Russell Wilson Says Being A Stepparent Has Offered His Greatest Life Lesson

Russell Wilson discussed the love he has for his stepson, Future, in a joint GQ interview with Ciara, published on Thursday.

The Seattle Seahawks quarterback and the Grammy-winning singer opened up about their marriage and their three children: Future, 6, Sienna, 3, and Win, who was born this past July. Ciara had Future with her ex-partner, the rapper whose stage name is Future.

When Wilson first met Future, after he began dating Ciara, the little boy was only 9 months old. (The couple wed in July 2016.) The football star told GQ that Future coming into his life was “a blessing” and an opportunity to “be there for him every day.”

“And so I think the greatest thing that I’ve ever learned in life is probably in that relationship with Future, because the reality of being a stepparent is that biologically they’re not necessarily yours, but the reality is that you have to love them as if they are,” Wilson said. “They’re your own blood in a way. You get to love them that way. And I think every kid deserves that and needs that and yearns for that.”

Wilson, who often shares photos and videos of Future and his two other children on Instagram, told GQ that he sends his “three beautiful brown-skinned kids” inspirational video messages when he’s not at home to reaffirm their sense of self-worth. These efforts have felt especially important this past year, he said, as uprisings took place across the nation over the summer in response to police violence against Black people.

Ciara told GQ that the way Wilson fathers their children is something she finds “sexy.”

“He’s obviously really beautiful to me in every way, but the father in him is by far one of the things that makes him the most sexy to me,” she said. “Hot. To me it’s hot.” (Read the entire GQ profile here.)

Wilson shared similar sentiments about his children and his relationship with Future during an appearance on BuzzFeed News’ “AM2DM” in 2019. 

“It’s easy to love somebody that’s blood and everything else, but when you can love somebody just like it’s your own child and everything else, that’s what real love is like,” he said. 

On Jan. 1, Wilson shared a photo on Instagram of himself with Ciara and their children. In the post, he reflected on 2020, saying it had brought “obstacles… opportunities to change… great loss of loved ones come and gone… as well as new life.”

“2021… I don’t know what you will bring… but for my family we will continue to Believe that Love is the way!” he added.