About The Disrespect Thing...

AROS

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For some reason I was thinking about this topic a lot today. With the Seahawks on a bye, it gave me a rare chance to just enjoy NFL football without the hives, palpitations and cold sweats I endure at home when the Seahawks are playing on the road.

Watching the usual national coverage, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see there is a concerted effort to, well, basically not talk about the Seahawks. We're not the only team that lacks coverage of course but as Seahawks fans we are far too familiar with the obvious omission on a weekly basis when it comes to the national media.

So without my emotions tied in a giant OCD knot with a Seahawks game to watch on the road, I was able to focus on the general entertainment that is NFL football. When the Stealers game was coming up, I looked at those hideous throwbacks and noted the 80 year anniversary angle NBC was pumping out to the masses. It was then that I thought about what the NFL celebrates most. (In this context, when I mention "NFL" I mean the media, the fans, the players, coaches, and so-forth.)

The NFL most covets storied franchises.

It's not that the NFL hates the Seahawks, even if it feels that way sometimes. It's simply that we are the new kid on the block, respectively speaking. We have no dynasties. No Moments Of Glory outside Seahawks Nation that resonates with the rest of the world. Most of all, we have no rings.

This is why the 49ers get a pass right now, even though the Seahawks have dominated the NFC West for most of the first decade of the 21st Century. Nobody in the national media rode our jock when we were making fools of our divisional opponents. But lo and behold, the 49ers have ONE 13-3 season and a game removed from the Super Bowl and you can't get the collective national pundits to disengage their mouths from the 49ers, um...Well, you know where I'm going here.

Why is that?

Simple. The 49ers, to the "NFL", is a Storied Franchise.

Montana. Rice. Young. Walsh. The list is impressively long. Founded in 1946, a full 30 years before the name "Seahawks" was ever even mentioned in context to the NFL.

So the bottom line here obviously is, respect is not simply earned via victories in the NFL. No, it's also tenure.

37 years isn't bad, but it's nothing compared to the Old Souls of the league like the Stealers, Packers, Colts, etc, etc...

Championships change minds, but tenure is an unspoken honor that carries the most weight. Unfortunately there's no happy ending to this particular story, it's simply shining the light of truth on the situation. The Seattle Seahawks are not hated by the league. They simply don't measure up - yet - to the Good Old Boys Club that permeates the league in clusters.

Some of us will be alive to celebrate the day WE are one of the storied franchises in the NFL. Until then, suck it up, don't take the media bullshit personally, and to once again quote the Late former owner of one of our old rivals...

Just Win Baby.
 

SilkMonkey

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You said it much better than I could ever have said it. It's the same reason the Golden Tate catch caused the uproar: the established team shouldn't lose.
 

ivotuk

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Excellent points and I couldn't agree more. A Superbowl win would reallychange things but until then, we are the red-headed step child.

The ridiculous thing is, they love everthing "the" franchises do and their coaches, GMs, Players are all geniuses as longas they are successful. Remember what a "genius" the former colts GM and last years coach were until they lost Peyton?

And what about Belicheck? Granted he is a good coach, but without Brady, he doesn't have all that success. Hell, he had an unbeaten team in a Superbowl but failed to out coach Coughlin.

An elite QB makes coaches and GMs look really good and some of them start to coast. We saw where that ot the Colts.

The really good Front Offices are the ones that have success year in and year out even when there are injuries or their talent level is down. Teams like Green Bay, Baltimore and as much as I hate to admit it, the Stealers. They can havew injuries and lose their starting QB and still succeed.

Fortunately for us, we have one of those Front Offfices now and it's only a matter of time before we become a storied franchise.
 

Hawkspur

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I agree for the most part, but would counter slightly by contending that this season the Seahawks have probably had more press than storied franchises like the Bears, Lions, Raiders as well as many other franchises. I reckon that outside of the Jets, Saints and Eagles there won't be many teams who've had more coverage than the Seahawks. I'm not just talking about the Packers game either. Wilson, Sherman and Lynch bring the Seahawks loads of coverage.
 

theENGLISHseahawk

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The Seahawks will get more press when they start having more consistent, winning seasons. This team has gone 7-9, 7-9, 5-11, 4-12 in the last four seasons. We can't expect to be national hero's now we're 6-4.
 

warden

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The NFL/Media cover the teams that create the most interest from the fan base. Sometimes it is a marquee player like Peyton Manning, sometimes it is because of the cities location like New York, some teams with long histories have more followers. The Seattle Seahawks right now do not appeal to the large numbers of fans across the country as well as other teams. Airing stories about the Seahawks at this present time does not boost the ratings.
 

Jac

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This has been the point all along for those that complain about disrespect (a theme you'll consistently find on 31 other message boards). In the era of mass media, the internet, and fantasy football...the Seahawks have just not given the nation reason to care. They had one great season (that didn't end up with a SB win, regardless of reasons)...but lots of teams have perceived 'flash in the pan' seasons. And we've recently had a string of horrible seasons across three coaches where we were getting blown out. Holmgren's last season, Mora, Carroll's first season (lots of blowout losses and further ridicule resulting from the 7-9 playoff berth).

I think in this era of mass media, the geography of disrespect is so over-hyped. In fact, we should have the stage more to ourselves with the late afternoon (EST) games. As soon as we start consistently winning (with 11-12 win seasons) and have charismatic, interesting players (like Wilson, Sherman)...the hype will fall into place. For example, San Diego (a team that never won anything) got tons of airtime and respect in the height of the Tomlinson and Antonio Gates era.
 

FidelisHawk

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The irony that is the San Francisco 49ers is that even with their long tender in the “good ol’ boys” club they were mostly irrelevant for a lot of their existence. Winning only two play-off games in their first 30 years in the NFL (discounting their four years in the defunked All-American Football League).

It wasn’t until the Walsh years that anyone outside the bay area paid them any notice.
Of course going on an almost twenty year play-off run, winning five Superbowls, and revolutionizing the game will get even the most casual fan’s attention.

The same can be said for the Steelers, till their dominance in the early ‘70s.
The moral of this story? Win games and Championships and do it for a decade or two.

Then and only then will they become one of those teams…
 

Hawks46

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At first, reading your post Aros, I thought you were getting a bit personal, but reading the entire thing, I agree with you.

First, the lack of attention this weekend is simple, and completely unbiased and not personal: we had a bye. Look at the coverage most teams get this season during a bye, and you'll see we aren't alone at all. There is way too much going on during a regular season to give a lot of coverage to an idle team. Injuries, scores, etc. pile up and at this time of the year, we're also talking playoff picture. Speaking of which:

We ARE getting a lot of mentions, and it's all related to the playoff picture. We've put ourselves in the hunt, so now we're relevant. The Bucs and Saints are also getting a ton of media due to mid season pushes that have them talking playoffs as well.

As to the storied franchise angle, I totally agree. Look at the demographics of it. Most of us associate with a younger, or middle aged crowd that doesn't remember what teams were doing in the 50's, but the largest population demographic is baby boomers, who do remember these times fondly, kinda like those of us who are in our 40's remember the birth of our Seahawks in Seattle. Older franchises bring back the better times, and resonate more with those folks than us. I respect all the history and tradition, I really do, but it doessn't matter to me on a personal level outside of NFL films (which is an incredible tool to relive the history of this great sport).

Now, like you said, the winning part of it. The Patriots aren't an older franchise like the Packers, Steelers, et. al. and they were a punch line for a long time. I remember them being this very good team coming out of the AFC and just getting mauled by the 85 Bears. They kinda never recovered from that for a long time. People like winners. Now, the Pats win, and a lot, so they get more coverage and have a larger fan base.

Look at the Mariners in the 90s. I think they were the winningest team in that decade. You were starting to see Mariners hats on people all over the place, and rappers were starting to wear them, etc. They became interesting, for a time. If the Hawks become winners, and interesting (with our head coach, it's probable) most of us will get our wish, and our day in the sun.
 

Sarlacc83

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I agree with this concept, but tied hand in hand with it is the fan base that storied franchises develop. Some of it is winning, but most of it is also through family. Seattle hasn't had the kind of diaspora that other cities have had (since most people are coming to the PNW), which means that their influence isn't nationwide like the others.
 

FidelisHawk

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Sarlacc83":5liqpyhp said:
I agree with this concept, but tied hand in hand with it is the fan base that storied franchises develop. Some of it is winning, but most of it is also through family. Seattle hasn't had the kind of diaspora that other cities have had (since most people are coming to the PNW), which means that their influence isn't nationwide like the others.


There’s that and the fact the Seahawks have barely got a second generation of fans. Until someone can say my great granddad and my granddad AND my dad were all Seahawk fans we can’t truly say we’re “storied”.

Till then keep telling your children, Chancellor’s great but you should’ve seen Easley, Wilson’s a fine running QB, but he’s no Zorn or some other fond recollections/stories… :D
 

bmorepunk

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Houston and Atlanta are both 9-1. Given their records they haven't gotten the kind of "respect" that is proportional to how they've done. This is particularly true for Houston. Imagine if a team like Dallas did what they have so far this year; it would be non-stop Dallas talk. Right now it's only 50% Dallas.

Seems like the Patriots are the new kids on the block in this arena because of how consistent they've been in the regular season and their Super Bowl wins last decade. The 49ers were the new kids before that. All your team has to do is dominate the league for years and you can get into the club. The chances of the Seahawks ever doing that in our lifetimes is very small.
 

FidelisHawk

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bmorepunk":2dkpxlj5 said:
Houston and Atlanta are both 9-1. Given their records they haven't gotten the kind of "respect" that is proportional to how they've done. This is particularly true for Houston. Imagine if a team like Dallas did what they have so far this year; it would be non-stop Dallas talk. Right now it's only 50% Dallas.

Seems like the Patriots are the new kids on the block in this arena because of how consistent they've been in the regular season and their Super Bowl wins last decade. The 49ers were the new kids before that. All your team has to do is dominate the league for years and you can get into the club. The chances of the Seahawks ever doing that in our lifetimes is very small.

Ahh have a little faith, if Wilson keeps improving at the rate he is now by the end of next season he’ll be perfect, by the end of the 2014 season he’ll be the greatest QB to ever play the game, by 2024 after winning ten consecutive Superbowls the Seahawks will be the darlings of the NFL.

As long as you live, there’s still hope… :twisted:
 

Steve2222

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- Houston gets plenty of pub
- They had a special on Fox Pre game yesterday about TB (who's just as old as us). What was even more funny was they were talking about the amount of turnover in players since their new head coach got there. Weird seeing how Im pretty sure Seattle has had the most in the league since Carroll/Schneider took the helm.
- Panthers get attention, which could be due in large part of #1 overall pick Cam Newtons struggles.
- Sure the Eagles have been around for awhile, but their history isn't that storied.
- Same with the Jets.

I due agree with you for the most part though. Teams that have winning tradition or like to cause drama get the majority of the attention.

I dont know though, I think Russell Wilsons story is very good and heartwarming story that would draw a lot of attention.
 

onanygivensunday

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Add to the list the long-time owners of these storied franchises... Art Rooney, Art Modell, Jim Irsay, Robert Kraft... and the attention hogs like Jerry Jones and Dan Snyder.

Paul Allen doesn't measure up in either category. He's just the richest and probably the quietest.
 

Happypuppy

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Steve2222":1z7smy1r said:
I dont know though, I think Russell Wilsons story is very good and heartwarming story that would draw a lot of attention.


I agree. I think he will be the face of the franchise on Offense moving forward , along with Sherman on D ( assuming they do not bust big time) Both are articulate , present well and are likable.

Right now we lack a face of the franchise. Using the coach does not really work. Lynch could have been it but he does not seem to like the media much
 

mistaowen

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Even the teams like the Falcons and Pats aren't getting much discussion. They just destroyed the Colts who are getting ridiculous amounts of sports love cause Andrew Luck is the golden boy and basically was shown as 'well, pats won cause Brady is pretty good....BUT IN OTHER NEWS TONY ROMO JAY-WALKED WHILE LEAVING COWBOY STADIUM, HE MUST BE HAVING SOME FAMILY ISSUES SO WE EXPECT THEM TO WIN OUT.' We aren't even in discussion for the playoffs at this point, it is how scary the Saints and Cowboys are gonna be come playoff time because of all the hardship they dealt with early on. The little bit of information discussed after our games is how tall our secondary is. Gonna be hilarious when we are 9-4 after the Bills game and ESPN shows a clip of Jersey Shore instead of our highlights.

Every single week we are constantly getting Cowboys, Eagles, Steelers information jammed down our throats. It makes sense that they are storied franchises, but there are 32 teams in the NFL. Even though the Eagles are one of the worst teams in the NFL right now they are getting tons of media coverage because they are essentially a reality TV show which America loves. I don't think the Bengals have been mentioned on ESPN and they are better than the Eagles right now. When the Giants aren't winning is when they get the most media coverage; after they trumped the 9ers they got barely any air time, but now that Eli has looked bad they need to start showcasing their problems constantly.

Jaguars played one hell of a game yesterday with a great performance out of Chad Henne off the bench, and all that is shown from the game is highlights of Matt Schaub. Nothing to do with the stout Texans defense getting torched by a 1 win team or Justin Blackmon playing the game of his young career. I bet if the Jags won it wouldn't have even been shown. I miss the times they showed/truly discussed each team on Sunday night. The Browns should have beaten the Cowboys but of course all they talked about after was how the Cowboys are getting some momentum. National media coverage has become pathetic.
 

Hawkstorian

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Slick":2p4jmvpb said:
That national media is a bunch of silly neenerheads. That is all.

Who are business to make money, and so they behave in ways that reward them financially. Just like I would.

People who believe life ought to be fair are generally not happy people. Unfortunately.
 

Slick

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Hawkstorian":12b797qz said:
Slick":12b797qz said:
That national media is a bunch of silly neenerheads. That is all.

Who are business to make money, and so they behave in ways that reward them financially. Just like I would.

People who believe life ought to be fair are generally not happy people. Unfortunately.

I completely understand. That's how the world works. If life were fair I'd be CEO by now but I'm not.

I still stand by the fact that they are all neenerheads though. :th2thumbs:
 
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