tonight on "unguarded with rachel nichols" -- undeterred. all the scouting reports said russell wilson was too short to play in the nfl. >> scouts say you've got to be 6'2" to be a successful quarterback in the nfl. >> i think it gives me an extra little bit of motivation, a little fire in me. >> unexpected. >> i'm joey pants, lost my head, but hopefully after i take the blue pill i can survive an evening talking sports with rachel nichols. >> unrelenting. the colts were down 28 points against kansas city. but quarterback andrew luck had the chiefs right where he wanted them. >> luck scores! andrew picked up the fumble and scores! >> it's great to be able to go out there and try and overcome, you know, whatever the obstacle

is. welcome to "unguarded." the nfl playoffs are captivating millions once again this month. tomorrow, all eyes will be on seattle seahawks quarterback russell wilson. and with good reason. thrilling crowds with flare, wilson has seattle talking super bowl for the first time in nearly a decade. for a guy who looks like such a natural, the best word to describe his nfl career is improbable. he wasn't supposed to be good enough to be here. he wasn't even sure he would be play thing sport. but he is, and his story will inspire you. ♪ he has a colgate smile. stars in national commercials with his beautiful wife. and oh, yes, he's the starting quarterback for the top seeded seattle seahawks. a favorite to reach next month's

super bowl. but russell wilson is aware, according to the experts, he wasn't supposed to be sitting here. if i had asked outsiders in vegas what the odds were that you would be in this position right now, what do you think they would have given me, 1 in 10,000? >> yeah, probably something like that. being a 5'11" quarterback, not too many people think you can play in the national football league. >> you are significantly taller than me, because you are 5'10" and 5/8. scouts say you have to be 6'2" to start to be a successful quarterback in the nfl. >> 28 of the 32 starting quarterbacks are 6'2" or taller. nobody under six feet is starting in the nfl right now. >> if i was 6'2", i couldn't see over any offensive lineman. they're 6'8". >> what is it about society that we want to put people in these boxes and say he's too short, he can't do this? >> that's a tough question. the biggest thing is we want to

find the prototypical person. you want to find the perfect athlete, actress, whatever it is, and the thing that makes people unique is what they bring to the table that's different than everybody else. i want to be the uncommon one. i think it's pretty cool that i'm only 5'11" and playing in the national football league. >> does having to approach football a little different make you a better player? >> i think it gives me an extra bit of motivation, a little fire in me. >> wilson comes from a family of high achievers. his grandfather was a university president. his grandmother earned a doctorate on her way to becoming a college dean. and then there was his father, harrison. an ivey league graduate, president of his law school class. and a two-sport star who attended training cap with the san diego chargers. harrison raised russell in his image. >> my dad used to wake me up at 5:30 in the morning and hit me

ground balls and tell me, don't be afraid to be great. so those things just mattered to me. >> your dad also prepped you for moments like these. >> russell wilson, you just won the super bowl, you're playing in the super bowl, what's next, what are you thinking? those type of questions all the time. never too much where he used to run me into the ground or anything like that. it was always to encourage me to do great. >> wilson enrolled in north carolina state after the school promised to allow him to play both football and baseball. i mean, you wanted to be deion sanders and bo jackson when you were a kid. >> i did. since i was in high school, i wanted to play professional football and professional baseball, be a two-sport star. >> he ended up dominating both starts and still graduating in 3 1/2 years. you're making every kid who spent their time in college drinking beer feel really bad. >> i've just always been

motivated to do something unique. i want to be uncommon in that fashion. >> there was only one problem -- his father, harrison, was sick. >> when i first went to college, i was a freshman in college. my dad had diabetes his whole life pretty much. he ended up suffering a major stroke, hit his head on the back of a table, went into a coma for 2 1/2 weeks. the doctors told me he wasn't going to make it. >> harrison wilson did come out of his coma. but two years and several more strokes later, he was back in the hospital. >> so fast forward to my junior year in college. he had a breathing mask on, he wasn't doing well, but i was just talking to him and letting him know all the great things that were going on. i ended up getting drafted by the colorado rockies on june 8, 2010 and the next day, my dad passed away. so i'm at the biggest high of my life on june 8. and the next day, june 9, he's gone. >> harrison wilson was just 55

years old when he died. coming up, russell wilson explains the impact of his father's death, why he almost ended up playing baseball, not football. and later in the show, i'll talk to the hero of last weekend's playoff games, andrew luck. you will want to hear what he has to say about this. >> and luck scores! andrew picked up the fumble and scores! we use this board to compare car insurance rates side by side, so you get the same coverage, often for less. [ rattling ] that's one smart board. what else does it do -- reverse gravity? [ chuckles ] split atoms?

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i'm rachel nichols and welcome back to "unguarded."

football fans know russell wilson as the quarterback leading the seahawks to the playoffs. but when he was 22 years old, it appeared he was on a different path. his father died the day after she was drafted by the colorado rockies to play baseball. yes, baseball. a confluence of events wilson felt he couldn't ignore. russell wilson spent two seasons playing single-a baseball, trying his best to make his late father proud. michael jordan took a break from his basketball career to play baseball and part of it was this dream he and his dad had. for you, testing out your baseball career, was that part of something you felt you wanted to do for your dad? >> i think it was part of it. >> was there a point you thought this is the road i'm taking? >> yeah, i definitely thought a lot of teams projected me to play in the major leagues for a long time.

but i lad this fire to play the quarterback position. with my dad passing away, a hard moment in my life. my dad loved football so much. now he gets the best seat in the house. it's a special thing for me. >> wilson felt he had his father's blessing to return to football. in 2011, he transferred to the university of wisconsin for his final season of college eligibility, taking the badgers to the rose bowl. after being drafted in seattle, he shocked the pundits by taking the seahawks to the playoffs in his rookie season. >> it was just the right team, right place, amazing fans. you know, i wanted the seattle seahawks to pick me. ironically, i put all 32 teams in a hat and shook it up and sure enough, i pulled the seattle seahawks out. that was a month before the draft. >> you did this? >> yeah, i did that. >> why? >> it was something different i wanted to try. >> this is your wife, so you

guys get a hat. >> yeah, normally something i don't do. i put all the teams in a hat and i said whatever team picks me is going to be the team that selects me. and sure enough i pull out the seattle seahawks. about a month later they picked me. >> it has been so far a perfect partnership. a player who doesn't think or look like a typical nfl quarterback paired with a franchise that also prides itself on thinking differently. >> we're pretty innovative here for the seahawks. this measures my sleep and awareness, how focused i am. >> it measures how focused you are? >> yeah. i'm at a 90.9 right now. i'm locked in. >> during this interview, my goal is to get that number up. in a 24-hour day during the season, how much time are you devoting to football? >> that's a tough one. i would say at least a good 14 hours, maybe 16 sometimes. i want to hopefully focus on football and hopefully win a

super bowl and multiple super bowls and hopefully change this franchise. >> if your dad got to hear those words somewhere that hey, russell wilson super bowl winning quarterback, if you win the super bowl, are you going to stay that person for your dad? >> definitely. i'll be answering just like in the car when i was 14 years old. >> that will certainly be a special moment. i'm joined by our panel tonight. he's not a mobster but played one on tv. i want to welcome in joe pantoliano, who received an emmy for his work on "the sopranos." also here, star chris canty, former super bowl win we are the new york giants. i want to talk about college athletes. the argument of them getting paid is that they're getting an education for free. but a cnn report revealed a staggering number of revenue athletes can't read above an eighth grade level.

chris, you went through a college program. did you find that commensurate with your experience? >> i went to uva, so it's not just any college. >> it's a good college, excellent college. >> what i found is the minimum standards required of student athletes were higher than a lot of what some of my peers in other schools and universities were experiencing. so from that perspective, the university of virginia had the support staff there that was able to help me to make sure i was on the right track to graduate. so i'm thankful for that. but i do recognize that's not the case in all colleges and universities. what's taking place is we're seeing athletes monetized at such a young age. they're taking away the incentive to make sure they're properly educated. they're saying they're more valuable participating as athletes than as students and being educated. >> this is more of a statement on the culture of america than it is on football. i think it's just a microcosm what's happening with the football players. >> i want to show you a map.

this was created by the website deadspin. 39 of the states, the highest paid public official is a basketball or football coach. maybe that's what people really want. do we all have to take a look at ourselves, not just the colleges? >> absolutely. we have to look at ourselves and understand that we have to be responsible with what these young men are going through. we have to accept some level of responsibility. we are the ones that are watching and buying the tickets. we are buying the jerseys. everybody is capitalizing on these young men, except for these young men. they're being offered a scholarship opportunity that they can't take full advantage of because they're spending so many hours studying their playbooks, working out, so many hours watching film and practicing that they're essentially -- there's no time to be a student. even if they wanted to be a student, they don't have the minimum basic skills to take advantage of the education they're being offered. >> say we change the rules and

decide we're going to put education first, it is more important. how will this get monitored? we've seen with ncaa rules and so many other respects, all kinds of cheating goes on and nobody really wants to bear down and press these guys. how does this work? >> i think you have to start at a very young age with these young men and change the culture. you have to raise the minimum standards of what's required from an academic stand point. >> how about when they're in the eighth grade and not reading at their level, they stay in the eighth grade until they are at level. it's a catch 22, isn't it? >> guys, we're going to have to take a break from there. but we'll be back and andrew luck is going to join us, talking everything from ball games to board games. and my panel here is going to tell you exactly what they think of this. ♪ happy birthday to you ♪ happy birthday to you za place on chestnut street the modest first floor bedroom in tallinn, estonia

and the southbound bus barreling down i-95. ♪ this magic moment it is the story of where every great idea begins. and of those who believed they had the power to do more. dell is honored to be part of some of the world's great stories. that began much the same way ours did. in a little dorm room -- 2713. ♪ this magic moment ♪

it's hard to describe, because you have a numbness, but yet you have the pain like thousands of needles sticking in your foot. it was progressively getting worse, and at that point i knew i had to do something. once i started taking the lyrica the pain started subsiding. [ male announcer ] it's known that diabetes damages nerves. lyrica is fda approved to treat diabetic nerve pain. lyrica is not for everyone. it may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters,

changes in eyesight including blurry vision, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or skin sores from diabetes. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. ask your doctor about lyrica today. it's specific treatment for diabetic nerve pain. ♪ welcome back to "unguarded." we're going to pick up with our panel, super bowl champion and current baltimore raven chris can'ty and actor joe pantoliano. we saw dennis rodman take a group of nba players and i thought david stern put it

nicely saying, quote i thought . i thought it was bizarre. dennis rodman essentially aligning himself with someone that's a dictator and considered an enemy of the state. >> when have we ever seen dennis rodman not being bizarre? what he had to say i would blame cnn more than him because you don't have to air that stuff. >> if he wasn't going over there putting himself in that position, nobody would be asking those questions. >> i think there's a responsibility on the player to be -- to understand the situation. it's such a high stakes situation, the tensions between the united states and the north korea. he has to be more responsible how he's trying to capitalize on

this. >> we've seen players who made money toward the end of their careers, sell out their bodies. now it seems like some of them are selling out their political beliefs as well because they need the cash. >> or maybe he believes what he believes. >> is it a case of that, chris? do you think he is doing what he believes or we just don't happen to like it? >> that could be a possibility. dennis rodman is not over in north korea on official diplomatic business. >> certainly michael jordan we remember didn't want to take a political stance on anything because it was going to cut into his profit margin. >> i think you've got to know yourself. if you're uncomfortable speaking out, then you shouldn't. but if you're comfortable using that platform to speak out on issues, there's no problem with that. but i think that you have to be responsible and accountable for what you put out there. >> the mixing of athletes and

politics was not limited to dennis rodman. he claimed one of his coaches used gay slurs in meetings. >> it's one thing to speak out, but another thing to write this article saying your former coach is a coward and the special coordinating coach is a bigot. >> yeah, that pretty much threw the stick of dynamite on that bridge. >> so chris, you're an nfl expert. have you seen in locker rooms the kind of bigotry that he's alleging here? >> homosexuality is something that makes everybody surrounding the culture of football seemingly uncomfortable. but i don't see that as an issue that would cause someone to lose their job. i'm not sure what took place in the minnesota vikings situation. i'm not saying that's the reason that he potentially lost his job because of it. but it certainly is something

that's controversial and it didn't help his job situation. >> i want to read you the quote. he said one of his coaches, the special teams coordinator, said we should round up all the gays, send them to an island and nuke it until it glows. do you buy that this happened? >> i certainly hope that's not what the special teams coordinator with the vikings said. again, i can understand how this is a very controversial topic. people fall on different sides of the line with this issue. but i don't think that gives you the right to demean or take derogatory comments about any particular group. >> he was pissed off for getting fired. because he supports gay marriage, that he used that -- you forecast ego is a terrible thing. sometimes we don't know our time is up, we passed our prime and it's hard to be fired for anything. to be able to walk away from it and say, you know what? i had my day. >> excellent. guys, we have to stop our discussion there. thank you for joining us.

please come back another time. and you guys, stay with us. after the break colts quarterback andrew luck will join us. i'm going to ask him about facing tom brady's patriots this weekend. as well as what is up with that beard? including everyone's favorite fettuccine alfredo and our classic lasagna. plus unlimited soup or salad, and warm breadsticks. signature favorites now just ten dollars, monday through thursday, at olive garden. if yand you're talking toevere rheuyour rheumatologistike me, about trying or adding a biologic. this is humira, adalimumab. this is humira working to help relieve my pain. this is humira helping me through the twists and turns. this is humira helping to protect my joints from further damage. doctors have been prescribing humira for over ten years. humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. for many adults, humira is proven to help relieve pain

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welcome back. i'm rachel nichols. this year's nfl playoffs have already set viewership records. thanks in part to a breathtaking win engineered by my next guest. quarterback andrew luck threw for four touchdowns and ran for a fifth last weekend, as the colts erased a 28-point halftime deficit to beat the chiefs. earlier he joined me to discuss the thrill of victory and a whole lot more. andrew, you authored one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the nfl. afterward, your teammates just kept talking about your force of will. what do you think to yourself in a moment like that, that lets you keep going and fight, even with an almost 30-point deficit? >> i think one, like any competitor, you want to get back out on the field after you mess up, throw an interception. you want to go back out and atone for your sins and be accountable for your teammates. what's great about football is

the trust, the accountability factor. >> i looked it up. you've had fourth quarter comebacks. you engineered 11 game-winning drives. you've only played 34 nfl games. that's a lot of saving the day in the nick of time. >> i guess so. i think it's really a testament about the team and the grit that this organization has. >> your general manager compared you to michael jordan the other day. he said you have the ability to raise your game in the fourth quarter, to meet the moment. why do you think you're a guy that plays up when the stakes go up instead of shirking from them? >> i'm not sure. i know i'm no michael jordan by any means. a tenth of what he's done. but like any competitor, you enjoy some of those herb -- pressure moments and try to overcome whatever the obstacle is. >> you're about to play the patriots, something that has. gone so well in the past.

in fact, when you played them in new england last year, that 59-24 loss, that was the worst of year career. i know your coach joked afterward that he burned the film from that game. >> yeah, i think it was a bad loss. a lot to learn from that game, but we understand also it has no bearing on this year, and we're excited about a great opportunity to go back to foxboro. >> are you a better quarterback, a better leader than last year when you faced them? >> i like to think so. i feel more comfortable in a lot of different situations. so hopefully. >> you've got all kinds of prep for this game. you've got your film study. i know you're also an avid board game player. you have the strategy games you like to do at home. does that help you at all in your critical thinking? >> i don't think so. it's a nice way to get my mind off of football and relax. i try not to bring the two together. >> i know you're not playing

monopoly. what do you play at home? >> settlers of katan. that's the game of choice. >> people like the idea you could be going out doing anything, going to all kinds of parties and you're at home playing a nerdy board game. >> it's much more relaxing than the alternatives. >> i can't let you go without asking you about the playoff beard. what has it been having that thing on your face? >> it's been all right, i guess. i got too lazy towards the end of the season to shave it. i guess it's turned into what it is now and i don't think my parents like it very much, but they'll put up with it. >> how quickly are you going to get rid of it after the playoffs are over? are you waiting to peel it off your face? >> i know it's not the greatest look. but i guess it will come off. hopefully in february. >> andrew, i'm not sure i remember what you look like without that beard. that is it for us this week.

but you can follow me on twitter, like us on facebook or visit us on the web at cnn.c cnn.com/unguarded. good night. after nine days of threats of imprisonment, confiscation of footage, and what was the most chaotic, difficult, yet amazing trip of my life, the last thing that stands between us and our flight home is the reason we came. the congo river itself. [ speaking in foreign language ] >> the u.n. truck just said he's been here since this morning. >> i've been held up for days. >> what's up, freddie? >> they're starting the engine. >> awesome. >> just broke down again? >> yeah. >> we now have one hour of