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Listless in Seattle … was Matt Flynn a Malcontent Last Year?
I don’t know how many of you have had a chance to read Brock Huard’s latest piece, “Why Trading Matt Flynn Made Sense” but for those who might have missed it, there were some extremely interesting and insightful comments he makes in that article. This one in particular really caught my eye and speaks to some of the dynamics that were going on behind the scenes in terms of Seattle’s quarterbacks last year …
http://mynorthwest.com/422/2246184/Huard-Why-trading-Matt-Flynn-made-sense
So according to Brock, while everything seemed copacetic between Wilson and Flynn … and that the perception was that Flynn was there right along side Wilson, helping him out week in and week out; that wasn’t really the case. Huard basically says that things weren’t as sunny and rosy as they seemed … making Flynn out to be a malcontent, reluctant not only to put in the extra work … but also unwilling to lift a finger to help Wilson and the team.
Is this seriously the same Matt Flynn that the Seahawks inked for 3 Years/$19.5 Million back in March of 2012? Is this really the same guy we heard all the glowing reports about?
Just juxtapose Brock’s comments with the comments of John Schneider soon after he made the move to acquire Flynn …
950 KJR-am Interview with John Schneider – Ian Furness Show (3/19/12)
… And how about those of Kevin Harlan (who does Green Bay’s preseason games and knows the inner workings of that team well)? Two months before the Seahawks signed Matt Flynn, he had this to say to 950 KJR-am’s Softy Softerson …
950-KJR Interview with Kevin Harlan – Softy’s Show (1/3/2011)
[Link no longer available]
Gary Crowton (Flynn’s former Offensive Coordinator at LSU) absolutely gushed about Matt Flynn. His report on him is completely and totally the OPPOSITE of the Flynn that Brock Huard described above …
Source:
950 KJR-am Interview with Gary Crowton (Former LSU Offensive Coordinator) – Gas Man Show (3/19/12)
’Scanner’s Take:
If what Brock is saying is true, then contract alone wasn’t the only reason that Matt Flynn was sent packing. This move was about far more than just money – it was also about attitude.
The job of the back-up quarterback isn’t only to prepare themselves for possible game action in case the starter goes down … it’s also to help the starter prepare and be the best they can be on Sunday as well. And it appears clear that’s a role that Matt Flynn is willing to accept temporarily IF the brass ring of a starting job for himself is within his grasp.
Matt Flynn was willing to pour in the time and energy in to helping JaMarcus Russell be the best he could be because he knew that in a very short time, the job would be his.
He “came after” Aaron Rodgers, challenging him and giving forth that 100% mega-effort as “the best back-up in the league” because free agency and the prospect of a starting job elsewhere was looming on the horizon.
But when the dust of Seahawks training camp settled … and Flynn found out that he wasn’t going to be “the man” in Seattle … he chose to circle the wagons and shift it in to 1st gear. In essence, he stopped doing all of the extra credit hours, thought only of himself (and not the greater good of the team), and pouted because he wasn’t the starter. No extra hours to make himself the best he could possibly be … and certainly no helping of Russell Wilson.
Disappointment can be a powerful force in sports. For some, it can cause them to re-evaluate their game and redouble their efforts to make themselves to be the very best. For others though, it can cause them to become bitter and to shut down. And that’s apparently what happened in the case of Flynn. That kind of thing can perhaps fly on other teams … but not in Seattle. For Pete Carroll and the Seahawks, if you’re not “All in” … you’re all out. And that’s exactly where Matt Flynn has found himself now.
Some people have continued to ask the question, “Wouldn’t the Seahawks have been better off as a team keeping Matt Flynn as the back-up in case the unthinkable happened and Russell Wilson went down with an injury?”
The answer to that would be, “Yes … for someone who is willing to accept that role.”
Matt Flynn as a back-up in Seattle would never have worked because he clearly doesn’t see himself AS a back-up. He simply wasn’t willing to commit himself to that role and to doing the things that good back-up quarterbacks are supposed to do. Ergo, Flynn is now a Raider and Brady Quinn your new number two. Hopefully things work out for Flynn in Oakland. Can he grab on and hold on to the brass ring of the starting quarterback job there? It’ll definitely be interesting to see what happens to him and that locker room if he doesn’t.
I don’t know how many of you have had a chance to read Brock Huard’s latest piece, “Why Trading Matt Flynn Made Sense” but for those who might have missed it, there were some extremely interesting and insightful comments he makes in that article. This one in particular really caught my eye and speaks to some of the dynamics that were going on behind the scenes in terms of Seattle’s quarterbacks last year …
Source:Carroll said in no uncertain terms during the combine that Wilson's commitment and work ethic cannot be discounted or downplayed when it comes to player acquisition.
After spending two years in Indianapolis with an equally driven and demanding quarterback by the name of Peyton Manning, I can understand Carroll's sentiment. Watching Manning work, and just as importantly watching Marvin Harrison and Edgerrin James commit equally to their craft, elevated everyone in the building. As a backup, it meant trying to keep up with No. 18 with off-day meetings, early game-planning sessions and extra time with film study. Either buy in, commit and grab an oar or go elsewhere.
It was my understanding that last season it was Wilson who was in early and staying late. It was Wilson in the facility on Tuesdays getting a head start on the game plan. Wilson was grabbing the oars and had very little if any help from the backup. Josh Portis was actually more willing than Flynn to commit to the extra-credit time when no one was watching.
http://mynorthwest.com/422/2246184/Huard-Why-trading-Matt-Flynn-made-sense
So according to Brock, while everything seemed copacetic between Wilson and Flynn … and that the perception was that Flynn was there right along side Wilson, helping him out week in and week out; that wasn’t really the case. Huard basically says that things weren’t as sunny and rosy as they seemed … making Flynn out to be a malcontent, reluctant not only to put in the extra work … but also unwilling to lift a finger to help Wilson and the team.
Is this seriously the same Matt Flynn that the Seahawks inked for 3 Years/$19.5 Million back in March of 2012? Is this really the same guy we heard all the glowing reports about?
Just juxtapose Brock’s comments with the comments of John Schneider soon after he made the move to acquire Flynn …
Source:John Schneider: “ … [he’s] highly competitive. You know, I talked to Aaron Rodgers last week and he basically just told me – said, ‘Look, John this is the first year that this guy just really, really came after me.’ He said, ‘I don’t know if it was because he was an unrestricted free agent or, you know, the fact that he was able to play in the New England game the year before and have some success, but I’m telling you (he said) everything we did he was challenging me in a big way. So that’s what you’ll find with this guy.”
950 KJR-am Interview with John Schneider – Ian Furness Show (3/19/12)
… And how about those of Kevin Harlan (who does Green Bay’s preseason games and knows the inner workings of that team well)? Two months before the Seahawks signed Matt Flynn, he had this to say to 950 KJR-am’s Softy Softerson …
Source:Harlan: “He’s [Flynn’s] the best back-up quarterback to start the season … he’s the best back-up quarterback to end the season.
Harlan: “If you have a chance to get Matt Flynn – you cannot pay enough to get that guy. I don’t think there’s another QB, starters aside, that is any better than Matt Flynn right now. He could probably start for 25 other teams in the league right now.”
Softy: “You’ve seen Tavaris Jackson play. The beauty of that is Kevin that you don’t need to trade for him. You can keep your draft picks. He’s an unrestricted free agent. You tell me why a move like that would not make sense for the Seahawks.”
Harlan: “Well, I don’t know. I mean the only other guy I would have pause with would be Andrew Luck. I would take him over the kid at Baylor [Griffin], I’d take him over the kid (if he were coming out) at USC [Barkley] – there’s no question in my mind (and I do Green Bay’s Pre-season, so I’ve seen him now). He’s been part of a great program over at LSU – he was only a 1 year starter, but they were terrific that 1 year. He’s gone up there [to Green Bay], he’s experienced, he’s mature, he’s a leader. He probably doesn’t have a Rodgers arm, but few guys do. But the knock on him is that he’s not maybe as tall – he might be just a hair under 6’2” [goes on to talk about Drew Brees]
I think it’s a no brainer [the Seahawks picking him up]. And I’m not basing this just upon what he did a couple days ago with the 6 touchdowns and 1 pick against Detroit. It’s the body of work since he’s become a Pro and what he’s done – the system he has grown up in. I mean, that guy has been in an environment with as arguably as good an offense as is being run in the NFL right now. He has been privy to what the best quarterback – or at least what one of the top 2 quarterbacks in the NFL has done to get where he is. And Rodgers, while he’s a freak physically, has had to work incredibly hard to get where he is right now – and Flynn has absorbed – all of that. He has had a front row seat to the best offense in the NFL with arguably the best quarterback in the NFL.”
950-KJR Interview with Kevin Harlan – Softy’s Show (1/3/2011)
[Link no longer available]
Gary Crowton (Flynn’s former Offensive Coordinator at LSU) absolutely gushed about Matt Flynn. His report on him is completely and totally the OPPOSITE of the Flynn that Brock Huard described above …
Gas: “He seems to be a guy too who -- you talk about how he prepares and he’s ready. I mean, obviously those are skills that he been able to hone the last few years. And it’s got to be tough for him day, after day, after day to sit behind Aaron Rodgers. And yet, clearly he had to do some of that at LSU as well. And he was able to improve during that time when he wasn’t playing as much – he was still able to improve, in your mind?
Crowton: “Yeah, here’s what he does – is that. I had – I took him right after JaMarcus Russell had that real good year – and I was in the meeting room and I was asked a lot of questions about that. The thing that he [Matt Flynn] does is that – he pays so much attention to the game. And so when he’s in the meetings or even he’s on his own – he’s doing all the little things to understand the game and what it takes to win. And I think that he was one of the big reasons that JaMarcus Russell had such a good year his Junior year (right before he came out in that draft) was because that Matt was always there, kind of helping him in the meetings and talking with him. And when I got him, Matt knew what he was doing. It was his time to be the guy and he was just prepared when he went out there. And then what he does is – in his preparation he brings others around him. He helps them prepare because he’s always talking about the little things to them – and then they seem to get better. And it’s a great chemistry to have him there.”
Elise: “You think that he will be able to lead an NFL Franchise immediately?”
Crowton: “I think so. I think he definitely has the ability to do so. I’m not sure what all the chemistry is going to be about. I know that when he’ll get out there he will make the chemistry better whatever it is. And the thing that I admired in him is – he comes to work with a smile on his face, so the guys around him enjoy – but then again, he was such a competitor. And I think with those kind of attributes that he has -- I think that there is a very good possibility that good things are going to happen with him as the quarterback in the future – and I think that he can make a good run at it.
Source:
950 KJR-am Interview with Gary Crowton (Former LSU Offensive Coordinator) – Gas Man Show (3/19/12)
’Scanner’s Take:
If what Brock is saying is true, then contract alone wasn’t the only reason that Matt Flynn was sent packing. This move was about far more than just money – it was also about attitude.
The job of the back-up quarterback isn’t only to prepare themselves for possible game action in case the starter goes down … it’s also to help the starter prepare and be the best they can be on Sunday as well. And it appears clear that’s a role that Matt Flynn is willing to accept temporarily IF the brass ring of a starting job for himself is within his grasp.
Matt Flynn was willing to pour in the time and energy in to helping JaMarcus Russell be the best he could be because he knew that in a very short time, the job would be his.
He “came after” Aaron Rodgers, challenging him and giving forth that 100% mega-effort as “the best back-up in the league” because free agency and the prospect of a starting job elsewhere was looming on the horizon.
But when the dust of Seahawks training camp settled … and Flynn found out that he wasn’t going to be “the man” in Seattle … he chose to circle the wagons and shift it in to 1st gear. In essence, he stopped doing all of the extra credit hours, thought only of himself (and not the greater good of the team), and pouted because he wasn’t the starter. No extra hours to make himself the best he could possibly be … and certainly no helping of Russell Wilson.
Disappointment can be a powerful force in sports. For some, it can cause them to re-evaluate their game and redouble their efforts to make themselves to be the very best. For others though, it can cause them to become bitter and to shut down. And that’s apparently what happened in the case of Flynn. That kind of thing can perhaps fly on other teams … but not in Seattle. For Pete Carroll and the Seahawks, if you’re not “All in” … you’re all out. And that’s exactly where Matt Flynn has found himself now.
Some people have continued to ask the question, “Wouldn’t the Seahawks have been better off as a team keeping Matt Flynn as the back-up in case the unthinkable happened and Russell Wilson went down with an injury?”
The answer to that would be, “Yes … for someone who is willing to accept that role.”
Matt Flynn as a back-up in Seattle would never have worked because he clearly doesn’t see himself AS a back-up. He simply wasn’t willing to commit himself to that role and to doing the things that good back-up quarterbacks are supposed to do. Ergo, Flynn is now a Raider and Brady Quinn your new number two. Hopefully things work out for Flynn in Oakland. Can he grab on and hold on to the brass ring of the starting quarterback job there? It’ll definitely be interesting to see what happens to him and that locker room if he doesn’t.