Russell Carrington Wilson (born November 29, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). Wilson initially played football and baseball for North Carolina State University from 2008 to 2010 before transferring to Wisconsin. He played college football for the University of Wisconsin during the 2011 season, in which he set the single-season FBS record for passing efficiency (191.8) and led the team to a Big Ten title and the 2012 Rose Bowl. He also played minor league baseball for the Tri-City Dust Devils in 2010 and the Asheville Tourists in 2011 as a second baseman, and as of 2019 his professional baseball rights are held by the Trenton Thunder, a Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. He was selected by the Seahawks with the 12th pick in the third round (75th overall) of the 2012 NFL Draft. After beating out Matt Flynn for the starting job during training camp, Wilson ended up having a successful debut season, tying Peyton Manning's then record for most passing touchdowns by a rookie (26) and was named the Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year. Wilson has been named to seven Pro Bowls and has started in two Super Bowls, winning Super Bowl XLVIII.[11] He holds the record for most wins by an NFL quarterback through seven seasons (75) and is one of two quarterbacks in NFL history with a career passer rating over 100, behind Aaron Rodgers.

In the National Football League, the team captain designation is a team-appointed position that designates certain players as leaders on and off the field. The captains program was implemented by the NFL Player Advisory Council established by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in conjunction with the NFL Players Association. Starting in 2007, the league began permitting teams to name up to six players as captains. Players who have been named a team captain typically have a "C" patch on their jerseys. There is a standard design used by all teams participating in the captaincy program. The patches are in team colors and are worn on the front left or right breast (depending on other patches, etc. worn by the specific team). The number of Stars filled in on the patch represents the number of consecutive years that player has been named captain by that team. If they've been named captain for longer than four years, the "C" on the patch is gold. Some teams (i.e. Baltimore and New England) do not have this patch on their jerseys but still designate captains. The New York Jets have not designated team captains since an incident involving Santonio Holmes in a 2011 game. In the 4th quarter of the final game of the 2011 season against the Miami Dolphins, Holmes appeared to get into an argument with Jets offensive tackle Wayne Hunter while the team was huddling. As a result of the argument, Holmes was benched for the remainder of the game, and the Jets ended up losing the game, which resulted in the Jets missing the postseason for the first time in 3 years. His leadership qualities and credibility as a captain have since been questioned. During special recognitions, the patch may be a different color; e.g., pink for breast cancer awareness; or camouflage for military service recognition. Because of the nature of the game, most teams include their starting quarterbacks as Offensive Captain.

The 2021 NFL season is the 102nd season of the National Football League (NFL). This is the first to feature a 17-game regular season schedule as the league expanded the season from 16 games. The regular season started on September 9, 2021, with defending Super Bowl LV champion Tampa Bay defeating Dallas in the NFL Kickoff Game. The regular season is scheduled to end on January 9, 2022. The playoffs are scheduled to start on January 15 and will conclude with Super Bowl LVI, the league's championship game, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on February 13.