KJ Wright - "Accountability wasn't even"

[HawkStrong]

I hear ya. It is what it is. I come on here every day I'm at work. So I certainly can walk away if I want to.
I suspect at some point it will die down. We all look at it differently, and that's cool. People are angry and worked up, so be it. I was at 49, most angry I've ever been in my entire life. And I knew when that happened, this team would NEVER be the same. So hearing KJ say it didn't surprise me one bit.
It was a TEAM loss. Not just one guy. Now they are working on rebuilding this team, the trust, the whole damn thing.
I'm ready for something new, and it will be fun to watch this team develop.

As long as Wilson was on the team, losing SB49 was going to be an open wound unable to scab over. We as fans were constantly reminded of Russ throwing that interception when we played NE, when we played in AZ, when the team drove down to the 1 yard line, etc etc.

This is really the first time we can properly heal and stop picking the scab. I think this is probably true for the team as well. Look at how many former Hawks were on the sidelines at the game this past Monday.

I think there will still be a lot of attention on Wilson because we have the Broncos draft picks, and the fact that his legacy will always be tied to the Hawks... But I think we we see a lot of the anger die down and be replaced with the indifference you are describing.

 

[ivotuk]

The best podcasts you will hear this year, the KJ Wright Show on this page:

Podcast Results - Seattle Sports

sports.mynorthwest.com

 

[bigskydoc]

Here is why it matters to me. I don't have a lot of years left on this planet. I would really love to see the Hawks hoist another Lombardi before I depart this world.

For seven years now, I've wondered if it will happen. If the obvious dysfunction on the Hawks is due to Pete, Russ, or a combination of both.

Seeing the players from that team coming back together to help the current generation, and start to peel back the layers of what was really going on, gives me hope that I will see my dream come true.

Admittedly, now that he is gone, I am hoping that it was Russ who bears the lion's share of the blame.

That's why it still matters to me

 

[SoulfishHawk]

The Defense also could have NOT given up a 10 point lead in the 4th quarter. For some reason, they don't get to be criticized. They lost as a team.

 

[toffee]

Who is surprised? Anyone that has been paying attention knew this was true a long time ago.

wow, is this the same John63? No diction issues, total remake from john63 to john64?

 

[HawkStrong]

The Defense also could have NOT given up a 10 point lead in the 4th quarter. For some reason, they don't get to be criticized. They lost as a team.

Don't disagree, but let's not forget just how banged up that defense was. Losing Avril pretty much lost us that game. All of that said, they were in a position to win it at the end, and we all know how it turned out.

Right or wrong, Wilson was the face of that loss. That also became compounded with all of the subsequent playoff failures. There is a lot of blame to go around, but Russ never really got any of that heat. Add in all of the drama that was going on behind the scenes, the Mark Rodgers saga, etc, and it was simply a toxic environment that wasn't going to improve until something drastic changed.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Russ has been blamed for that for several years. I used to care, now I just don't any more. They lost it as a team. But obviously there was some QB favortism going on, not that it's new in the NFL. But it shouldn't have been that way at all. Nothing they can do about it other than move forward and create a new culture.

 

[toffee]

I would like to think all players understood QBs are treated differently, it comes with the package. That said, LOB etc weren't happy with "how" differently. That might be half of the battle, the other half was Russ' social skill or personalities, as Russ could be somewhat two faced.

Together, someone that you didn't like so much was getting more preferential treatment than his position normally gets. If every teammate was getting 5 cookies from coaches, QB should get 7 cookies for playing QB. But in this case, Russ was getting 9 cookies. or something like that.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Damn, now I want some cookies.

 

[Seahawker]

I would like to think all players understood QBs are treated differently, it comes with the package. That said, LOB etc weren't happy with "how" differently. That might be half of the battle, the other half was Russ' social skill or personalities, as Russ could be somewhat two faced.

Together, someone that you didn't like so much was getting more preferential treatment than his position normally gets. If every teammate was getting 5 cookies from coaches, QB should get 7 cookies for playing QB. But in this case, Russ was getting 9 cookies. or something like that.

I think "something like that" would mean a bakers dozen.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Cookies and Crow, great Victory Week meal.

 

[toffee]

I think "something like that" would mean a bakers dozen.

LOL, that was my ungrounded speculation without evidence. I based my assumption on KJ, LOB, Marshawn etc. understood and accepted that QBs will always be treated differently, and logically so. QB is the only position that could singlehandedly waste a game, therefore QBs carried more responsibilities, and deserve more cookies, lol. Therefore getting more cookies ought not be the issue, but how many more, and getting all that cookies after not taking responsivities could be the issue.

 

[bigskydoc]

It was all fine and dandy until 48, when Russ came off the field, a Super Bowl winner, and ripped off the face mask to reveal...


THE COOKIE MONSTER.

It was all downhill from there.

 

[HawkinNY]

accountability is such a canard. What were they going to do, bench Wilson after a bad game? the whole premise is absurd.

I’m sure other players getting called out during film were not happy when Russ wouldn’t. That’s what they all have been saying over the years. That Russ would make a glaring mistake on film and crickets. But if a def player would Pete would point it out to the team.

 

[kidhawk]

I’m sure other players getting called out during film were not happy when Russ wouldn’t. That’s what they all have been saying over the years. That Russ would make a glaring mistake on film and crickets. But if a def player would Pete would point it out to the team.

I'm surprised nobody is using the "Pete doesn't understand offensive football well enough to know a mistake" defense

 

[HawkStrong]

LOL, that was my ungrounded speculation without evidence. I based my assumption on KJ, LOB, Marshawn etc. understood and accepted that QBs will always be treated differently, and logically so. QB is the only position that could singlehandedly waste a game, therefore QBs carried more responsibilities, and deserve more cookies, lol. Therefore getting more cookies ought not be the issue, but how many more, and getting all that cookies after not taking responsivities could be the issue.

That opinion is not ungrounded, and has a lot of evidence to back it up:

The Dynasty That Never Was: Inside the Unraveling of the Seattle Seahawks

As they grew into Super Bowl contenders, the Seahawks—especially the Legion of Boom defense—prided themselves on a ruthless internal competitiveness that lifted everyone and was the foundation of an NFL championship. But some former and current Seattle players say a growing rift developed, based...

www.si.com

Simmering tension, a 'declining player' and a public breakup: Inside Seattle's trade of Russell Wilson

Wilson's personal aspirations conflicted with a Seahawks organization that had different goals and was skeptical about its QB's long-term future.

www.espn.com

 

[keasley45]

The Defense also could have NOT given up a 10 point lead in the 4th quarter. For some reason, they don't get to be criticized. They lost as a team.

Bro. The defense didn't 'give up' anything. They battled through losing key starters. It wouldn't have been close if that hadn't happened. Why the Russ vs the defense in the argument about who gave up what still persists is beyond me. The defense didn't crap the bed. They played as well as they could given the circumstances. And Russ without any limiting factors, could have placed that ball better.

And the choice to let the primadonna qb throw that pass when he was the won that was mostly carried to the championship arena by the D and Lynch... and for him to fail... and then AGAIN receive nothing in the way of accountability, broke this team.

And it's wasn't until Monday night that this was all correct this first time aired in the open. It's why the players are all coming out. It's why the team has an energy now it hasn't had in years. And it's why Russ gave that odd presser after the game. It's the airing of the truth behind the last 10 years. And just because Russ is gone, doesn't mean it hasn't lingered over the franchise, it's coaches and players.

It will fade. But it's just now being illuminated.

 

[FloridaSeahawk18]

Ironically even if the LOB wanted Russ to take more accountability early, Russ clearly couldn't take it mentally so I'm not sure it would have made a difference. Once Russ started to get the blame for the trajectory of this team in recent years, that's when all the snake quotes and Mark Rodger nonsense began. He had to find a way out before his "legacy" was tarnished forever.

 

[Pandion Haliaetus]

It’s amazing that LOB became a team movement, a culture of personality. Even Lynch inspired his rag tag group of men blocking for him to go all-in, sweat and blood.

Russ forced his way to the top of pyramid, Seahawks let him be that guy, and he failed. Not in statistics but the team and then he made the mistake of letting Team Russ fault everyone else to save face.

That’s why in the last game he wasn’t trying to be the hero and he was playing QB in a manner that he should of been doing last year as if he was trying to tell his detractors. “Look what I can do when you tell me I can’t do it”

He’s all about himself underneath it all.

 

[TwistedHusky]

First off, expecting accountability from star QBs is weird.
QBs make 1/4 of all the salary on the team. They are literally the difference between success and failure. They are accountable to themselves. The idea that a coach gets to have authority over them is laughable. Ask Aaron Rodgers. Qbs are more important than the coach because he rules all favor the QB.

Teams don't hold stars accountable, rarely ever. Often they can't.
Preferential treatment, and ignoring rule violations is more the rule than the exception.
Griffey had his chair. Shawn Kemp was out drinking, getting hammered, before a Game 7 against Utah (a game he won btw). Charles Haley used to jerk off in other players' lockers and hit on their wives/gfs (or worse) - but when the 49ers traded him, they traded away any more chances at going to the SB for a while.

Star players get to do what they want because they know that the team cannot succeed without them. Rodman went to Vegas. You get the idea. Go ahead and cut Brandon Browner for smoking pot, you are going to lose a SB when a smarter coach picks him up.

The idea that coaches are the authority is laughable. MONEY is the authority. And players get to do what they want, if they are critical to the success of the team. They have the leverage, not the coach. And that leverage is the blessing of the owner that knows without that player they are not succeeding in the playoffs.

This isn't new. Or even weird.
And as the QB becomes more pivotal, the QB gets the authority - not the coach. Until the QB stops delivering. Then things change (including the QB's job). But until then? Holding the QB accountable isn't tremendously easy, or sometimes even possible.

Even so - holding a young QB to the same standards of a historic defense filled with HOF and near HOF players isn't reasonable either.