Revenge games are real, and it will be a motivating factor for Russell Wilson in his return to Seattle | Ekeler’s Edge
Los Angeles Chargers running back Austin Ekeler and Yahoo Sports’ Fantasy Analyst Matt Harmon discuss the idea of revenge games in the NFL. Are they real? Or are they a media driven storyline? With apologies to the Panthers Baker Mayfield as he prepares to face his former team in the Cleveland Browns, the biggest revenge game in week 1 is Russell Wilson returning to Seattle to face the Seahawks. It will be his first game with the Broncos, after playing in Seattle for 10 seasons. Catch fresh episodes of Ekeler’s Edge every Wednesday on Yahoo Sports and your favorite social media platforms. Listen to Ekeler’s Edge on the Yahoo Fantasy Football Forecast wherever you get podcasts.
Video Transcript
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MATT HARMON: Don't know if you've heard this out there, people. The Broncos have a new quarterback. He also happens to be playing his former team in week one.
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You've never had to experience this because you've been playing on the same team your entire career, which is awesome. But the concept of the revenge game-- I joke about, like, oh, man, revenge games. This should be fun.
But then you do get some guys like like Steve Smith. I always bring it back to him when he played the Panthers. He's like, I'm gonna leave some blood and guts on that field. And, I mean, he ripped them up. So maybe that's out there.
So are revenge games real? And how do you feel about the Broncos now that they've brought in this big-time quarterback?
AUSTIN EKELER: I would say it's situational. But I would say, at the same time, it's always real in one way or another. Even if there's bad blood, if there's good blood, if it was on good terms, bad terms, there's gonna be some type of, like, hey, this is what you're missing out on type of feeling that you want to instill in them, you know. And I think that does add extra motivation.
We have a lot of reasons to be motivated in this game. And little things like that are kind of rare that pop up every once in a while, I think, is definitely one because we're competitors. Like, we want to--
MATT HARMON: Yeah.
AUSTIN EKELER: --show you that you messed up by not keeping me, you know. So just in the sense of being a competitor and actually trying to be the best player that you can be, you're gonna have that type of feeling. And that's even for teams that don't even have you, right? You want the world to know who you are.
But definitely, for a team that has had you on the team, and they didn't, for whatever reason, you know, re-sign you or extend you, there's definitely that revenge game. That's for sure, I think.
One example, actually, you know, it sucks to say, but Adrian Phillips last year for the New England Patriots, he was with us. We didn't re-sign him. And he had, like, a pick 6 against-- he had two picks, and one was a pick 6.
And so I knew AP, man. This man-- shoutout to AP. He's my guy, helped me out when I was younger. I know he was just in the locker room, probably going crazy after the game. But, yeah, it was that, like, man, AP, man, he tore us up. So I've been on the other end of that wrath, so to speak.
MATT HARMON: Yeah, I feel like guys who have like that chip on their shoulder-- I mean, look, I'm sure Russ has a chip on his shoulder. But he's got a huge new contract for the damn Broncos. He got a big trade to go over there. Like, there's clearly, even if the Seahawks maybe lost their belief, there's someone else that has that belief in you, right?
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