ET also spoke with the Seattle Seahawks quarterback about being named the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year.
Russell Wilson has a good thing going with Ciara. The Seattle Seahawks quarterback and the "Rooted" singer have been married for almost five years and have two children together, daughter Sienna, 3, and son Win, 6 months. Ciara is also mom to 6-year-old son Future from a previous relationship.
ET's Nischelle Turner spoke with the 32-year-old athlete as he was named the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year, where he shared how he keeps his marriage strong with the R&B singer.
"You got to keep it sexy, you got to keep it romantic, you got to constantly put each other first, and we have our date nights every Friday," Wilson shares. "We try to do our thing and have our one-on-one time and make sure that we spend that quality time doing something fun together. That's one key thing."
Wilson added that "communication is key." "Just constantly communicating," he explains. "We're always talking, we're always loving on each other, making sure we're constantly asking how we're doing, this and that. We always want to make sure our souls are well…We're always focused on that."
"So communication, keeping it sexy, and I think the third part of it is, as a man we got to keep competing," he cracks, before explaining himself. "We got to keep competing. I think that so many times as men, I think we get so settled down on, you know, 'OK, we're good. OK cool.' And I think that you got to keep that energy throughout every day, throughout every week and throughout because it's worth it. It's worth it and I like winning."
The NFL star stressed the importance of "staying engaged" and "in the moment" in his relationship.
"It's always knowing how you can help and always being able to take care of the kids if you need to," he says. "It may be in those moments, in those clutch moments, where you're like, 'She needs an open ear.' But also too, the sticky notes you may leave or just the subtle things you may text or a video or whatever it may be, those subtle surprises throughout the day."
Wilson and Ciara -- who are on the cover of GQ's Modern Lovers issue -- are no doubt one of Hollywood's biggest power couples and the football player has even admitted that one of his biggest fears is losing her.
"Somebody asked me the other day, 'What's your greatest fear?' I said, 'Losing her because she means everything to me,'" he candidly says. "It's one of those things that [in] life somebody's not going to be here, this or that. And I think the reality is, is that I cherish every day with her because the days are numbered. We don't know the number, but the days are numbered, and I want to maximize each number. I want to maximize each moment and she's worth maximizing each moment, each day."
Wilson couldn't be more enamored with the life he and Ciara have created together, and being there for their kids.
"The three of them all together…They're show-stoppers. They just entertain all day, they're amazing, they're as sweet as can be, super athletic, super fun, super engaging, they love music, they love everything," he marvels about their children. "They're always dancing, always having fun and it's the greatest gift you can have."
Meanwhile, Wilson also touched on what being named the 2020 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year meant to him.
"It brought tears to my eyes," he says of when he heard the news. "We were in Mexico and I just started to think about my dad and just how much he taught me, my mom and how much they were there [for me]. My dad is no longer living and my dad always loved Walter Payton. Brings a tear to my eye now thinking about it," he expresses. "To be able to win the award and be honored with it, and just to be able to go through that process, was really special. But what I really thought about was all of the people along the way [that helped me]."
"I think about all of the people that have been along the journey. I think about my wife, Ciara, she has been amazing. She inspires me to do better and to do more. She is relentless, she is an independent woman," he adds.
Additionally, the couple is not only there for one another and their kids, they also give back to the community, volunteering at hospitals, donating money to good causes and speaking out about what's important to them, including the Black Lives Matter movement.
Ciara and Wilson co-founded the Why Not You Foundation, and recently announced the first-ever Why Not You Academy. Set to open in fall 2021, the tuition-free, charter public high school will operate in full accordance with the Washington state charter school law.
"We're super excited. We named it the Why Not You Foundation because my dad used to ask always me, 'Son, why not you? Why not you?'" he explains. "My dad always asked me, but it was also the fundamental question we all ask ourselves. 'Why not me? Why not you? Why not us?'… If you want to be great at something, if you want to overcome something, if you want to overcome cancer, like why not me? I can do this.'"
For more on the power couple, see below.
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