Bob Condotta

The Seattle Times

Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson says he tries to find something new and different each year to learn about and try to master.

His latest new endeavor?

Flying helicopters, he told reporters on Tuesday following the team’s first workout of its three-day minicamp this week.

Wilson actually first revealed via social media in 2016 that he had taken up helicopter flying.

But Tuesday, he reiterated it’s something he has become avid about, noting that he recently took his wife, Ciara, on a helicopter tour of Portland after the couple each became investors in a group attempting to bring Major League Baseball to that city. Wilson said he and Ciara wanted to get a good look at Portland’s sports facilities.

“Every year I just try to do something different and that’s just kind of been my thing over the past year,” Wilson said Tuesday.

And why?

“I think that for me, I don’t get much time to kind of get away and free your mind a little bit,” Wilson said. “And I don’t mean that in like a weird way. I just mean in the sense of being able to see, especially here in the Pacific Northwest and you get up in the air and you can just see the air, you can just see the mountains and the trees and the water and everything. And really for me I get to see where God is and what God has created. It’s a blessing, just every day. I’m thankful every day for what God has been able to give me, I’m thankful for that every day. I’m thankful for my family. So that’s the cool part for me.”