Giants' Russell Wilson has 'no other choice but to be confident'

The gospel of Russell Wilson starts with confidence. From the beginning, his words set a tone of being positive and encouraging his fellow Giants.

Whether it’s how he speaks to his teammates in the locker room or invites them to dinner, the quarterback has a positive attitude that has been front and center. It’s a lightning rod for attention — some may find it forced — but the Giants have been struck by how direct and genuine he has appeared.

“The energy he brings to the building every day is just infectious,” tight end Theo Johnson said. “The way he carries himself, just a true pro, the same guy every day.”

But where does it come from? What fills the deep well of confidence, faith and positivity that has fueled his potential Hall of Fame career? All athletes have it, but his brand comes off stronger than most.

The quarterback shared some insight this past week in a nearly three-minute response when asked how his confidence comes off so strong. It started with self-belief, but that comes from how he was raised in Richmond, Virginia.

“I dedicated that to my parents, my mom and my dad always encouraging rather than discouraging,” Wilson said. “Lifting me up highs and lows, been through some stuff, seeing my dad pass away. I’ve been through some things in life. I grew up with no hot water, sometimes no water at all. I saw my parents’ work, the sacrifice they gave.”

Wilson’s father, Harrison III, died from complications of diabetes on June 9, 2010, when Wilson was in college at N.C. State. Wilson told Sports Illustrated last month that as his dad lay in a coma, he learned the value of not having bad days and to appreciate the good that comes with the bad.

It fueled Wilson to trust his preparation and attack his football journey with a renewed purpose. In turn, that fueled his confidence because by doing things right over and over, you know what you’re capable of. So why not act like it?

That led Wilson to pull a quote from former Yankees manager Joe Girardi about Derek Jeter’s best attribute: Jeter “was always consistent but he was also consistently great at adjusting.”

For a quarterback who has dealt with questions about his size and gone through low career moments, such as his interception on the 1-yard line near the end of Super Bowl XLIX, Wilson has learned to trust being steady in his identity and learned to grow from anything.

That led to his final point. Confidence comes from experience.

“When you get to do it for so long, there’s this internal ‘I’ve been here before,’ and that internal language is a big part of it,” Wilson said. “But also, too, it’s the visualization that you picture. It’s the plays, it’s the obsession with studying, it’s the obsession with film, it’s all of that.

“And when you’ve seen it and you can anticipate it and you have a process [of] elimination, understand what may happen, what may not happen here, that gives you confidence.”

Part of that attitude comes from what Wilson learned from his late mental coach, Trevor Moawad. Moawad worked with Wilson for 12 or 13 years and the quarterback often has credited him with shaping his thought process.

It’s all prepared him for this situation with the Giants, a team that needs him to be more than solid after two years of dismal quarterback play. But as his career winds down, Wilson remains true to who he is because of lessons he’s learned and seen between Virginia and New York.

No matter what people think, what he thinks matters more. It’s the gospel that’s helped him get this far, so why change it? Especially if his new coaches and teammates like it.

Said Wilson: “For me, I got no other choice but to be confident because of what I’ve been through and what I’ve gone through and where I’ve been and all the success, too.”

By Evan Barnes

evan.barnes@newsday.comevan_b

Evan Barnes covers the Giants for Newsday. He previously covered the Brooklyn Nets, Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.