It looks like Russell Wilson has decided it is time to move on from football – at least on the field.

The Seahawks legend, whose career flamed out with three teams over the past four years, reportedly is going to join Nate Burleson and the gang on “The NFL Today.”

This was hinted at last month, when Wilson was in the news a bunch — and the jokes flew fast and furious. He looked overweight in a cameo with the Savannah Bananas, like he had eaten one too many banana splits. He then had a visit with the Jets about possibly doing a role reversal and backing up Geno Smith, his former understudy in Seattle. And then he was reported to be in advanced talks to replace Matt Ryan on “The NFL Today” – which is where he apparently is now headed.

It sounds like he would love to play, if a team gets desperate. But otherwise this seems like a move to retirement, driven by the fact that he is no longer an effective player at age 37.

His awful play for the Giants last season was the nadir of a four-year career skid that started the minute John Schneider offloaded him to Denver for a pack of picks that helped set up the Seahawks for the Super Bowl they just won.

As Wilson’s career has waned, some have questioned whether the ultimate overachiever belongs in the Hall of Fame. He seemingly has become a victim of recency bias.

Pro Football Reference has a nice little chart ranking quarterbacks on their Hall of Fame worthiness, and Wilson is above 11 Hall of Famers on the list. He definitely will receive strong consideration, alongside Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger. Figure this: If Dan Fouts and Warren Moon are in, shouldn’t Wilson be?

In a way, it is sad that a once great player has turned into the butt of so many jokes. But, frankly, Wilson brought it all on himself. That’s what narcissism and egomania will do.

Let’s look back at how he went from lovable underdog to unlikeable loser.

When he first arrived in Seattle, he was a great story of literally the little guy making it big. He overachieved to become an NFL starting quarterback – and not only a starter but a Super Bowl winner and perennial Pro Bowl player.

He endeared himself further to fans through his signature “Go Hawks!” and his weekly visits to Children’s Hospital, along with many other philanthropic endeavors as his influence grew.

Along the way, though, he was very intentional about building his personal brand. Like any good businessman, he stayed away from controversy as much as he could.

But his personality rubbed some people the wrong way. It started with teammates such as Marshawn Lynch and Richard Sherman, who disliked his “whitewashed” persona and his favorite son status with Pete Carroll and saw him as a phony.

Wilson definitely was very political and polished in his media responses, from the start. We had no problem with that in the early days. He was boring off the field but dynamic on it.

Our only problem with him was his ongoing refusal to understand that his short stature made it hard to use the middle of the field. Check out the Next Gen passing charts and you will see how much he relied on the outside throws or deep balls, usually ignoring the intermediate middle throws because he was unable to see his receivers through the linemen. This was especially notable in the Super Bowl loss to the Patriots, when Wilson failed to see Doug Baldwin almost the entire game. (That definitely was yet another coaching flaw in that debacle as well.)

Wilson typically played on only two-thirds of the field, because he wanted to be like Peyton Manning and Drew Brees and play from the pocket. He succeeded a lot of the time, leading the Hawks to the playoffs in three straight seasons after the Legion of Boom was dismantled. The Hawks were a top-10 scoring team in all three of those seasons (2018-20).

Wilson often carried the offense with his big plays during those years, which is when his ego really started to grow.

He fell in love with the idea of being a celebrity. He married one. He hung out with other celebs as much as he could. It was the classic tale of the nerd becoming “cool” and leaving his old principles behind.

You knew he had crossed into the land of narcissism when he started talking about his legacy after the 2020 season. Speaking from Mexico after the Hawks were eliminated from the playoffs by the Rams, Wilson told reporters, “Going into the 10th year in my career, it’s a critical time. The next 10 years are super critical for everybody involved, the whole organization, including myself as a player and the legacy that I want to leave. It’s vital, it’s critical, it’s super significant that I’m a part of that process. Coach and I have definitely been talking about it.”

A few weeks later, Wilson blasted his offensive line – even though that 2020 unit had been one of the best lines he had played behind in Seattle and Wilson had been to blame for a third of the sacks. It was then clear to us that his ego had overtaken sensibility, and it was time for him to go.

Schneider reportedly was ready to trade him in March 2021 – a tentative deal with Chicago lined up. But Carroll did not want to deal with the quarterback uncertainty, so they kept Wilson for one more year. He missed games for the first time in his career, rushed back and played poorly as Seattle went 7-10 – its worst record since 2009.

Everyone was ready for a change after that, so Schneider swung the blockbuster with the Broncos – a big deal that netted future core players Charles Cross, Devon Witherspoon, Boye Mafe and Derick Hall.

Once Wilson left Seattle, it became clear how much Carroll had played a role in his success. Carroll made a couple OC changes in his last five years, but he always made sure they played to Wilson’s strength: the deep ball.

Wilson – now Mr. Big Shot — brought his ego and entourage to Denver. He was paired up with neophyte coach Nathaniel Hackett, who was not even allowed to finish his first season after a 4-11 start. Sean Payton then came along and immediately put Wilson in his place, removing his crew from the facility and kicking Wilson out of his upstairs office. Badmouthing Wilson at almost every turn, it was clear Payton could not wait to get rid of the QB, too.

By the time Wilson got to Pittsburgh in 2024, his skills had eroded. At age 37 last season, he went 0-3 as the Giants’ starter before being replaced by rookie Jaxson Dart.

He seems to know his days as an NFL starter are completely finished, and thus he is off to TV land.

But, to be a success there, he will have to change two things: (1) the perception by many that he is insincere and (2) his corporate speak.

Most of us are pretty skeptical about whether he will have anything notable to say. He seems poised to be another Jon Gruden, fearing to offend anyone with any constructive criticism because he wants to keep doors open. Burleson has proven to be stellar at this TV thing, but we doubt Wilson will follow the other ex-Seahawk’s success.

But, hey, maybe Wilson will start speaking the unvarnished truth — and maybe he will then be remembered more for all of the good things he did in his Seattle tenure, not for the narcissist and unlikeable laughingstock he turned into.