Lindsay H. Jones

USA TODAY Sports

RENTON, Wash. — Dozens of passengers at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport impatiently waited Wednesday morning at gate D1 to board their Alaska Airlines flight to Atlanta. First class went first, of course, followed by what might as well be called Seahawks class.

"Anyone wearing a Russell Wilson jersey," the gate agent announced, "can board now."

This is standard practice here in Seattle, where Wilson inked an endorsement deal with the airline late last year, one of a handful of multi-year endorsements the Seahawks quarterback has secured during his rapid rise to NFL stardom.

Though NFL rules will prevent Wilson from negotiating a new contract until next year — he'll make $817,302 this season in salary and bonuses in the third year of his four-year rookie contract — there is nothing stopping Wilson from cashing in off the field right now. And as an ascending 25-year-old Super Bowl winner with a squeaky-clean image, sports marketing experts predict Wilson is putting himself in position to be the new face of the NFL.

"The fact that the senior statesmen of the NFL, in terms of Drew Brees and Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, they might be heading into the twilight of their careers, so it's opening up an opportunity for a player like Wilson to fill that void," said David Carter, executive director of the University of Southern California Sports Business Institute. "Everything seems to be in his favor right now."

Here in Seattle, he is clearly the face of the Seahawks. His face is on signage inside the airport — not just for Alaska Airlines, but also in large ads for Bose, whose headphones are now the official speakers of the NFL. He's got a local car deal endorsement with a Mercedes dealership, and his American Family Insurance ads (a company he linked with in part because of its ties to Madison, Wisc., where Wilson played one year of college football) are on frequent rotation.

But his national profile is booming as well, with deals with Microsoft (with a commercial for the Surface tablet that aired nearly non-stop during the NCAA basketball tournament in March), Braun and Duracell. Among Wilson's newest sponsors is Eat the Ball, a European bread company that will be making a substantial push into the American market this winter with Wilson as a prime endorser.

"He's created the opportunity to earn money, so you have to capitalize on some of that. It would be silly not to. It's there for the making, people are interested in you, and he's earned that ability to make money off the field," Mark Rodgers, Wilson's lawyer and marketing agent, told USA TODAY Sports. "But there's also another part of it, and one of my goals in putting these deals together is to put himself in a position financially where, if it's not the right time to do a new deal, he won't be forced to do a new deal."

Earning potential

Rodgers declined to give specific dollar figures for Wilson's off-field endeavors, but said his client is "very competitive" with the upper echelon of NFL players when it comes to endorsement deals. Sports marketing expert Bob Dorfman, executive creative director of Baker St. Advertising in San Francisco, analyzes athletes' marketing potential and said he would expect Wilson's 2014 endorsement earnings to be in the $5 million to $7 million range, behind Manning, Brees, Brady and Aaron Rodgers.

"I'd put him in the top five, and climbing. I don't think anyone is climbing as fast as he is," Dorfman said. "The other big thing about him — only negative thing about him personally is the divorce; and who knows, that might end up helping him, (he) becomes more of a sex symbol, if it makes him more attractive because he's available. He's big on God and seems to be clean living and all of that, and right now, that is so important."

Wilson laughed Thursday when asked about his earning potential — and the collective bargaining agreement rules that say he can't work on a new deal with the Seahawks until after his third season. It was a predictable response from a player who consistently sticks to a script of focusing on each practice and each game.

"I think for me, football comes first. If I don't focus on football, those other things won't come my way," Wilson told USA TODAY Sports. "I think you earn respect and earn what you're worth by the way you present yourself, by the way that you play, by the way that you work. I've done the hard work."

So even if Wilson is massively underpaid compared to his quarterback colleagues, he's rivaling them in off-field earning potential and visibility. According to Henry Schafer, executive president of Q Scores, Inc., whose company quantitatively measures the consumer appeal of personalities, Wilson has positive appeal rating across men and women, sports fans and the general population alike, that rivals NFL stars like Brees, Brady, Rodgers and Eli Manning, each of whom has also won a Super Bowl. They all trail Peyton Manning, whom Schafer calls the "high water mark" for all athletes in terms of consumer appeal.

"He doesn't have the high level of awareness that those other quarterbacks have, but he's there in terms of appeal, which is a pretty good sign for him," Schafer said. "He's a good looking guy, No. 1. He hasn't gotten in any trouble, that's No. 2. It's important to keep your nose clean, especially in the sports world these days. With the exposure he's been getting as a surprise star, getting a lot of press nationally has helped, that gave him broader exposure, and then when he's doing well on the field is increasing coverage. There's a lot of positives for Russell Wilson. As long as he keeps on the straight and narrow and keeps winning, he's going to continue to grow."

Making the right moves

Rodgers, an agent who works mostly with Major League Baseball players, and Wilson have been crafting Wilson's marketing strategy since he entered the NFL, carefully choosing which deals to pursue and when. There were a few deals early, including one with Pepsi that has since expired, and a shoe deal with Nike that is set to run out after this year, and an influx of offers in 2013 after Wilson's successful rookie season. The Super Bowl title last season only led to more national opportunities.

Most of the pitches get a quick no from Rodgers, who said he has a clear understanding of the type of companies with which Wilson will want to be aligned. For each offer Wilson has accepted, Rodgers estimates there have been eight or nine that have been passed over. Wilson has turned down multiple book deals — including one offer for a three-book series — and three national car campaigns, Rodgers said.

"To some extent, it makes my life easy because I'm working with someone genuine and honest. He has a certain — without being elitist or arrogant about it — he has a moral compass that will keep him out of certain products that people ask for. That's who he is, and we've protected that," Rodgers said. "My responsibility is not only to maximize the dollar potential, because clearly we have not done that. We clearly have left money on the table — there are some opportunities where we don't even ask what the offer is going to be. It doesn't matter. People have said. 'Don't you want to know what we're offering?' And I'll say no, because we wouldn't do the deal anyway."

Wilson may have started as Seattle's secret, but he's now a league-wide darling.

NFL Players Inc., the marketing arm of the NFL Players Association that sells all officially licensed gear, will release new sales data next week. In it, Wilson is expected to be among the top three overall sellers in merchandise.

Wilson has led the Seahawks to a 3-1 start and is coming off arguably the best regular-season game of his career — in which he threw for a pair of touchdowns and rushed for a third (along with 122 rushing yards) on Monday night against Washington. He will lead the Seahawks on Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys (4-1). Impressive performances on the national stage are only solidifying Wilson's place in the NFL quarterbacking hierarchy and in the eyes of national advertisers.

"I'm not sure what took them so long," Seattle coach Pete Carroll told USA TODAY Sports this week.

Safety Earl Thomas might provide the Seahawks with their pulse, and cornerback Richard Sherman might provide the voice, but Wilson is the most widely appreciated — from Carroll, who said the team has complete trust in Wilson on and off the field, to the folks at Alaska Airlines who want passengers to don No. 3 jerseys.

"He's the embodiment of who we are as a team. He's tough, he's gritty, he's a true competitor and he really wants to win," Seahawks left tackle Russell Okung told USA TODAY Sports. "I believe in who he is. You see the results."

Follow Lindsay H. Jones on Twitter @bylindsayhjones.