Bruce Irvin @ Hawks BB game 5/13/15 quote

[Snakeeyes007]

We seem to follow a very familiar pattern here:

1 - Admiration and appreciation for said player

2 - Tremendous fan loyalty to the player

3 - Expectations player loyalty is shared with team

CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS

4 - Denigrating the player

5 - Piling on

6 - Attacking the player in other areas

7 - Being shocked that the player is not "being loyal"

8 - Dismissing the value of the player

PLAYER SIGNS

9 - Going right back to being huge fans of the player


PLAYER LEAVES

9 - Spending massive amounts of time trying to justify why that player was not really that good.


Last year, Marshawn was being ripped for "wanting too much" when his presence was important to both the offense & defense, and his success was the #1 contributor to team success. Yet his position forced him to take significant punishment that will impact his quality of life for years to come.

This year, we see plenty of people ripping Wilson for doing the same thing.

Now we have Irvin, who is understandably upset that he won't be getting the big contract and is clearly taking some of this personally. They ask him, at what seems to be an Atlanta basketball game where emotion is already flowing through all the attendees - where he wants to play. He answers Atlanta.

I am pretty sure that if a team came offering 1.5x what Atlanta offered he would pick that, but in the middle of an emotional playoff game? Is anyone really that shocked at his answer - especially considering that is nearer his original home?

I am more shocked that people are shocked.

:13: Like a breath of fresh air, Husky! Well said.

 

[Hawkstorian]

A few things --

First, this whole 5th year option thing just seems to create a lot of unnecessary drama. It sucks basically telling a guy a year ahead of time that you probably won't want him back. I think when they crafted the latest CBA they didn't consider that.

Second, Bruce Irvin clearly isn't that most savvy guy when it comes to handling social media so no one should be surprised when he says or does something kind of silly.

Finally, considering the Seahawks have basically said they won't have him back in 2016, who cares if he's planning his next move. We expect some sort of absolute loyalty from our players, which is terribly naive. The only downside to this whole thing is if somehow it impacts his play on the field in 2015 which is his last in Seattle. I don't think it will, so this drama doesn't concern me one bit.

 

[Seahwkgal]

SMH..Social media(aka twitter) is the death of all logic in the world.

 

[Cyrus12]

just more drama for this team....wonder how it will all play out when the season starts

 

[QuahHawk]

I hope KPL plays well in the preseason and we send this jack@$$ off to the Browns or some other crap team and let him rot for a year. He says way to many stupid things on twitter, and if he doesnt want to be here see you later. He is dead to me, I hate him.

Best scenarios
1. What you said except I don't hate him.

2. We keep him, he works his rear off in a contract year, doesn't lose his starting spot, has his best year ever, gets his big payday, Hawks get a 3rd or 4th round comp pick in 2017.

3. He gets beat out by KPL, we keep him on the roster, he doesn't get a big payday, Hawks only get a 5th or 6th round comp pick, we say that's just how it works in Seattle, we left above average players walk while we keep the special ones around for the money the deserve.


Great teams like New England, Baltimore, Pittsburg, and Green Bay have paid to keep their elite players at any cost and build around them. I think we have some elite players on this team.

 

[two dog]

do you read the daily stories on NFL.com? It's the bragging season. Everybody is thumping their
chest and talking about how great their team is going to be. Mainly because of their own wonderful
person.

This seems to be a variation of this and has little to do with playing actual football. Bruce, unfortunately
for him is a league average to average + linebacker. A position and a player both lacking in much leverage.
So he went to a basketball game, maybe had a drink or two. Pumped by the hometown win, HIS hometown,
hell yeah he's gonna say what he thinks his hometown wants to hear.

Lot of noise about not a lot. If, however, this is for real;
Here's an apple
Here's a roadmap
Bye Bye sonny.

 

[Mistashoesta]

If you happen to own one of these, maybe now is the time to sell it while it still has some value?

 

[Rob12]

Why is everyone getting so pissed about this. We weren't going to pay him anywhere near what the market will pay him. He's from Atlanta. I'm fine with 1 more year of Irvin at 1.5 million. What value do you get from a trade anyways?

Not everyone is pissed. I'm not. I want us to keep Bruce this season, and I want Bruce to absolutely go off on the field. Then, I want Bruce to bounce out of town. It's nothing personal, of course. I just think money could be spent better elsewhere. Him having a 10+ sack season in his age 29 season during a contract year would not fool me into thinking that financial resources should be reallocated to retain his services.

The comments he made don't even annoy me. I think Bruce is a smart enough guy who just opens his mouth before his brain can do some filtering. I appreciate what he's done here and will hopefully accomplish in 2015 - but after that, I'm more than good with him taking his act elsewhere.

 

[TwilightError]

It doesn't feel right that the cool new trend is to be unhappy in Seattle. I know this isn't much in a vacuum, but the overall feel just doesn't seem right. There isn't a team in the league that would have picked up that option. He's whining for the sake of whining. Does it feel a bit like the first bricks are starting to fall off the castle, or am I reading way too much into this?

It does have that feel to it. Lets face it, the last few years have been a blast. Such a good time was hard to even imagine before the draft, where Brucey was our first round pick. If it "normalizes" from now on, then so be it. I'm happy to have seen what many fans dont ever get to experience. But, this can also be just a little bump on the road, all they need to do is brutally cut or trade one of these little whining millionaires to show who's boss. Bennett or Irvin, RW is beyond being any kind of a sacrificial lamb.

Even if this is the end of good times, we still have something to show from the super team this legendary Front Office built. Unlike 49ers for their once-in-two-decades type of monster team. They came close but no silverware, and now they seem to be on the end of that road.

But I dont believe its the end until I see it. There are new hungry guys coming in, ones who have years to prove their worth before they can even imagine being in a position where it's possible to be whining about anything.

 

[SoCalSeahawk]

SMH..Social media(aka twitter) is the death of all logic in the world.

This.

 

[McGruff]

A few things --

First, this whole 5th year option thing just seems to create a lot of unnecessary drama. It sucks basically telling a guy a year ahead of time that you probably won't want him back. I think when they crafted the latest CBA they didn't consider that.

Second, Bruce Irvin clearly isn't that most savvy guy when it comes to handling social media so no one should be surprised when he says or does something kind of silly.

Finally, considering the Seahawks have basically said they won't have him back in 2016, who cares if he's planning his next move. We expect some sort of absolute loyalty from our players, which is terribly naive. The only downside to this whole thing is if somehow it impacts his play on the field in 2015 which is his last in Seattle. I don't think it will, so this drama doesn't concern me one bit.

I :heart the capmaster.

As an addendum, if for some reason Bruce mails it in this year, or otherwise disrupts team chemistry, we have a coach who will not hesitate to stick someone else in there and deal swiftly with the problem. He did it with Percy, he'll do it with Bruce.

That being said, no matter how dumb and immature Bruce is, I think he's competitive enough that his play will not be a problem. The only concern I have with Bruce on the field is if he starts thinking "sacks=money" and either complains about his role or freelances.

 

[McGruff]

I hope KPL plays well in the preseason and we send this jack@$$ off to the Browns or some other crap team and let him rot for a year. He says way to many stupid things on twitter, and if he doesnt want to be here see you later. He is dead to me, I hate him.

Best scenarios
1. What you said except I don't hate him.

2. We keep him, he works his rear off in a contract year, doesn't lose his starting spot, has his best year ever, gets his big payday, Hawks get a 3rd or 4th round comp pick in 2017.

3. He gets beat out by KPL, we keep him on the roster, he doesn't get a big payday, Hawks only get a 5th or 6th round comp pick, we say that's just how it works in Seattle, we left above average players walk while we keep the special ones around for the money the deserve.


Great teams like New England, Baltimore, Pittsburg, and Green Bay have paid to keep their elite players at any cost and build around them. I think we have some elite players on this team.

This.

Bruce is not elite. He's a solid OLB in a scheme that makes playing OLB easy. He's not an elite OLB. Wagner is an elite MLB. Wilson is an elite QB. Pay them to keep, let the rest go.

The only thing that makes me question my own logic is the KJ Wright contract. That one has never made sense to me.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

They aren't pampered and coddled their entire lives. Many live in relative ish until they get to College. That said, most never want to return to said ish and want to cash in.

These generalities that are said are right along the same lines that many players think about golden boy QBs who get a substantial amount of a teams cap.

Normal day to day person thinks every NFL player acts like they're royalty.

Average football player thinks QBs act like they're royalty.

Oddly enough, normal day to day person is generally very supportive of QBs acting like said royalty and then resort to name calling and other mess when it comes to the average NFL player.

There's a LOT of irony when it comes to things like this. And it's more closely related to a feminine logic all on sides, fans and players alike, than any other kind of thinking.

You're making a disconnect between childish behavior and being a bad person.

Even players who come from the most poor and bleak of situations are treated differently than other kids once parents, teachers, coaches, etc find out they're special athletes. It's why they get cars for free, homes rented for their families, other people taking tests for them, and an endless amount of women thrown at them.

So don't tell me they're not coddled, they absolutely are..........and coddled behavior turns into grown ass men who throw fits on social media when they don't get what they want. Most mature adults do not act like that, so why do they? Not all certainly, but a far higher percentage than any other walk of life or career.

Bruce is not a bad person, but he's an immature person, and his tweets prove me right.

You're taking a smaller sample and applying the context to every single player.

EDIT: With a "IT'S NOT FAIR! IT'S NOT FAIR!" rant like that....you're not a cop, are you?

Is that why I said "not all?"

Bruce has been immature ever since he got here, and his entire life for that matter............on and off the field. Whether it's getting a personal foul penalty costing us games to horribly thought out April Fool's Day Twitter jokes.

This new conversation just falls right in line with what I'm talking about. Oh you won't pick up my option? Then I'm going to throw a tantrum and talk crap on Twitter! Just dumb, and isn't beneficial to his contract situation one bit.

 

[IrishNW]

I don't really understand the problem. Bruce is from Atlanta right? His former coach is the headcoach of the Falcons. Its a match made in heaven.

Think about it this way, would you rather pay Bobby Wagner or Bruce Irvin? I doubt we are paying all three of our starting linebackers in this defense. I like Bruce and I think he makes our defense better but hes very replaceable. He's on a contract year and seems to be training very hard this offseason as he should be. I hope he has a huge year for us

 

[olyfan63]

Guys don't like hearing that they're not a "core" player.

--snip--
Bruce is not elite. He's a solid OLB in a scheme that makes playing OLB easy. He's not an elite OLB. Wagner is an elite MLB. Wilson is an elite QB. Pay them to keep, let the rest go.

The only thing that makes me question my own logic is the KJ Wright contract. That one has never made sense to me.

KJ Wright is a "core" player because of leadership qualities. Anyone recall how many Seahawks players were team captains in High School and college? It's a ridiculously high percentage. It's something the 'Hawks look for.

Irvin is not a "core" player because of his absence of thinking skills and leadership qualities. All his dumb behavior has done is prove the FO to be spot-on correct. What coach and GM want other players to follow the lead of a guy whose leadership contribution is to model "whining"?

 

[olyfan63]

If you happen to own one of these, maybe now is the time to sell it while it still has some value?

You can always get a blue panel that says "Tatupu" and sew it on over the "Irvin". Besides, #51 Lofa Tatupu is back with the team as a coach.

 

[RiverDog]

Irvin is set to make just under $3M this season. Had we picked up his option, that number would have doubled, to nearly $8M. I don't care how big of a fan anyone is of Irvin, they can't with a straight face tell me that he's worth half again more than Von Miller, who's only making $5.2M in 2015. It did not make economic sense for the Hawks to pick up that option, a point made even more dramatic with the contracts of Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner to rework.

But the major problem here is that Irvin is just plain stupid. He does not know the first thing about business. Not only is he too dumb to figure out why the Hawks couldn't pick up his option even after it's been explained to him and after he's had days in which to reflect on the decision, he proved it again when he started jacking his jaws about going to one specific team and reducing his market value by a couple $100K.

I don't want this guy as one of our core players anyway. He's not a 3 down player, he's prone to dumb mistakes, and he's a potential locker room cancer. If he doesn't clean up his act and get with the program, ie if he isn't "in", I say get rid of him, even if it means cutting his arse and not getting anything in return. If he thinks he's worth the money picking up that option would have paid him, let him go out and try getting one on his own merits, and forever kiss goodbye his chances of ever playing in another Super Bowl again.

 

[DeSeahawk]

Well, if he has a monster year, can't Seattle use the transition tag on him and if Atlanta offers him a contract, not match and get a pick from them ? I'd think a 3rd rounder could be bargained for.

 

[Attyla the Hawk]

I guess I don't really see an issue here at all.

I never expected us to resign Irvin once the KJ deal was announced. There is no way we're paying 3 linebackers, when we're paying 3 LOB members. Irvin was always in my mind going to get the Tate/Carpenter treatment. And let's be honest here, when we declined his option, that pretty much completely tipped the Hawks' hand.

Not that I see a problem with that. I felt that's exactly how it was going to go down, and I think Bruce and his agent pretty much expected that. Or should have.

This is simply the reality of having a mature roster. Irvin is a very good player. On the cusp of being already worth 5m a season, and with a good campaign in 2015 could push his value in the 6.5-7.5 range. Regardless of the open desire to play elsewhere, it's entirely in his best interest to ball out this year.

And it's also in Seattle's interest to give him the opportunity to shine. Besides the obvious production benefit to us, it also shows the next good/not great players who are also going to not get extended, that we will do what we can to maximize their value. Even if that value puts them out of our ability to pay.

Seattle hasn't been a punitive organization. Quite the opposite, we've been very open and helpful in getting players (and coaches) the opportunity to make their marks. This is a relationship organization. And you can't be that, if you are intentionally trying to hinder players from achieving all their personal goals simply because it will mean they fulfill them with someone else.

We're going to be saying this next year when we have to let Okung and Sweezy go. The fact is, those are good players. But players that are realistically replaceable. We picked KPL last year and resigned KJ. Clark drafted this year. Glow drafted this year. These are mirrors for Irvin and Sweezy. It really isn't all that difficult to predict our 3 year model anymore. Our drafts of recent years are now starting to foreshadow future moves with guys on the roster.

I would even put Michael in 2013 in that same bucket. Although it didn't turn out (both for Michael breaking out and Lynch just not diminishing as one may have expected). But the same logic would have easily applied.

I don't see an issue keeping Irvin this year. It's in everyone's own self interest to play it out. I don't expect Irvin would dog it at all. I don't expect Seattle to get bent out of shape over this. Because by design, we will have many more Irvin's in the coming years.

 

[NYCoug]

''I'm really glad you asked me that, because he didn't say that,'' Carroll said. ''We've been talking all along. He has been working out in Atlanta for these three weeks, and he said (that) in response to the question `Do you want to come back home?' He said everybody likes to come back home, and it's a dream to come back home. It wasn't in reference to leaving us and coming back (to the Falcons). He was really adamant about it, and I asked him to leave it and not go at it anymore.''

http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/story/...irvin-s-atlanta-comment-misinterpreted-051615

Man... who to believe, who to believe?

The reputable powerhouse that IS, BlackSportsOnline.com, or Pete Carroll and Bruce Irvin themselves? Hmmm... I'll just let the board decide. I'm buckled in, this should be good!

*Cue that gif of Michael Jackson eating popcorn*

*And then, cue the gif of Pete Carroll doing the monocle strut*