Anna Wilson grew up in a supportive and athletic family with her brothers, Super Bowl-winning quarterback Russell Wilson and Harrison Wilson IV

Russell Wilson and sister Anna Wilson at the 2014 ESPY Awards. PHOTO:

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NFL star Russell Wilson’s sister, Anna Wilson, has had her own impressive athletic career, and she has accomplished even more off the court.

The youngest of three siblings, Anna was born on July 12, 1997, in Richmond, Virginia to her father, Harrison Wilson III, a lawyer, and her mother, Tammy Wilson, a nurse. Her father died when she was 12 years old, while her mother remains part of her life today.

Anna’s oldest brother Harrison Wilson IV is 14 years older than her and is the CEO of Limitless Minds, a business leadership training company. Her brother Russell won a Super Bowl as the quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks in 2014, where he played 10 seasons before being traded to the Denver Broncos in 2022.

Anna played basketball at Stanford, where she won a national championship in 2021, and is currently a Director of Vision at Haddad Brands, which makes kid’s clothing for Nike and other brands. She told ESPN in 2020 that she has worked hard to step out of her brother’s shadow.

“Over the years, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten much closer with Russell,” she said at the time. “And I feel like his shadow, for me, has dissipated. I don’t feel like I’m living in it as much as I was in the past. I feel like I’m very much my own person now, following my own path.”

Keep reading to learn more about Anna Wilson and her relationship with her Super Bowl champion brother.

Anna moved to Seattle to live with Russell before collegeRussell Wilson, Anna Wilson, and Tammy Wilson after the NCAA women’s basketball game against the USC Trojans in 2020.

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Before her senior year of high school, Anna moved to Seattle to live with her big brother Russell. She wanted to get adjusted to living on the West Coast before beginning college at Stanford University in California.

During that time, she played basketball at Bellevue High School, where she captained a team that went undefeated before winning a state championship. She was selected to the McDonald’s All-American game as a senior, but was unable to play after suffering her third concussion before the age of 18.

In June 2016, on the day of her high school graduation, Russell wrote in the Player’s Tribune about how proud he was of his sister from their time living together in Seattle.

“When you and mom came out to live in Seattle with me last year, I got to see how hard you worked, and how much Mom pushed you to achieve your dreams,” Russell said. “I watched you wake up every morning at 5:30 to go to the gym and practice before school. I watched you study for tests into the wee hours of the morning. And I watched you do it all with a smile and a sense of humor.”

Anna was publicly congratulated by Russell and his wife Ciara after winning an NCAA championshipAnna Wilson with the championship trophy after the National Championship game of the 2021 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.

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Anna was a star basketball player growing up and took her talents to Stanford, where she played for the most winning head coach in women’s NCAA basketball history, Tara VanDerveer. During her six-year career, where she played the fourth most games in NCAA history, Anna was a starter for the team as a fifth-year senior, when they won the national championship in 2021. She was also named the Pac-12 Co-Defensive Player of the Year in 2021.

At the time, her fellow championship-winning sibling Russell congratulated her on her championship victory.

“Drive. Will. Passion. Energy. You’ve earned it all through hard work, leadership, prayer & immeasurable Faith. I Love You Anna Wilson. I Love You Champ. @awilly03,” Russell wrote in an Instagram caption.

Russell’s wife, Grammy-winning singer Ciara, also congratulated Anna on her Instagram Story in 2021 after the victory. “So beautiful. You deserve it all @awilly03. Dedication & Hard work pays off! National Champs! @stanfordwbb,” she wrote.

Anna is a Director of Vision at Haddad BrandsAnna Wilson.

ANNA WILSON INSTAGRAM

After her concussion, Anna began to think about what life would look like without sports. She has always been multitalented, having majored in art practice during her undergraduate degree and media studies/communication during her master’s degree.

During her interview on the It Girls podcast in July 2023, Anna revealed that she is currently working as a Director of Vision at Haddad Brands. She helps create kid’s clothing for various brands, including her brother Russell’s brand 3BRAND.

“Now I’ve transitioned into a director of vision at this company called Haddad Brand, who makes all the kid’s clothing for Nike, Converse, Hurley, Levi’s and Jordan and of course 3BRAND, which is my brother’s brand, so I focus on that brand mostly,” Anna said.

Anna shares Russell and her family’s Christian faithRussell Wilson, Ciara, Anna Wilson and Harrison Wilson at The 2018 ESPYS.

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Like her brother Russell and the rest of her family, Anna is a woman of faith. Russell has always been well known for his faith, but he and his sister share a particular affinity for the same bible verse, which he discussed in a 2015 piece for the Player’s Tribune, before his second Super Bowl appearance.

“There’s a Bible verse that is very close to my heart. John 3:30. ‘He must increase, I must decrease,’ ” Russell said. “That defines this year for me. I’ve noticed that people tend to put you on a pedestal when things are going well. It’s easy to hit the reset button when things are going bad. But will you be able to hit the reset button when things are going well?  That’s a challenge that’s bigger than football.”

Anna talked about the same verse while speaking with ESPN in 2020.

“When things aren’t going my way, and it’s tough on the court, I always whisper, ‘He must increase, I must decrease.’ That’s John 3:30,” Anna said. “I wrote that on my left wrist and ‘joy’ on the top of my left hand before every practice. For me, that means minimizing myself — to put others first, and Jesus first, is more important than anything else. My faith has helped me with my definition of success. It’s definitely not all about me.”

Anna and Russell support each other through good and bad timesAnna Wilson and Russell Wilson at the 2014 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Sports Awards.

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Anna supports Russell through his best and worst times. After winning most of his games with the Seahawks, he put up a losing season in his first year with the Denver Broncos as the team finished with a 5-12 record in 2022. Anna, however, was there to support him.

“[If] my brother wins, I win … and when he loses, I feel the loss too,” she said on the It Girls podcast in July 2023. “This season I think, you know, unfortunately, that was probably the most losses that either one of us has experienced in one season. … I’ve definitely had my down seasons and this is probably one of his first ones, and he’s been playing for a very, very long time. … It’s not that big of a deal, you know, so it’s things that you’ve got to work through and get through.”

Anna has been through her share of hard times as well, especially after her third concussion in 2016. According to Bleacher Report, Russell was able to use his connections to get her connected with NHL star Sidney Crosby’s concussion doctor, which helped her heal.

Russell has also shown his admiration for his sister, attending her basketball games and writing about how she is an inspiration to him in his Player’s Tribune letter to her when she graduated from high school in June 2016.

“I mean this from the bottom of my heart — you inspire me,” Russell said. “Today, I’ll get to see you graduate from high school as a strong, independent, compassionate, competitive young woman — on your way to one of the best schools in the world on a full scholarship.”

Anna is a mental and physical health advocateAnna Wilson during the 2021 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.

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Anna’s father died of complications from diabetes on June 9, 2010, when Anna was only 12 years old. Sports and working out were an outlet to cope with her father’s sickness and eventual death.

“Sports had become an outlet for me when my father was alive. It took my mind off him being sick,” Anna said to ESPN in 2020. “After he was gone, with my mom being at work all the time and my brothers being away, it filled some of that void. So I lived at the gym.”

She is also an advocate for therapy, which she discussed in her interview on the It Girls podcast in 2023.

“I started doing therapy … I met with different people, and I’ve finally found my person to do therapy with,” Anna said. “Learning and figuring out what’s on the inside is so important … get greedy with knowing yourself and spending time with yourself, especially when you’re an athlete because when you leave the sport that you’ve dedicated your entire life to … it’s different.”