-time job would buy."

It all depends on how far and how deep the IRS wants to go into this foundation's shady practices. My guess is that if they get involved at all, they'll just levy a fine and call it good. They have a limited number of agents and lots bigger fish to fry. But make no mistake: The article is accusing Russell of committing a crime.

[Hawktawk]

Passing off these managers as some sort of competent people is farcical in light of known facts . Whoever is paying them. It does look like a potential legal issue , for who is unclear .

[RiverDog]

Passing off these managers as some sort of competent people is farcical in light of known facts . Whoever is paying them. It does look like a potential legal issue , for who is unclear .

It's a legal issue between the foundation and the IRS, but I seriously doubt that they'll pursue it. Its small potatoes compared to the cases they have to deal with.

What needs to happen is for Russell to come clean, admit that unintentional mistakes were made, offer to pay the taxes/fines himself vs. the foundation, then appoint an independent director to clean it up and get the salaries in line with generally accepted practices.

[Stream Hawk]

Did anybody see his (very cringe) response? I mean, talk about not saying anything relevant to the question.
https://twitter.com/jasrifootball/statu ... FG-Hd5S3dg

[RiverDog]

Did anybody see his (very cringe) response? I mean, talk about not saying anything relevant to the question.
https://twitter.com/jasrifootball/statu ... FG-Hd5S3dg

Yeah, I saw it, which is why I said I was disappointed in his response. All he's doing is regurgitating the canned PR document from the front page of their promotional flier. It was a non-response response.

[Hawktawk]

If something looks too good to be true it often is . The deconstruction of the character of Wilson over the past couple of years has been remarkable and 100% self inflicted . He made it worse yet with this defiant regurgitation of the lie that his foundation had raised the 10 million to balance his books when the chains themselves donated the money .

The straw man about revenue to the NPO still overlooks directors paid twice the going rate who also collected a check from Wilson . Nothing else figured into that . It was a big reason for the shortfall .


I like the man less every time he opens his mouth . I was even taken aback by Kyle Brandt’s harsh criticism “ phoniest person in the league “ . But it’s proving to be true .

Good luck Payton . You will need it . So much for 70% completion and 5k yards passing buddy .

As a Seahawks fan I’m so thankful this trade happened . Had Russ been here he’d be untradeable now and we would be mired in chaos .

I was amazed we got what we did . I feel sorry for my denver friends . They will be digging out for awhile . Meanwhile another great draft and FA we could compete next year . It’s how the fortunes of a franchise are changed . We’re lucky

[NorthHawk]

I think it's a make or break year for Wilson. After Hackett left, Wilson looked a lot better (too bad they didn't wait until the end of the season before firing him and costing us draft position) so maybe the HC was the problem.
This year with Payton he will have a real HC who is a very good game planner and play caller. There won't be any more excuses if he falters again, but he also has the chance to really shine and do some of the things he has
done best and add some more to his game.
His image has taken a hit both on and off the field this last year, let's see how he responds.

[RiverDog]

I think it's a make or break year for Wilson. After Hackett left, Wilson looked a lot better (too bad they didn't wait until the end of the season before firing him and costing us draft position) so maybe the HC was the problem.
This year with Payton he will have a real HC who is a very good game planner and play caller. There won't be any more excuses if he falters again, but he also has the chance to really shine and do some of the things he has
done best and add some more to his game.
His image has taken a hit both on and off the field this last year, let's see how he responds.

I've tried to look up Drew Brees' time to throw to see how quickly he was getting rid of the ball under Payton, but I couldn't find anything. He did take a lot fewer sacks, averaging about 20 per season, or just over 1 a game, which would lead me to believe that he didn't hold onto the ball very long. Russell's taken as many sacks in his 11 seasons as Brees did in 20. To me, that's the biggest problem with Russell and the #1 thing he can do to improve his game is to get rid of the ball quickly. It was something we discussed to great length in the last few years with us.

As to his response to this latest controversy, here's what I wish he would have said:

"Like many of you, I've recently been made aware of some potential issues regarding the operations of the Why Not Me foundation. If there were any mistakes, let me assure you that they were honest and unintentional. If any of these oversights resulted in my foundation not paying its fair share of taxes, I'll pay whatever is determined that we owe out of my own pocket. Additionally, we pledge to hire an independent non-profit attorney with the assignment of conducing a thorough review of our organizational structure and make recommendations for correcting any unethical practices he/she might find.

Whatever the results of this internal review are, we will share them with you and our contributors. It was not our intention to cheat the system or abuse the generosity of the many thousands of those that donated to our foundation. Please do not let this unfortunate incident dissuade you from supporting our cause.

Let's Ride!"

I had to throw in that last little jab.

[Hawktawk]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/ma ... aa6db6e4bc

Herse a well deserved low blow at the risk of irritating and nauseating my fellow shackers. I had never really heard Malcolm Butler break down his actions on the play, his instinct to jump the route. I said in the uproar after the game right here that I thought Russ had telegraphed the play by looking to the right for a prolonged time before the snap. Of course as we learned from sound FX he still never saw Butler. Just his intended target.


I said then and ill say it now, The QB is ultimately responsible for the ball he throws. I just didn't initially realize how unprepared for the moment Russ was. I'm going with pete didn't realize it either. I always thought that group would be back after that game with all that talent. Now you wonder if we will ever get back. Gotta be lucky and very very good...

[Aseahawkfan]

You call it how you see it and I'll call it like I see it. IMO both Favre and Wilson stink. As to how much or to what degree is debatable.

And I wouldn't say that what they have is "nearly nothing". From the original article:

(Ryan) Tarpley’s job for the nonprofit required 40 hours of work per week, according to its federal tax returns. But Tarpley also served as chief strategy officer for the Wilson family office, a business relationship divulged on his LinkedIn page and biography on the website for the Why Not You Academy, a nonprofit charter school he helped develop, but omitted from the Why Not You Foundation’s federal tax returns.

“If he’s with the family office,” (nonprofit attorney Andrew) Morton said, “then that relationship must be disclosed.”

Chief among them: Was Tarpley compensated by the Why Not You Foundation to provide services for the personal benefit of Ciara and Russell Wilson? “It is absolutely, categorically illegal to have a nonprofit pay you to do work outside of supporting its charitable purposes,” Morton said, “let alone furthering private interests.”

For the Wilson family office, Tarpley wrote he helped “establish a growth strategy and objectives” for Ciara and Russell Wilson.

“I directed development of the brand marketing strategy to substantiate the overarching brand identity,” Tarpley wrote. “I also advised the Co-CEOs on the procurement of new business opportunities, and guided individual businesses with integration of equity and inclusion and recruitment process and strategy. Businesses include Evolution Advisors, House of LRC, West2East and Why Not You Productions, and Dare To Roam.” Key achievements included helping the Wilsons establish “two new businesses, Evolution Advisors (Insurance/Financial Products) and House of LRC (Fashion).”

Tarpley listed both jobs as full-time positions.

"The vast majority of the work that Ryan Tarpley did was for the foundation,” Rodgers said, adding that Tarpley was paid separately for his work for the Wilson family office.

Morton said the purported division of labor is difficult to believe. “Tarpley spends 40 hours a week supporting the foundation and did all these other things with his time?” Morton said. “No way. The more he said he did for the family office, the less credible this becomes. Those are significant undertakings that would be in addition to his full-time commitment to the foundation, which I don’t buy, and I don’t think anyone with a full-time job would buy."

It all depends on how far and how deep the IRS wants to go into this foundation's shady practices. My guess is that if they get involved at all, they'll just levy a fine and call it good. They have a limited number of agents and lots bigger fish to fry. But make no mistake: The article is accusing Russell of committing a crime.

The above means nothing. It is not a crime or anything of the kind. As far as the statement's conclusion, it's rubbish. Lawyers and administrators work more than a full time job and do double duty all the time. Unless more comes out, that statement doesn't amount to a crime or anything of the sort. So until you got more like Russell being charged or a much more detailed list of crimes, they are not comparable.

It's not debatable. It's more just you wanting to pick and annoy like you enjoy doing when debating.

Favre's is a crime. It's literally a crime known as fraud. And it's more of the crap from before where you claim conspiracies don't exist, yet here is one right in front of your eyes that is clearly a crime and isn't being prosecuted as such with Favre. It is being covered up.

But hey, RD's gotta have some material to debate and he wants to annoy someone else, so he's going to compare the two using magnanimous idea's of subjective guilt. Sorry bud, that is not how crimes work. One a criminal coverup of massive welfare fraud, one is a badly managed private charity. Very different.

Until I see more, this is just more of you wanting to pick at something out of boredom. Which is I guess fine as this is not looking like much to run with.

[Aseahawkfan]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/malcolm-butler-reveals-dead-giveaway-from-russell-wilson-seahawks-that-led-to-iconic-interception/ar-AA17oR83?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=58404dd849814deabe82f2aa6db6e4bc

Herse a well deserved low blow at the risk of irritating and nauseating my fellow shackers. I had never really heard Malcolm Butler break down his actions on the play, his instinct to jump the route. I said in the uproar after the game right here that I thought Russ had telegraphed the play by looking to the right for a prolonged time before the snap. Of course as we learned from sound FX he still never saw Butler. Just his intended target.


I said then and ill say it now, The QB is ultimately responsible for the ball he throws. I just didn't initially realize how unprepared for the moment Russ was. I'm going with pete didn't realize it either. I always thought that group would be back after that game with all that talent. Now you wonder if we will ever get back. Gotta be lucky and very very good...

It was a stupid play call that should have never been made given the personnel. Lockett had never made a catch of that kind or ran that kind of route in that situation. It was dumb on so many levels. Only an idiot would have oked that play.

[Aseahawkfan]

It's a legal issue between the foundation and the IRS, but I seriously doubt that they'll pursue it. Its small potatoes compared to the cases they have to deal with.

What needs to happen is for Russell to come clean, admit that unintentional mistakes were made, offer to pay the taxes/fines himself vs. the foundation, then appoint an independent director to clean it up and get the salaries in line with generally accepted practices.

It is not currently a legal issue with the IRS. That is speculation.

Right now it's a story that people like you are hopping on with some people speculating on violations, but so far I have heard or no charges or issues.

You're running with it because you got nothing else to run with.

[RiverDog]

The above means nothing. It is not a crime or anything of the kind.

Tax evasion IS a crime, and that's what the article is accusing Russell's organization of doing.

It's unlikely that there will be any charges filed against Russell or his organization. They'd have to prove intent, which probably doesn't exist, and it's not a large enough amount of money owed to justify the cost of investigating and prosecuting it. But make no mistake: What the organization is accused of doing is illegal.

[Hawktawk]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/malcolm-butler-reveals-dead-giveaway-from-russell-wilson-seahawks-that-led-to-iconic-interception/ar-AA17oR83?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=58404dd849814deabe82f2aa6db6e4bc

Herse a well deserved low blow at the risk of irritating and nauseating my fellow shackers. I had never really heard Malcolm Butler break down his actions on the play, his instinct to jump the route. I said in the uproar after the game right here that I thought Russ had telegraphed the play by looking to the right for a prolonged time before the snap. Of course as we learned from sound FX he still never saw Butler. Just his intended target.


I said then and ill say it now, The QB is ultimately responsible for the ball he throws. I just didn't initially realize how unprepared for the moment Russ was. I'm going with pete didn't realize it either. I always thought that group would be back after that game with all that talent. Now you wonder if we will ever get back. Gotta be lucky and very very good...

It was a stupid play call that should have never been made given the personnel. Lockett had never made a catch of that kind or ran that kind of route in that situation. It was dumb on so many levels. Only an idiot would have oked that play.[/quote]

No disagreement . But as Huard said if coach gives you a skunk it’s your job to make sure it doesn’t stink . Bad call for the personnel . Maybe a pass wasn’t terrible but not that play . And ultimately Russ failed to execute and it was still about 3 inches from a TD. Such is life . A great run that could have been oh so much more . I didn’t blame Russ for all of it then and I don’t now .

[obiken]

Yeah stink is stink . One overlooked aspect of the story is that Russ personally plugged this charity and verbally misrepresented the amount of money the charity was putting into projects . An example cited was a partnership with several large grocery chains to raise money .

Russ said in a press conference that why not them had raised nearly 11 million when in fact the contribution by his foundation was under a million with the supermarkets donating 10 million , most of it before a partnership with why not them was even finalized .
Kind of a huckster , overselling the foundation .The suggestion Russ is completely detached from what was going on is laid waste by these new revelations . He was an active cheerleader .

Another thought is the timeline of the drastic drop in contributions. 2020 hit too much . 2021 checked out and wanting out . Did they check out on any pretense of operating the charity for anything but lining their pockets knowing the gravy train might be ending ? That would be even worse but the timing is undeniable with the precipitous drop relative to 39% over the previous 8 years . Still bad but no comparison . Far as I know Russ hasn’t commented. I’d like to hear from him .

No, we wouldn't! Do we really care or is it because its Russ? I look on Russ's charity work like Elvis giving away Cadillacs. Could he afford it sure, did it enhance his rep sure, but in the end its something that they did that they didn't have to do, and a lot of players dont bother to help others.

[RiverDog]

Yeah stink is stink . One overlooked aspect of the story is that Russ personally plugged this charity and verbally misrepresented the amount of money the charity was putting into projects . An example cited was a partnership with several large grocery chains to raise money .

Russ said in a press conference that why not them had raised nearly 11 million when in fact the contribution by his foundation was under a million with the supermarkets donating 10 million , most of it before a partnership with why not them was even finalized .
Kind of a huckster , overselling the foundation .The suggestion Russ is completely detached from what was going on is laid waste by these new revelations . He was an active cheerleader .

Another thought is the timeline of the drastic drop in contributions. 2020 hit too much . 2021 checked out and wanting out . Did they check out on any pretense of operating the charity for anything but lining their pockets knowing the gravy train might be ending ? That would be even worse but the timing is undeniable with the precipitous drop relative to 39% over the previous 8 years . Still bad but no comparison . Far as I know Russ hasn’t commented. I’d like to hear from him .

No, we wouldn't! Do we really care or is it because its Russ? I look on Russ's charity work like Elvis giving away Cadillacs. Could he afford it sure, did it enhance his rep sure, but in the end its something that they did that they didn't have to do, and a lot of players dont bother to help others.

I'm with Obi on this one. There is nothing to suggest that Russell was intentionally doing anything wrong. I still believe that his heart was in the right place, that he genuinely cares and is deeply passionate about the causes he and his organization trumpets. I just wish that he'd get off his high horse, admit that mistakes were made, then do what's necessary to make things right. It's almost like he's talked himself into believing that he's infallible.

[Stream Hawk]

No disagreement . But as Huard said if coach gives you a skunk it’s your job to make sure it doesn’t stink . Bad call for the personnel . Maybe a pass wasn’t terrible but not that play . And ultimately Russ failed to execute and it was still about 3 inches from a TD. Such is life . A great run that could have been oh so much more . I didn’t blame Russ for all of it then and I don’t now .

Bad play call to call a slant against a stacked box. Worse to call it for our wr5 on such a play. We really did have pretty crappy receivers that year. I don’t care how angry Doug was, he was definitely not a legit 1 at that point in his career. Should have done read option or throw to Lynch who was wide-open. Or throw it to the back of the end zone.

[RiverDog]

I read an interesting article about how Damar Hamlin organized his charity after his GoFundMe raised $9M following his mishap:

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin’s Chasing M’s Foundation has partnered with The Giving Back Fund, a national charity umbrella organization, to handle the deluge of donations raised in the wake of Hamlin’s on-field collapse Monday night.

In an email to Sportico, Hamlin’s marketing representative, Jordon Rooney, said that the new Chasing M’s Foundation Charitable Fund will facilitate all of the “contributions, activities and allocations from Jan 2, 2023, and going forward.”

https://news.yahoo.com/hamlin-charity-t ... 21094.html

Here's the cover page of the Giving Back Fund's website:

Our experienced program staff works with you to identify or refine your philanthropic vision, mission, goals, and strategy, and then we collaborate to help you achieve it. We offer a full range of services to support your specific needs and tailor them to best guide you along the way. GBF’s team has decades of experience in program design and implementation, grantmaking, fundraising and non-profit management. Due to our pooled structure, we offer an entire team of expert philanthropic professionals at a small fraction of what the cost would be otherwise.

https://givingback.org/services

It's apparent that Russell and a number of other NFL players haven't engaged professional services to manage their non-profit organizations in the manner in which Damar Hamlin has.

[Hawktawk]

https://sports.yahoo.com/russell-wilson ... rding%20to%2
Another terrible looking report. Going around the coach to ownership. Wow. Of course the predictable denial from team 3. MMMHHHHMMM.

Well hes got his wish with Payton. Lets see how that works out. Id love to have been a fly on the wall with Pete and John Guffawing and high fiving watching Russ suffer and fail. I'm surprised they have been as civil as they have been publicly although Pete has had an edge all year. Now I see why.

[NorthHawk]

THIS JUST IN!
QB AND COACH DIFFER IN PHILOSOPHY GOING FORWARD!!!!

I think Wilson was right. And Pete changed both his Defensive and Offensive philosophies last year. Thankfully we are no longer that '80's Offense that was stale and predictable.

[govandals]

This should surprise no one.

[Hawktawk]

THIS JUST IN!
QB AND COACH DIFFER IN PHILOSOPHY GOING FORWARD!!!!

I think Wilson was right. And Pete changed both his Defensive and Offensive philosophies last year. Thankfully we are no longer that '80's Offense that was stale and predictable.

For one I really didn’t see much different about the offense and how it was running . It’s up to the qb to run it . In his prime Wilson did excellent . Considering the circumstance Geno did as well . But when you say qb and coach differ in offensive philosophy that’s fine . When player goes to ownership to request firing the coach and even more remarkable the GM that’s filthy dirty slimy . I think he had delusions of grandeur , tried to step on too high a set of knuckles on the ladder .

And one more thing . “ Russ was right “? So if Jodi had picked Russ and lured Payton out of retirement which negates the trade and huge haul of picks and in fact would have cost us picks would we be better off going forward? Be honest . Would we have been a playoff team ? Would Russ basically double his 2022 TDs and add 1k plus yards to play as well as Geno did last year ? Jodi was right and I think we cleared up who has a pair as an owner . Totally her call .



I must say after all this I was gonna let it be but I’ll chuckle a little if Russ and Payton don’t find holy matrimony .

[NorthHawk]

For one I really didn’t see much different about the offense and how it was running . It’s up to the qb to run it . In his prime Wilson did excellent . Considering the circumstance Geno did as well . But when you say qb and coach differ in offensive philosophy that’s fine .

Then you weren't looking very hard if at all. We went from a ground based attack to a pass based attack with lots of pre-snap motion, different formations, multiple plays from the same formations and multiple formations for the same plays.
Today it's an Offense that is hard to defend and friendly to QBs because there are quick reads, and opened gaps in Defenses because of motion, not to mention how it confirms man or zone coverage.
What we used to do was set up in a formation and run a play or two. The Defenses were calling out what the play was based on formation because we didn't change it.
At one point in Schottenheimer's last year here we opened it up for the first 5 games and it was somewhat similar to last years Offense. We won those first 5 games because of the Offense as the Defense was heading into record levels of
incompetence. Then the Offense hit a rough patch for a game and Pete pulled the carpet out from under them and went back to the old style of play.
I think any real competitor would be royally pissed by that action, so it's no wonder a major rift was created.

And one more thing . “ Russ was right “? So if Jodi had picked Russ and lured Payton out of retirement which negates the trade and huge haul of picks and in fact would have cost us picks would we be better off going forward? Be honest . Would we have been a playoff team ? Would Russ basically double his 2022 TDs and add 1k plus yards to play as well as Geno did last year ?

This year will determine whether Wilson has lost it or not. It's interesting that he started playing much better after Hackett was canned. Will he return to his former level of play this year?
We'll find out in about Oct/Nov after they've played some games.