RENTON, Wash. — Russell Wilson will face Peyton Manning for the first time in Super Bowl XLVIII, but the two quarterbacks won’t be strangers.
Wilson first met the Manning 10 years ago, the Seahawks quarterbacks revealed Wednesday, while attending the?Manning family passing camp — held annually by Peyton, his father Archie and brother Eli — for young players in New Orleans.
The camp always draws several hundred or more participants, but Wilson, by happenstance, ended up in the group of roughly 15 quarterbacks being tutored personally by Peyton.
“I was struck by how much care he showed for the kids, how much detail he talked about and what a perfectionist he was,” Wilson said as the Seahawks returned to practice for their Feb. 2 matchup with Manning and the Broncos at MetLife Stadium. “I try to use that, although I’ve got a long ways to go.”
What amazed Wilson was Manning’s uncanny recall skills, which were on display when Wilson was brought to Denver by the Broncos for a pre-draft visit in April 2012 and encountered Manning in the locker room.
“He was sitting in the locker room and I went over to talk to him, and he cut me off by saying, ‘Haven’t I seen you before?’?” Wilson said with a laugh.
If you were expecting brash Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman to call out Manning before the Super Bowl, be prepared for disappointment.
Sherman has mocked other quarterbacks, but he spoke about Manning in nothing but glowing terms Wednesday.
“As a defense, we respect the heck out of Peyton Manning,” Sherman said. “You want the best of the best, otherwise you don’t feel like you’re getting the biggest challenge of your life.
“If you win, you understand you were playing the best quarterback in the world, and it feels that much sweeter. If you want to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best. That’s the only way it can go.”
Sherman has referred to some of Manning’s passes as “ducks” and “wobblers,” but even that was turned into a compliment Wednesday.
“He still [throws ducks], but they’re accurate as ever,” Sherman said. “He’s throws a wobbler, and it still gets there the same. He really doesn’t care how he delivers the ball, because it gets there just the same — accurately, and on point. That’s what makes him a great quarterback.”
Wilson did a great job of earning brownie points with New Jerseyans on Wednesday by toasting one of the state’s most famous sons in advance of the Seahawks spending next week in Jersey City for the Super Bowl.
Asked how he celebrated the Seahawks’ 23-17 victory over the 49ers in the NFC Championship last Sunday, Wilson said he went out for a nice dinner then “listened to some Frank Sinatra.”
Receiver Percy Harvin was a full participant in practice on Wednesday. Harvin sustained a concussion in Seattle’s divisional round playoff win over the Saints and did not play last week. He played in just one regular-season game before re-injuring his hip vs. the Vikings on Nov. 17. … receiver Doug Baldwin (hip), running back Marshawn Lynch (knee) and defensive tackle Brandon Mebane (ankle) did not practice.