Who Are Russell Wilson’s Parents? All About the Football Star’s Mom and Dad
Russell Wilson was born on Nov. 29, 1988, to Harrison Benjamin Wilson III and Tammy Wilson in Cincinnati, before the family eventually moved to Richmond.
Published March 26 2025, 2:18 p.m. ET
As one of the most high-profile and successful football stars in the NFL and also one half of a Hollywood couple with wife Ciara, many want to know every little detail about Russell Wilson’s life — including his parents and how he was raised.
Russell may already be a father of four, including adopting Ciara’s son Future, but before he took on the parental role on his own, he was given a great blueprint from his parents while growing up in Richmond, Va.
Who are Russell Wilson’s parents?
Russell was born on Nov. 29, 1988, to Harrison Benjamin Wilson III and Tammy Wilson in Cincinnati, before the family eventually moved to Richmond. Harrison, who also played football, was an attorney, and Tammy worked as a nurse director, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.
Harrison played football while attending Dartmouth College as part of the graduating class of 1977 and was also a member of the school’s baseball team, according to PEOPLE. Tammy became a registered nurse back in 1987 and held various hospital positions before settling as the Director of Patient Outreach and Care Management at the University of Washington Medicine.
What is Russell Wilson’s ethnicity?
While sitting down for an interview with Dr. Henry Louis Gates, it was revealed that Russell is 62 percent African, 36 percent European, 1 percent West Asian, and 1 percent Central Asian. He also did DNA testing with Dr. Gates to determine his family tree in April 2016, per Scholastic Kids Press.
After the test results were revealed, Russell discovered that despite previously believing that his family roots were from South Africa, he found out that his heritage is actually Pan-African — meaning that his roots are traced back across the entire continent of Africa.
“I want to encourage others to find out more about their heritage,” Wilson said at the time. “To know where you’re going, you have to know where you came from.”
Here's what Russell has said about his parents following his father’s death.
On June 9, 2010, Harrison passed away from complications from diabetes at the age of 55. Throughout the years following his passing, Russell has been very open to sharing his thoughts and memories about his father.
On the 10th anniversary of Harrison’s death, Russell posted a moving tribute on Instagram. "Dad, I miss you every day. You were and still are one of my greatest inspirations," Russell wrote in the touching caption. "You helped instill perspective, vision, and belief in me. Three things necessary for not only success but overcoming. Jesus blessed me with an amazing Dad in you, and I will forever cherish my time with you.”
In a moving essay for The Player’s Tribune in 2017, Russell shared that his mother remained by his father’s side until the very end of his life. "She was alone with him in the room that night, and she bent down on one knee and started singing her favorite song from church to him. It’s called 'All By Grace,'" Russell wrote at the time. "After a few minutes, he started moving his hand a little bit."