Timing is everything in life and football.

NFL quarterback Russell Wilson has proven he has good timing with his passes and where he was drafted. He has made the most of it by becoming a franchise player for the Seahawks and taking them to the playoffs during his rookie season.

Northwest University, a Christian school located in Kirkland, had good timing as well. Organizers of its third annual athletic Hall of Fame Benefit were able to procure Wilson’s appearance during the summer – before most people knew that the 5-foot, 10-inch quarterback would take the league by storm.

“We got advice from (former NFL quarterback) Jeff Kemp,” said Northwest University President Joseph Castleberry. “We sent (Wilson) a fruit basket and booked him before his fame bubble popped.”

Wilson was the featured speaker during the Division II university’s event held on Friday night at the Hyatt Regency in Bellevue. The quarterback talked about everything from his faith to his goals to his record breaking rookie season. He has played for many teams in both football and baseball. He was drafted by the Colorado Rockies and played football for two universities.

“I have been a lot of places and there is nothing like here,” Wilson said. “This city is unbelievable.”

Before being drafted Wilson said he put his faith in God, put the names of all 32 NFL teams into a hat and pulled out the Seahawks.

“I don’t have highs and lows because I play for him,” said Wilson. “I have no nerves.”

Wilson is known for his work ethic. In college he played both football and baseball and took 18 credits per quarter to graduate early. That work ethic has stayed with him as he arrives at the stadium three hours early on game day to prepare.

“It is amazing, there are already people in the stands,” Wilson said. “The energy in that stadium when I walk out there is amazing. But I play for an audience of one.”

But it was his leadership that helped the inordinately short quarterback succeed.

“I always step in the huddle thinking this is the play,” Wilson said.

He said that beating the Packers on Monday night was one of the biggest games of the season.

“You could literally feel the field shaking,” said Wilson.

But the biggest win of the season for him came against New England because he beat a man he truly respects – quarterback Tom Brady.

Wilson’s confidence and lofty aspirations for his team and himself charged up the crowd.

“I want to be like Peyton Manning, where guys talk about him as one of the smartest guys to play the game. But I also want to have that competitive edge that people talk about Tom Brady. But I also want the feet of a Drew Brees, a guy that is ridiculously athletic and can make every single throw. I want to have it all to be honest,” Wilson said to a room full of laughter that grew into applause. “I don’t think anything can stop me when I trust in him.”

Wilson discussed the roots of his faith in God and that he wasn’t always a good person.

“I was a bad kid,” he said. “I was the kid that hit people.”

But it changed when he was 14.

“I had a dream that my dad passed away and Jesus came into the room,” said Wilson, who posts a Bible verse each day to his Twitter account. “That was when I gave my life to Jesus.

He is not shy about his faith.

“You have to stand for something and he has given me this tremendous platform,” Wilson said.

He talked about the influence of head coach Pete Carroll, who like Wilson is eminently positive about life.

“He is the second oldest coach in the NFL but he acts like he is 35,” Wilson said. “He is always trying to race me to the end of the field and then says ‘got you.’ I am like ‘slow down, you’re gonna pull a hamstring.'”

The quarterback believes in miracles.

“I should not be in the NFL – I am 5-10 and five-eights,” said Wilson, who turned down a million-dollar contract in baseball to take a chance with football. “All the adversity and naysayers, God doesn’t care about that.”

Wilson said that his life consists of football and hanging out with his wife and three dogs. The couple took their honeymoon in Dubai.

“That is the only place I have gone outside of the country other than (the Seahawks game in) Toronto,” said Wilson. “I want to go someplace after every year we play in the Super Bowl.”

He has a busy schedule with community events. Wilson took part in an anti-texting and driving campaign earlier in the day at Roosevelt High School in Seattle.

Hall of Fame

The inclusion of Wilson made for a very successful night, drawing nearly 600 people and raising thousands of dollars towards athletic scholarships.

Northwest University honored one of its greatest basketball players during the event, as Wes Davis was inducted into the school’s athletic Hall of Fame. Davis, who played for the Eagles from 1998-93, led the team to a Division II National Championship during his senior season. But his collegiate basketball career started on a tragic note. During his freshman year one of the team vans was involved in an accident. The van flipped over four times.

“I should have died,” said Davis, who is lead pastor at newlife church in Silverdale, Wash. “We thought that our coach wasn’t going to make it.”

But sitting in the field, waiting for help and seeing the body bags laid out on the ground Davis said he felt something.

“There was a sense of peace. I knew God is real,” said Davis, who grew up in Tacoma and went to Wilson High School. “Something special happened and we started trusting in each other.”

He said that the accident sowed the seeds for what the team would accomplish.

The event also honored the school’s Athletes of the Year. Men’s basketball player Michael Greene won the award for the second consecutive year. Soccer player Stephanie Cummins and volleyball player Heather Shulke tied in the voting and both were given the honor for best female athlete.