Russell Wilson is opening up about what it meant for him to become a stepdad to Ciara’s son, Future Zahir Wilburn, when he married the singer in 2016.
In a recent sit-down interview on the I Am Athlete podcast, the Denver Broncos quarterback, 35, shared his candid viewpoint on becoming the third parent to his wife’s child, 9, whom she shares with “Mask Off” rapper Future.
Wilson says that upon meeting Ciara, 38, falling in love and then being introduced to her young son — who was less than a year old at the time — he instantaneously knew that he would have to step up.
“When I walked in the room and I saw, you know, little Future — he’s nine months at the time or whatever — he crawls in my lap and it was like, you know, this is going to be my responsibility,” the football star shared. “I remember leaving that night… and God said, saying to me, ‘Raising this child it’s going to be your responsibility.”
Despite him initially viewing it as a potentially daunting task, Wilson says in realizing the responsibility he was taking on, he was only more assured that Ciara was the one for him.
“I think [it was] scary just in the sense of — not scary — but it was more so of an opportunity. Like, ‘Okay God, this is what you want me to do? This is, you know, stepping in to raise, you know, a child with C?’ And this and that and realizing that, okay God, like I know she’s the one for me but also, I’m going to take this responsibility,” Russell said, calling it a “gift even.”
During the interview, the football player also used the opportunity to refer to one of the oldest examples of a stepdad he could think of: Joseph of Nazareth.
“Jesus himself — like Joseph was – Joseph was a stepdad,” Russell continued. “Okay, it [Jesus] wasn’t biologically his so I’m [like], ‘Okay God, you’re going to — you’re going to have me [do] this? Give me this opportunity to love the way that you were loved?'”
As for how exactly he was so sure that Ciara was the woman for him, Russell said that her debut in his life happened at the perfect time and that she fit the parameters of the woman he had asked God to bring him.
“I never forget, right before I met C, I wrote out my five non-negotiables,” he said, referring to his marriage and all others as a “business deal” first and foremost.
“Not to be cold but it’s like, it’s a partnership it’s a — we’re going to spend the rest of our lives together, we’re going to spend this, we’re going to do this together… we’re going to have these kids together, we’re going to raise these children together, we’re going to make decisions together – like, so it’s — it’s a partnership. And so in any partnership, you got to have your non-negotiables,” he continued.
For him, those non-negotiables included his partner being a woman of faith, a faithful person (both to her partner and herself), someone with their own individual identity, a capacity for loving deeply and unconditionally – “the way my mom loved my dad on his deathbed” – and finally, a woman whose presence impacted those around her in a variety of way.
“I prayed about that,” Wilson said. “I prayed about that, wrote it out — I wrote actually on a napkin at dinner as we were sitting there eating a steak dinner, I wrote it out on a napkin and we prayed over it. Three days later, I meet C.”
The couple eventually tied the knot in 2016 and have since welcomed three more children into their crew, Sienna Princess, 6, Win Harrison, 3, and Amora Princess, 2 months.
In October, Ciara opened up about what led to the end of her relationship with Future during an appearance on Call Her Daddy, where she told host Alix Cooper about her mindset leading up to the separation.
“It’s almost like your tastebuds change,” Ciara said. “You gotta also sometimes look in the mirror and reflect on yourself, like what are things that I could be doing differently in my life? I’m looking for a change but what does that mean?”
The “Level Up” singer and rapper dated from 2012 to 2014, the year they welcomed their son, and it was because of her own responsibility as a mother that Ciara said she had to take a good hard look at the relationship — which had been plagued by rumors of infidelity on Future’s part.
“When you have a child, it’s very important to me, it’s no time to play around,” Ciara told Cooper. “I am now responsible for another life, so what am I doing, how am I thinking that through?”
