Trevone Boykin tries to "Be Like Russ." The former TCU star has attached himself to Russell Wilson.
Boykin watches Wilson. He listens to him. He models his game after him.
"We watch film together," Boykin said in a phone interview. "We're pretty much together every day. I learn new things almost every time we get together."
The Seattle Seahawks were without a backup quarterback before they signed Boykin as a rookie free agent this summer. They saw a Russell Wilson starter kit when they watched film of Boykin at TCU.
"Our games are a lot similar," Boykin said. "He's a great athlete. He can make stuff happen with his legs just as well as he can with his arm. We're both talented people. Our main job is just to try to help the Seahawks win."
Wilson sprained the medial collateral ligament in his left knee in Week 3 against San Francisco, the first time he has missed a snap due to injury in his career.
Boykin played 23 snaps in the 37-18 victory over the 49ers, completing seven of nine passes for 65 yards with a touchdown, an interception and a 94.2 passer rating.
"It felt good," Boykin said. "At the end of the day, it's still football. You still go out there, and you've still got 11 guys on offense and 11 guys on defense, and the field is still 100 yards long. You really just get out there and you just play ball. You try not to think past the next play. You try not to think about the play before. You just try to execute that one play and think about that one assignment. Then, you move onto the next."
Since then, though, Boykin hasn't seen the field. Wilson has played through his injury, leading the Seahawks to a 5-2-1 record heading into Sunday.
That has proved the most difficult part of the transition to the NFL for Boykin, who finished first at TCU in career passing yards (10,728), attempts (1,356), completions (830) and touchdown passes (86).
"You're so used to playing," Boykin said. "You're so used to being that guy. When you come to the NFL, you're not necessarily thought of as a backup because you're still vital to the team, but it's hard practicing all week and not getting out there on Sunday. As a competitor, that's what you want to do. You want to get out there and play."
Boykin's minimum salary of $450,000, the similarity of his game to Wilson's and his potential as a development prospect made him attractive to the Seahawks. He did enough in the preseason _ 37-of-71 for 418 yards with one touchdown, one interception, a 68.9 passer rating as well as 15 rushes for 71 yards _ to convince the Seahawks not to sign a veteran backup.
"I've made huge strides learning this offense," Boykin said. "I'm starting to learn more about protection, more about defenses. It's been great.
"One of the things I pride myself on most is just to try to be the best guy I can be on and off the field."
Boykin's biggest fans remain the family of Abby Faber, the 7-year-old with cerebral palsy who first met Boykin during the pregame coin toss of the Iowa State-TCU game a year ago. Abby's father, Steve, sent Boykin a congratulatory text after Boykin's debut against the 49ers. Boykin later talked to Abby on the phone.
Boykin said their chance meeting in 2015 _ which became public only because Star-Telegram reporter Paul Moseley took their photo and overheard Boykin ask her, "What's your name?" _ has created a lifelong relationship.
"When it happened, nobody was looking for attention. It was nothing like that," Boykin said. "It was just one of those moments. It just happened to happen, and it was a good thing."
