Super family: Seahawks QB’s dad, uncles attended WMA

Date: 1/30/2014

WILBRAHAM – Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson has made a big name for himself in a short time in the NFL, making it to the Super Bowl in just his second year in the league.

But long before he was born, the Wilsons were well-known on the gridiron. As was first pointed out in a story in the New York Times, Russell Wilson’s father, Harrison “Harry” Wilson III, and three uncles – Ben, John and Richard – all attended the school now known as Wilbraham & Monson Academy (WMA), all playing sports for the Coachmen.

Ben, the oldest, graduated from Wilbraham Academy in 1969. He went on to Dartmouth College where he graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He went on to Harvard where he earned his law degree. He is now the managing principal of Beveridge & Diamond, P.C., in Washington D.C., and is on the Dartmouth Board of Trustees.

Harry was the next to matriculate through the school, graduating in 1973 after the merger between Wilbraham Academy and Monson Academy in 1971. He also went on to Dartmouth where he was a standout two-sport athlete, playing both football and baseball – just like Russell. In 1976, he was First Team All-Ivy for the Big Green and broke the school record for receiving yards and received the Manners Makyth Man Award, which, according to Dartmouth, “goes each year to the player who best conducted himself to the advantage of Dartmouth and displayed good manners in the sense of William Wykeham's phrase, ‘Manners Makyth Man.’”

Harry died on June 9, 2010, prior to Russell’s final year at North Carolina State.

John graduated from WMA in 1976, followed by the youngest brother, Richard, in 1981.