Open Letter To The Seattle Seahawks

This is from my good friend's former boss who posted this on his FB wall recently...Thought it deserved a spot here.

Open letter to Seattle Seahawks

The difference between greatness and mediocrity is minuscule, in a profession as competitive as yours. That said you have an organization and coaches that are passionate, committed and who believe in you. A few things, in my humble opinion, you need to address.

1) Russell Wilson's humility and raw talent is what attracted us all initially. Time for him to set aside the celebrity nonsense, endless endorsements, self promotion and religious pronouncements, and focus on being an admired and respected teammate. Right now that is slipping;

2) Marshawn Lynch - thank you for being the heart and soul of this team. For not craving the spotlight and for being "all about that action". I sincerely hope to see you in Seattle next year and maybe years to come after that;

3) Kam Chancellor - apologize to your teammates for holding out, for preaching brotherhood and then indulging in self gain. The damage you've done is measurable and those teammates that believed in you are not going to follow a leader who won't own his shortcomings. Rebuild the trust;

4) Michael Bennett and Bruce Irvin - stop whining about money. No one appreciates it and business needs to stay between you and the team. The constant harping over "getting paid" belies the fact that the team provided you an opportunity (when you had limited other options), that you felt compelling enough to agree to. Stand by your commitment;

5) Talk Show Radio - just stop the endless hypothecating and negativity. Try something new - be supportive. You are not athletes or coaches. Support those that are; and finally...

6) 12s - this is such a special time for the team that we need to resist the negativity as well. This run we've been on is unprecedented and extremely difficult to maintain. Trust those in place to get the job done. It seems to me they've delivered far more than we've ever experienced before. Let's not lose sight of the fact that the best is yet to come. Go Hawks!!

They forgot a few things.

LOB- Pull your head out of your butts and cover a damn tight end
Oline- Stop being terrible
Bevel- your a moron

Aros":3sx18b87 said:

This is from my good friend's former boss who posted this on his FB wall recently...Thought it deserved a spot here.

Open letter to Seattle Seahawks

The difference between greatness and mediocrity is minuscule, in a profession as competitive as yours. That said you have an organization and coaches that are passionate, committed and who believe in you. A few things, in my humble opinion, you need to address.

1) Russell Wilson's humility and raw talent is what attracted us all initially. Time for him to set aside the celebrity nonsense, endless endorsements...

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At least stop with the terrible endorsements, like Eat The Ball (frozen bread shaped like balls):


Frozen bread makes no sense, Russ!

My open letter to the Seattle Seahawks.

Spend some resources on offensive linemen. TIA.

Someone needs to go back through the seasons and post the records, along with the high and low points.

This team has been amazing. The football gods do not owe us a Dynasty, but they did give us one of the greatest SB performances ever, against what was supposed to be one of the greatest offenses ever.

I wouldn't dwell on 2-14 but I will say that we are lucky to go into every game with a chance to win, that was not always the case for Seahawk fans. Gamedays have been incredible and while I am tremendously frustrated with Wilson (because I think there is a tremendous gap between how he is playing and how he is capable of playing), I don't think we could come close to getting a 3rd round pick to do what he does.

In the startup community you learn very quickly, rarely is something as good as you hope or as bad as you fear. Because dreams are not flawed, the vision is always a snapshot of a perfect moment (perfect success or perfect failure). In the real world things are different.

Russ was never a robot. He was a character. And when he started acting in ways that deviated from who we considered that character to be, everyone chafed. In way that is good, I think he focused too much on building a brand of who Wilson was supposed to be and there was no way any human being could live up to those standards.

It should also be noted, we lost that last game by a single TD, even with everything that went wrong. And in almost every loss, we were in the lead in the 4th. It isn't like the bottom dropped out, just that some of the crazy successes that were being had are falling back to the mean. That happens over time.

This isn't a bad team, just inconsistent. It isn't consistently improving or breaking NFL records like it used to, but how sustainable is that?

This is a team that found some advantages, exploited them and then found that as the rest of the league adapts/adjusts - those advantages get lost. We slipped a bit, some of them caught up or even passed us. Not a reason to take down the 12 flag or put the jerseys away.

Left out "Please get rid of Bevell." AZ was overpursuing and letting Lynch roll for 5 yards a carry. AZ couldn't tackle him for a loss. Bevell's masterplan... Let's throw the ball 32 times and run Lynch 8 times because that'll totally work with our offensive line against the best pass defense in the league.... SMDH... I'm sincerely disgusted with Bevell. We can call out Wilson for making some bad throws under pressure and getting bounced in the backfield, but he wouldn't have been in those situations if we just stuck to what we do on offense, which is running the ball consistently non-stop all the time to set up the play-action and stop a defense from keying on our QB every time the ball is snapped. At this point... I'm all for Cable taking over as OC. He couldn't possibly be a worse playcaller or half as moronic as Bevell. Anytime our offense throws the ball 3 times as much as we run the ball, our offense is playing to lose the game.

firebee":37dylz80 said:

Left out "Please get rid of Bevell." AZ was overpursuing and letting Lynch roll for 5 yards a carry. AZ couldn't tackle him for a loss. Bevell's masterplan... Let's throw the ball 32 times and run Lynch 8 times because that'll totally work with our offensive line against the best pass defense in the league.... SMDH... I'm sincerely disgusted with Bevell. We can call out Wilson for making some bad throws under pressure and getting bounced in the backfield, but he wouldn't have been in those situations if we just stuck to what we do on offense, which is running the ball consistently non-stop all the time to set up the play-action and stop a defense from keying on our QB every time the ball is snapped. At this point... I'm all for Cable taking over as OC. He couldn't possibly be a worse playcaller or half as moronic as Bevell. Anytime our offense throws the ball 3 times as much as we run the ball, our offense is playing to lose the game.

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You're acting like Bevell's plan wasn't based on the fact that almost every offensive possession was started at 1st and 25 due to penalties by the O-Line.

I kind of hate this letter. I don't see how we can connect those events to the actions on the field. Maybe they did, but until there's actual proof that Russell's endorsements are affecting his focus, or that Kam's holdout created friction, or that Bennet and Irvin are not giving there all I don't think it's fair to speculate. The last two points nailed it.

StoneCold":16yktbrh said:

I kind of hate this letter. I don't see how we can connect those events to the actions on the field. Maybe they did, but until there's actual proof that Russell's endorsements are affecting his focus, or that Kam's holdout created friction, or that Bennet and Irvin are not giving there all I don't think it's fair to speculate. The last two points nailed it.

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I may be wrong, but it's not like Wilson is filming those endorsements when he should be in the film room.

Aren't most filmed in the offseason?

And anyone who doesn't think Bennett is playing his ass off isn't watching. And Irvin was upset the Hawks didn't pick up his option. It's not like he was a FA and chose his current contract.

Russ could be doing ANYTHING and he "should be in the film room"

:1:

Basis4day":1hhtaqii said:

firebee":1hhtaqii said:

Left out "Please get rid of Bevell." AZ was overpursuing and letting Lynch roll for 5 yards a carry. AZ couldn't tackle him for a loss. Bevell's masterplan... Let's throw the ball 32 times and run Lynch 8 times because that'll totally work with our offensive line against the best pass defense in the league.... SMDH... I'm sincerely disgusted with Bevell. We can call out Wilson for making some bad throws under pressure and getting bounced in the backfield, but he wouldn't have been in those situations if we just stuck to what we do on offense, which is running the ball consistently non-stop all the time to set up the play-action and stop a defense from keying on our QB every time the ball is snapped. At this point... I'm all for Cable taking over as OC. He couldn't possibly be a worse playcaller or half as moronic as Bevell. Anytime our offense throws the ball 3 times as much as we run the ball, our offense is playing to lose the game.

Click to expand...

You're acting like Bevell's plan wasn't based on the fact that almost every offensive possession was started at 1st and 25 due to penalties by the O-Line.

Click to expand...

we had over 10 possessions... We were only 1st and 20 or 1st and 25 3 times... Mostly in the first half. Even under those circumstances... If a defense can't stop the run, you keep running the ball at them until they start minding their gaps and stop the run. If they're intent on overpursuing the backfield and letting the back burn them for 5 to 10 yards, keep letting your back burn them for 5-10 yards. If you couldn't see that AZ was keyed in on pass rushing, overpursuing the backfield and blowing their gaps by the end of the first half, you shouldn't be calling plays in the NFL. It was ungodly obvious that AZ didn't care about maintaining control of their gaps. They were keyed in on Russell Wilson and Bevell obliged them with his playcalling.

Dear Seattle Seahawks:

Jimmy Johnson who won a couple of Super Bowls and an NCAA Championship said along about week 2 that "the Seahawks are rotting from the inside out". So far he's been spot on. Are you going to change that? Are you going to re-dedicate yourselves to doing what you did to get yourselves to 2 straight Super Bowls? Or, are you going to cash your nice paychecks, worry about your next endorsement deal and ponder how you can get the team to pay you more next season with little or no regard to what got you in position to make all that money in the first place?

Basis4day":iixpujag said:

You're acting like Bevell's plan wasn't based on the fact that almost every offensive possession was started at 1st and 25 due to penalties by the O-Line.

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The first four were. After that, Bevell continued to neglect the run, including in the 3rd quarter where he would sideline Lynch the moment he got a 15-yard gain. The "1st and 25" argument isn't a shield for Bevell.

firebee":2orqvaiu said:

Basis4day":2orqvaiu said:

firebee":2orqvaiu said:

Left out "Please get rid of Bevell." AZ was overpursuing and letting Lynch roll for 5 yards a carry. AZ couldn't tackle him for a loss. Bevell's masterplan... Let's throw the ball 32 times and run Lynch 8 times because that'll totally work with our offensive line against the best pass defense in the league.... SMDH... I'm sincerely disgusted with Bevell. We can call out Wilson for making some bad throws under pressure and getting bounced in the backfield, but he wouldn't have been in those situations if we just stuck to what we do on offense, which is running the ball consistently non-stop all the time to set up the play-action and stop a defense from keying on our QB every time the ball is snapped. At this point... I'm all for Cable taking over as OC. He couldn't possibly be a worse playcaller or half as moronic as Bevell. Anytime our offense throws the ball 3 times as much as we run the ball, our offense is playing to lose the game.

Click to expand...

You're acting like Bevell's plan wasn't based on the fact that almost every offensive possession was started at 1st and 25 due to penalties by the O-Line.

Click to expand...

we had over 10 possessions... We were only 1st and 20 or 1st and 25 3 times... Mostly in the first half. Even under those circumstances... If a defense can't stop the run, you keep running the ball at them until they start minding their gaps and stop the run. If they're intent on overpursuing the backfield and letting the back burn them for 5 to 10 yards, keep letting your back burn them for 5-10 yards. If you couldn't see that AZ was keyed in on pass rushing, overpursuing the backfield and blowing their gaps by the end of the first half, you shouldn't be calling plays in the NFL. It was ungodly obvious that AZ didn't care about maintaining control of their gaps. They were keyed in on Russell Wilson and Bevell obliged them with his playcalling.

Click to expand...

Point of note we had 12 possessions we had 1st and 20+ on 5 of them, 2nd and 20+ on 1, int on another and scored on the rest. So in other words we scored on 5 of the 6 possession were we did not have 1 or 2nd and 20+.

StoneCold":1djoalqs said:

I kind of hate this letter. I don't see how we can connect those events to the actions on the field. Maybe they did, but until there's actual proof that Russell's endorsements are affecting his focus, or that Kam's holdout created friction, or that Bennet and Irvin are not giving there all I don't think it's fair to speculate. The last two points nailed it.

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Yea, it looks like a list of excuses.

Just play better and to their full capabilities.

I laughed hard at the line about Marshawn not craving the spotlight. Lately, he has been in more shows and commercials than anyone this side of Peyton Manning. That comment was especially odd since it was written right after a condemnation of Russell's endorsements.

We scored on about every offensive possession we didn't have a penalty. I'd say the game plan designed by Bevell and the execution without those infractions was spot on. So in that letter, I'd be hoping they'd give Bevell a contract extension.

StoneCold":33ondipy said:

I kind of hate this letter. I don't see how we can connect those events to the actions on the field. Maybe they did, but until there's actual proof that Russell's endorsements are affecting his focus, or that Kam's holdout created friction, or that Bennet and Irvin are not giving there all I don't think it's fair to speculate. The last two points nailed it.

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Agreed. No one here has a clue if his status of "being a admired and respected teammate is "slipping".

Ugh. What garbage.

StoneCold":2sr27efd said:

I kind of hate this letter. I don't see how we can connect those events to the actions on the field. Maybe they did, but until there's actual proof that Russell's endorsements are affecting his focus, or that Kam's holdout created friction, or that Bennet and Irvin are not giving there all I don't think it's fair to speculate.

Click to expand...

What's this? Maturity?