Can you expound on what you mean?
I was being sarcastic. I can give Russ credit for being the best physically gifted player at qb in Seahawks history. I can say he was the most gifted thrower. The most gifted runner. The most gifted at creating magic. The most gritty.
I can't honestly say he was the most expert at playing the position of QB. Why? Because the position requires the qb to do things within the context of a play, within the parameters of a team and to leverage the talent and expertise of thise around him for the teams benefit.
Krieg and Hass could 'beautiful mind' their way down a football field like Russel Crowe, but just didn't have the wheels, strength or accuracy at times to overcome their respective deficiencies. Doesn't mean they weren't great or in some ways, superior to Russ.
Often with Russ, he leveraged those around him for the benefit of making a play that he orchestrated, but not the play that he and his 10 teammates practiced for.
Teams work to their max when all 11 guys are doing their part and reap the reward. In Seattle, under Russ, ADB, Kearse, the O line, whoever it may be on a guven play could do EXACTLY what they were supposed to for that play to succeed and it be for not, because Russ didn't when he was supposed to. The fact that he had the physical gifts to erase his mistake and write his own ending over and over and over again and often in spectacular fashion doesn't take away the fact that often, save for those few guys that he had a connection with like Tyler and Doug, the effort and expertise of his teammates was often wasted play to play. That's the source of the resentment that grew towards him from the LOB and others over the years at watching their efforts squandered when he woukd screw up. But then see him get all the accolades when he'd pull a rabbit out his butt in the end and make the ESPN highlight reel. Sure, celebrate him overcoming, but also be critical of the failure. That didn't happen in Seattle and it's what led to the ultimate failure of the team and his departure.
There are times when the statement ' team x will only go as far as player y will take them' is a nod to the player's greatness. At other times it's acknowldgement that the team's ceiling is capped by a player's ceiling. In Russ's case, it was both, sometimes year to year. Sometimes game to game.
So I can't get behind a statement like 'he carried the team for all those years' when the team was left to wait and set aside their craft while he played the game his own way.
The dude was incredible. But if ever there was a player that deserved an * and a footnote to account for the unique circumstances under which he played, it's #3.
And yes, with that, he's still in my book the best player we had at the spot.
