PITTSBURGH — With players set to report Wednesday, I kept seeing "Steelers training camp storylines." It makes for wonderful reading, mind you, but let's be crystal clear here: There is one story, and his name is Russell Wilson.

Russell Wilson is the Steelers quarterback.

You might be used to that idea by now. I'm not sure I ever will be. If you'd told me a year ago that Kenny Pickett would be backing up Jalen Hurts in Philadelphia in July '24, and Justin Fields would be backing up Russell Wilson in Latrobe ... well, you wouldn't have told me that. Not without hallucinogens. Antonio Brown couldn't have conceived such a story.

But here we are — and please don't tell me this was a "low-risk" move. I keep hearing that. I heard it again Tuesday on some show somewhere, the notion that "the Steelers are only paying Wilson a million bucks, so what do they have to lose?"

A season. That's what they have to lose. And a season is a lifetime in the NFL (just ask Pickett, Fields, Wilson or even Mike Tomlin, who has now gone seven lifetimes without a playoff win). The Steelers committed a critical year in the careers of T.J. Watt and Cam Heyward to this quarterback. That fact has nothing to do with whether they're paying him one cent or $500 million.

I mean, it's great that if things blow up, the Steelers can move on without financial penalty, but that hardly equates to a "no-risk" proposition. They're risking everything on this quarterback for this precious season. I also appreciate that Fields was secured as an insurance policy and possible future starter, but that, too, is a story for another day.

The story right now is Russell Wilson. The questions are these:

— Can he still play?

— Has he been sufficiently humbled by the disaster in Denver?

— Does he have one more "told you so" in him?

Wilson built his football life on "told you so." He was an undersized, under-recruited kid coming out of Collegiate School, a prep school in Richmond, Va., and a third-round pick in the NFL. He's been proving everybody wrong for decades, and in contrast to his diva image, doing it the old-fashioned way: by outworking people and playing a courageous, blood-and-guts style of football.

Divas don't willingly and combatively withstand 527 sacks, countless other physical assaults and also rush for 5,300 yards and 29 touchdowns over the course of their career, making 188 of a possible 195 possible starts (it would have been more if not for Sean Payton benching him).

My radio colleague, former Pitt star and NFL player Dorin Dickerson, remembers facing Wilson in college — a game where Wilson almost single-handedly brought NC State back from a late two-touchdown deficit, going 21 of 35 for 322 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions and rushing for another 91 yards.

"Bulldog," Dickerson says. "I'd want him as my teammate."

Is that bulldog still barking? Is there still a chip on those shoulder pads? Or have all the millions and all the trappings of stardom and the marriage to a literal diva — international R&B star Ciara — changed Wilson?

That seems to be the question on a lot of minds.

It's not hard to find ex-football players who are less than enamored with Wilson. His ex-teammate in Seattle, Richard Sherman, said you can't reach Wilson without going through "his manager."

Ex-Steeler Chad Brown said Wilson was disconnected from teammates by the end in Seattle. Long-ago Denver Broncos lineman Mark Schlereth has ripped Wilson regularly, accusing him of "toxic positivity," which is actually a funny line, and I think I know what Schlereth is getting at: the delusion that nothing is ever wrong. It becomes unreal and counterproductive after a while.

But I'm still betting that deep inside, Russell Wilson is Russell Wilson, and if he strayed, he will return. Mike Tomlin obviously believes it, too, as does a Pittsburgh guy I spoke with the other day.

Chad Jamison, a Franklin Regional grad, was working at NC State when Wilson arrived off a Greyhound bus for a passing camp some 16 years ago. Jamison was the director of high school relations at NC State under then-coach Chuck Amato and ran the recruiting office. The staff included some notable names, including offensive coordinator Marc Trestman and future WVU defensive coordinator Steve Dunlap, who recruited the Richmond area.

None of them paid much mind to Wilson — until he started lighting up camp with his talent, spirit and competitive fire. He left with a scholarship offer. He had a stubbornness about him. He'd arrived intent on playing two sports (he was also a stud baseball player) and wasn't going to take no for an answer.

Jamison remembers that when Wilson's redshirt year of 2007 began, he'd stand well behind the regular quarterbacks for every practice rep and mimic their movements.

"You're like, 'Well, he's a freshman, I guess he'll do that for a few days,'" Jamison recalled. "He did it the whole time. He did it that whole first year (laughs). He was always a kid who outworked everybody."

That manifested in the film room and especially the weight room, where strength coach Todd Rice ran the show. Rice would later work at Pitt under Paul Chryst (who would be Wilson's offensive coordinator at Wisconsin) and now is known for training the football-playing Bosa brothers.

"Todd loved Russell because Russell was the first one in the weight room, and the last one to leave, all year round," Jamison says. "And that was the whole time he was there."

Other images stand out to Jamison, including walks to the car with Wilson's father, Harrison Wilson III, when NC State was trying to close the deal with Russell. One of Harrison's favorite sayings, talking to his son, was, "Why not you?" Harrison would tell Jamison, "I raised my son not just to be a quarterback, but to be the face of your university. I raised him so he could be the president of the United States if he wants to."

Says Jamison: "Russell had that backing at home from when he was a kid. Some people who don't know him see him wrong. He can come across as ... what's the word I'm looking for ... disingenuous. But he's not that at all. He's not. His actions speak."

I found all kinds of interesting nuggets in a piece looking back on Wilson's time at NC State from ncstate.rivals.com.

One part stood out: the time Wilson spent by his father's side near the end of Harrison's life.

"As soon as I was about to leave to college, my dad got extremely ill from diabetes. His legs were swollen up, and they had to amputate them. It was pretty heavy for me," Wilson told the site. "People don't know that I used to drive up there to Richmond to go see him. I would go up on Thursday night, just pick up and drive and go see him while he was in the hospital. ... I would leave late Thursday night, come back Friday morning and play the game on Saturday. God kept me close — NC State was only 2 hours and 30 minutes away from home."

That kind of heart doesn't just disappear. As to whether Wilson can still play, do yourself a favor and Google "Bills-Broncos" from last season. It was a night game, in Buffalo, against a then-relatively healthy Bills defense, in which Wilson went blow-for-blow with Josh Allen and made a series of phenomenal plays to lead the Broncos to an improbable victory.

That was Wilson at his improvisational best. It seems the off-script stuff rankled a bunch of people in Denver, including Payton, but if you don't want Wilson improvising, then you don't want Wilson. I also don't think you throw for 26 touchdowns against eight interceptions by accident in the NFL. Not when you've thrown for more than 300 touchdowns and fewer than 100 interceptions before that.

Jamison keeps a close eye on his hometown team while he's rating Florida football players. He believes new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith is perfect for Wilson. He's also familiar with Steelers offensive line coach Pat Meyer and a big believer. Jamison maintains that a good running game and a solid defense — kind of the Seattle recipe — will keep games close, and Wilson likes those kinds of games.

"People don't talk about — I don't know the exact injury — but Russell had some kind of lat muscle issue two years ago, and it affected him," he said. "I think he's gonna have a great year."

I'm leaning in that direction, as well. Would I be surprised if age caught up to Wilson, who turns 36 in November? Not really. It catches up to everyone. But I fully believe this guy is here to compete like he has all his life, especially after the Broncos paid him $38 million this season to go away.

I have to believe there's still a chip on those shoulder pads.

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