Category Archives: It’s bigger than football

It's bigger than football, The roster

Arnold would be lucky to land with Hawks

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John Schneider’s Seahawks are known for checking out every opportunity. So it’s not a big surprise that they brought in troubled former first-round cornerback Terrion Arnold for a chat and tryout.

What would be a surprise is if they signed him before they knew whether he might be headed to prison. That would be pretty pointless – and make Schneider and Mike Macdonald look like idiots, frankly.

It sounds like they are being smart about it though – waiting for the legal process to play out. And they seem to understand that Arnold needs them a lot more than they need him. This would be just a potential flyer on a talented kid, if he does not end up incarcerated.

In more ways than one, Arnold would be lucky to land in Seattle.

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It's bigger than football, State of the team

As expected, fans are being stupid about this franchise sale

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Sports fans are by nature an emotional lot — and the sale of the Seahawks has shown many fans to be very up in their feels, as the kids say.

As the Khosla family prepares to take over with a $9.6 billion purchase, some fans are illogically concerned the out-of-staters will look to move the franchise. Some doofuses even wonder why the Paul Allen Estate did not sell to a local buyer, apparently not understanding that high bid wins.

There are even morons who think the Khoslas – longtime 49ers fans — spent nearly $10 billion just to sabotage the Seahawks franchise, basically burning all of that money. That’s laughable.

Continue reading As expected, fans are being stupid about this franchise sale →
It's bigger than football, Week 15: At L.A. Rams

Forfeit was not an option; postponement does not hurt Hawks

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Some players and fans are crying foul over the NFL’s decision to bump Seattle’s game to Tuesday as the Rams deal with a major COVID-19 outbreak.

The same is happening among the Raiders and Eagles, who had their games against COVID-riddled Cleveland and Washington postponed as well.

Is it inconvenient? A little. Is it worth crying about? Definitely not.

Continue reading Forfeit was not an option; postponement does not hurt Hawks →
It's bigger than football, The roster

Gordon’s second chance with Hawks is here: ‘Hopefully it’s better than last time’

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John Schneider has never been shy about betting on veteran talent – whether they’re big trades or no-risk deals.

Josh Gordon might be the first guy Schneider has taken a cheap flyer on twice. The troubled but talented receiver is back, conditionally reinstated by the NFL and eligible to play for the Hawks in Week 16 against the Rams (if he’s ready that fast).

Continue reading Gordon’s second chance with Hawks is here: ‘Hopefully it’s better than last time’ →
It's bigger than football

Wilson obviously does not understand how dangerous Brown is

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Just like Pete Carroll, Russell Wilson does not get it.

That is obvious based on the quarterback’s words about Antonio Brown, a seemingly mentally ill former NFL star whom Wilson thinks he and the Seahawks can help redeem while getting Brown’s talent in return.

Wilson is a good human, a kind and charitable guy strongly motivated by his faith in God. That faith was evident again Thursday as he talked about Brown, with whom he said he has become friends over the last five years. Wilson said, “I pray that he can continue to grow, just like anybody.” Also true to his Christian faith, Wilson added, “I try not to judge people.”

Wilson, 31, is apparently too young or too religious to understand it is necessary to judge people. You must weigh them against your principles so you know whether you should allow them into your life. If Wilson were wise enough to do that, we probably would not be having this talk right now.

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It's bigger than football, Schedule

What happens when games are canceled?

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Tennessee’s virus outbreak is no surprise. It was inevitable that teams would have problems as the NFL pressed to play. It’s why we thought the NFL should sit out 2020.

But, the season has started, made it to the quarter pole with only one game (TEN-PIT) pushed to another week, and now the league has to figure out how to finish. While Tennessee faces TBD consequences for breaking league COVID rules, along with an uncertain playing future this week and beyond, the schedule is starting to become a topic that needs to be addressed (it should have been before the season started, but the reactive NFL doesn’t work like that).

Due to issues in Tennessee and New England, those teams’ games tentatively have been bumped to early next week – with next Thursday’s game also possibly affected.

This is just the first major issue of what always figured to be a significant concern. And the question is now at hand: What happens if teams end up playing different numbers of games due to the inevitable cancellations?

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It's bigger than football

It’s a high bar, but Dunbar drama tops all in Carroll era

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The Seahawks have been NFL drama queens almost from the start of the Pete Carroll/John Schneider era, so it’s never that surprising when some crazy news comes along.

But nothing ever done by the likes of rogues Marshawn Lynch, Richard Sherman and Michael Bennett or chuckleheads Leroy Hill, Percy Harvin, John Moffitt or Malik McDowell could top the situation Quinton Dunbar finds himself in.

Dunbar’s case (alleged robbery) is still working through the system, with conflicting reports (by the same people) of whether Dunbar was involved. We’ll keep following it and see how it turns out, but it certainly is one of the crazier crime stories ever related to the Seahawks. And they have had a few.

Continue reading It’s a high bar, but Dunbar drama tops all in Carroll era →

It's bigger than football, OTAs

Peter King: A peek at Seattle’s virtual OTAs

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Here’s a look at one of the Seahawks’ virtual offseason meetings, courtesy of Peter King.

This spring, the NFL allows two hours of classroom work virtually for veteran players four days per week. The Seahawks as a team meet from 10 a.m. to noon PT four days a week, usually starting with a short team meeting and breaking down into smaller groups—the offense for some play installations, then maybe just the quarterback, tight ends and receivers, and then the tight ends, via video conference. The two-hour session is tightly controlled by director of team operations Matt Capurro, who flashes “time remaining” alerts on the screen as the last half-hour of the session winds down.

Virtual TE meeting
(Clockwise from top left) passing game coordinator Dave Canales, Greg Olsen, TE coach Pat McPherson, Will Dissly, Luke Willson, Jacob Hollister, Justin Johnson.

The scene: Seattle’s tight-end room, with two coaches and five veterans, stretches over three time zones and five states, connected by Zoom videoconference.

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It's bigger than football, NFL draft

Carroll: Prep time ‘gonna be a very big issue’

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Draft logo 2020After a virtual draft dictated by mandated social distancing during this pandemic, Pete Carroll and John Schneider said they wanted to add mature, experienced players who can learn quickly and will require less time than most to prepare for the NFL.

As Schneider said, “It’s been important for us to try to acquire players that seem to be a little bit ahead of the curve from a learning standpoint in this current environment that we’re in.”

That naturally leads to the next question: Just how little time will they have to prepare for the season? And how much time do they need?

“That’s gonna be a very big issue,” Carroll said.

Continue reading Carroll: Prep time ‘gonna be a very big issue’ →