When the Broncos traded for Russell Wilson last year, one of the ways they rolled out the red carpet for him was to give him his own office in the team facility, on the second floor where the Broncos’ coaches and executives have their offices. Some coaches had issues with that.
According to TheAthletic.com’s lengthy article about Wilson’s first season in Denver, members of the coaching staff believed that Wilson separating himself from teammates like that was bad for locker room camaraderie. One coach said Wilson told teammates the door to his office was always open to them, but that coach wondered why a player had an office with a door at all.
“So, are you a coach or are you a player?” the coach asked. “Your open door should be you sitting at your locker.”
Another coach said having the office on the second floor separated Wilson from the players.
“The players were always on the first floor; they never really came up to the second floor,” the coach said. “If you came up to the second floor as a player, it honestly wasn’t a good thing because you were probably getting released.”
It’s worth noting that both coaches who complained about Wilson’s office did so anonymously, while the same article quotes two players on the record -- Kendall Hinton and Melvin Gordon -- said they have no issues with Wilson having his own office. So this was certainly not a unanimous concern within the Broncos’ facility. But it was an issue to some in a highly disappointing first season for Wilson in Denver.