Russell Wilson had long been viewed as one of the league’s more milquetoast quarterbacks. He had corny expressions and quotes, was never flashy and rarely used cuss words.
Some have viewed the Broncos quarterback as a bit of a robot, helping earn him the cognomen “Robot Russell,” even as he found plenty of success on the field.
However, somewhere along his 12-year NFL career, Wilson earned the nickname “Mr. Unlimited,” which has stuck as perhaps his most prominent sobriquet.
How did the “Mr. Unlimited” nickname begin? Here’s what you need to know.
Why is Russell Wilson called Mr. Unlimited?
Wilson has become a meme for several of his quirkier moments. Most recently, he was roasted for ending every press conference by saying, “Broncos country, let’s ride.”
One of his first meme-worthy moments came back in 2018, when he was still with Seattle. Wilson said in a video posted to X (then Twitter) that he is “typical boring Russell, Robot Russell.” In an attempt to add to some excitement to his persona, he said that “everybody has to have an alter ego, right?”
“And I’ve been thinking about what my alter ego would be and I think I have an alter ego. His name is Mr. Unlimited,” Wilson said, drawing out the first I in “Unlimited.” “You got to be unlimited. You got to have a thought process of being unlimited. So when people ask you what you’re thinking about or what you want to do in life or where you want to go, you got to be unlimited. Tell them, ‘I’m unlimited.’ You know what I mean.”
He then went on to say that when certain questions were asked, you need to respond with “Mr. Unlimited.” Those questions included “Who brings you motivation, Russell?”, “Who’s your role model, Russell?”, “Who’s your go-to person for advice, Russell?” To the latter, Wilson said that while he loves his then-head coach Pete Carroll, the answer is “Mr. Unlimited.”
