Seahawks Say Russell Wilson Forced Trade From Seattle

The Seahawks are blaming their breakup with Russell Wilson entirely on the QB -- saying Wednesday that Russ is the one who forced them to trade him out of Seattle.

"Russell made it clear he wanted this change," Seahawks chair Jody Allen said in a statement.

The comment is a surprising one -- considering for most of this offseason, Russ had praised Seattle, including just a few weeks ago, when he said the city and the team were "great."

The 'Hawks, though, made it clear ... Russ really didn't want to play for them anymore.

"It became evident that Russell was interested in playing elsewhere," general manager John Schneider said in a statement.

The Seahawks' brass did offer "thank yous" and "goodbyes" to Russ in their statements ... adding that they at least felt grateful they were able to get a haul of drafts picks and players in their trade for the QB last week.

Allen added that he was looking "forward to welcoming our new players and to everyone being fully engaged while working our hardest to win every single day."