keasley45":147bezmj said:
That is just an awesome read. Hard not to like the dude. He seems like a great player and a better person.
It also just makes me appreciate this team more and all of the work that goes into building a winner both with respect to the team and to individuals at a personal level. It's obvious that Pete and his crew know how to do this. And its remarkable that they are able to build a winning franchise from the root of just trying to nurture positive people. That's hard. I ran a business for a while. 45 people. Creative field. And we built the company on a philosophy of growing talent and good people and believing that if we did that right, great product, great client relationships and great success would follow. It is incredibly rewarding but from an emotional perspective, incredibly taxing. To be plugged into the team AND with the same energy and commitment, be plugged into the specific needs and personalities of each team member.
To do that at the level of professional football. And to maintain a level of performance and success thst the hawks have for so long under Pete. AND- for the players that come through here to speak so highly if tgr environment, of the staff, the front office... and nit from an x's and o's perspective first, but from a human perspective. I don't know that 2% of us fans or the media get how special this place is or how special this era of hawks ball is. We can lament the losses and get down on the players and coaches we love to hate whenever things don't go as well as they should. But for this front office, and for Pete Carrol to have created here what he has is special and significant beyond football. He's created a process that churns out great work ethic, great conraderie, instills passion, and Supreme confidence, belief in one's self and one another. This hawks era is about soo much more than the sport we see on the field. Its about the beauty of the human condition and what we can accomplish individually and together when we can harnessn the best we have within us. It's less football, and more, just life.
I've been as guilty as anyone for rolling my eyes when Pete or Russ start on the soap box of ... believe the process, trust in the preparation. I've cracked jokes about them, as the media has, and accused them of being too rahrah. Or too robotic. But honestly, I think at some point we will all realize that the joke was on any of us who just couldn't get what it was this team, this franchise is about and how gosh darn brilliant the front office is at bringing together a family of guys around such an uncommon flag. And to have them rally to the flag with such a fervor and energy thst it generates winning. And not just winning, but championships.
Thank you for the note Dunlop 43. Thank you Pete, John, Brian, Ken and everybody else that contributes each and everyday to making this team the extraordinary experience that it is. Even if us fans (myself included), conditioned to judge our teams solely on the merit of x's and o's,... W's and L's can't always see the brilliance of it.
God, I love this team.
GO Hawks!! Win, lose or draw, the best damn franchise in football.
Posts like yours give me hope for NET's future. Very well put. It's true. We have been spoiled to an absurd degree over the past decade. Not just in the wins but to your point, the brilliance that has encapsulated this organization from the top down, and we would all agree the genesis of this all began with the late great Paul Allen.
Find me one organization in all of professional sports where players have raved about their team's commitment to not just cultivating competition, and a winning culture, but celebrating each individual to be the best they can be, on and off the field. It's true, we as fans have the right to complain and roll our eyes at game plans, adjustments, company line mantras and generic press conferences. But these mantras are not just lip service, they are a way of life, the very backbone of a winning culture that has proven sustainable.
There will come a day were all of us, each and every one of us, will mourn the loss of this era. I have no idea what is in store once Pete, John, Russ and company are long gone but something tells me we will all miss this era like none other. Enjoy it, embrace it and don't take a single moment for granted.
Fan bickering is eternal, but it's just noise. What really matters is what's going on inside that locker room, the practice fields, the offices at the VMAC that translates to the field every single season. Mack Strong always put it simply; "Winning in the NFL is hard." It's damn hard. Never take for granted how easy this team makes it look sometimes. And even when they don't make it look easy, in a way, they still do.
When winning is near routine, wow, that is a sure fire sign that the culture is sound. GO HAWKS!
) But anyway, I just wanted to say thanks to you and all the other participants here for the best sports forum on the net.
