When Russell Wilson met with reporters Wednesday, the second-year Seahawks passer gushed over Peyton Manning -- his Super Bowl foil -- as "one of the best football players to ever play the game," and called the Broncos quarterback an "example" to follow.
It turns out Wilson has been following that example for the better part of a decade, ever since attending Peyton's passing camp.
"There's thousands of kids there," Wilson said, "and I was actually in his group -- I think 12 or 15 other guys -- and just how much care he showed for the kids at the time and how much detail he always talked about and how much of a perfectionist he was, and I try to use that in my game."
Said Wilson: "I have a long way to go, obviously, but I try to do all the little things, and that's what he does."
A teenage Russell Wilson also made an impression on Manning ... to some degree.
"When I was getting drafted," Wilson said, "... the Denver Broncos brought me out to Denver and he ... was sitting there in the locker room, and I went up and talked to him, or whatever, and he said, 'Have I seen you before somewhere? I think I've seen you before somewhere. Where do I know you?'"
To our knowledge, it's the first Super Bowl matchup we can recall pitting Camper vs. Camp Counselor.
So there's that.
The latest "Around The League Podcast" looked at weaknesses of the two Super Bowl teams.