keasley45
Well-known member
1986
https://youtu.be/LQPACX33xHA
Yes. The circumstances are different, the players are different, but no two era's are ever the same.
I thought it might be a nice change of pace to take a break from the 'Russ must go', 'Pete must go', 'Norton needs to be fired' calls and as dire as the situation might look right now, understand that this is a game played by men, but won by courage, drive, determination, and the will to overcome... from coaches to players, all else being equal, those things more often than not determine success. More importantly, those attributes can swing a season when it seems as though there's little hope.
I dont know what's ailing our team exactly. I do know there are quite a few small things across the board that are conspiring to create the poor performances we've seen to start the season.
I also know that in every interview I've heard from players and coaches carries a consistent refrain... that this is a frustrating and confusing period, but that the team will figure it out. Which is pretty remarkable given the difficulties it's faced over the last several months.
I for one still think that they can. We aren't dealing with the Cincinnati Bengals of the last 30 years, or the Jets over that same period. These are the seattle seahawks. They're a team with a winning pedigree and championship history; a HOF coach, qb, and mlb.
Things have been far from perfect, but I somehow feel as though, much like the season following the superbowl loss to the Patriots, last season left a stain on our Hawks that they have yet to wash off. The playoff loss to the Rams was tragic, and the offseason that ensued was nothing short of a media circus that im sure sent ripples through the team, particularly for so many who came to Seattle thinking that they were walking into the nfl's equivalent of Camelot. And I'm sure that the tension that we read through the media and continue to feel in post game interviews runs much deeper among players in the locker room.
The questioning of the defensive scheme by offensive players, and vice versa... the ongoing divide between Russ and Pete... I'd wager there's not yet been a moment of true brotherhood in that locker room since.... I'm not sure when... if ever in this incarnation of our team. They have yet to look at each other top to bottom, offense to defense and special teams... coaches to players and likely feel and believe that they are 'one'.
The rookies, free agents and short timers on the roster have likely all been a bit drunk on the legacy of this team. The coaches, similarly lulled into a false belief that all they have to do is do what they've done in the past for things to 'get right'.
And so now, here we are. Coaches heads being called for, the quality of our team and its players in question, the very future of a franchise that was once the embodiment of it's head coaches mantra 'win forever', now with a thick fog of doubt descended upon it.
But.
There's that thing about the human condition. Will can't be measured. Heart and spirit can't be tallied in wins and losses. And I still HAVE to believe that the reason the team looks as bad as it does and is a befuddling as it is because of that thing we can't see. It's not scheme entirely, it's not lack of talent. It's not lack of skill. Maybe it's lack of identity. Lack of belief. Lack of trust. Lack of a foundation upon which THIS current era of Hawks can build their legacy.
That CAN be changed with a mindset, leaders stepping up and not waiting for the magic of old to spin off of Pete's magic wand or Nortons iron fist. It can happen if the players get together and take control of the destiny of the team in the same way the first generation of Pete's Hawks refused to let the spotlight shine anywhere BUT Qwest Field. They willed those wins as much as the x and o's created them.
Our current cast CAN do the same. If the Pete Carrol era of Hawks has been characterized by anything, its a dogged determination to fight for every blade of grass. To never back down. To know your job. Do your job, and know with unwavering certainty that the guy next to you will too. And then do it.
Again. And again. And again.
Until the team embodies the consistency that it's head coach and QB have touted from the beginning.
Maybe these players just need to look in the mirror and realize they aren't inheriting the LOB or the success of years past. They have to create it. And the irony here is that what they may have needed to do that, has come to pass. Their backs are against the wall now in a way we haven't seen since before Pete got here. This isn't the Hawks of old. The ties to that winning history are broken. The shine, dulled. There is no Hawks team to be but the one these players make.
That notion is similar to the challenge the 86 Hawks faced after starting hot and then getting blown out and pounded into a sub 500 record.
It took all of them looking in the mirror, coming together and first willing victory, and then re- building a foundation of it. They'd go on to win their last 5 games, defeating both Afc and Nfc representatives in the superbowl, and obliterating everyone else... but missing the playoffs by virtue of a tiebreaker. That season seemed even more bleak in some ways than thus because we were great... and then, inexplicably terrible. Not just bad, but terrible. Literally from one week to the next. Snake bitten. And then they pulled themselves out of it.
I know with every fiber of my being that that team, had it made the playoffs, would have won it all. But I think the takeaway from that season and team is that you cannot discount the ability of a group of men to come together and change their circumstance.
If we can channel the spirit of that team, I can tell you that I think the result down the stretch will be similar. Because if tbis team can overcome the ghosts that haunt it today, the games that follow will seem like child's play. If tbis team can fix itself, I don't think there's anybody that will be able to stand in its way.
It won't all just come from a strength of will from the players though. Just as the 53 men we march out onto that field have now reached a point of reckoning, I think the coaches have as well. Pete all but said as much when he stated that 'everything is on the table' to try to get this season turned around. That to me at least sounds like a willingness to listen to his men about what's not working and try, with his coaches, to give them a script that they can co-author and believe in. Play the guys who deserve a shot...
The last 10 years of seahawks football have been filled with far more magic and truly special moments than losses. I think we all see that we are closer to the end of our run than the beginning. But just like all those games over the years when we found a way to scratch and claw our way to victory after going down 3 or more scores, or pulling out the improbable win despite what seemed like far too few ticks left on the clock; if any franchise has the ability to look at the odds it faces now and summon the determination to not lose, its our Hawks.
The players that pull on the blue and teal today might not yet have clarity of 'scheme' or consistency that will unlock success, but I do believe, (because you hear them say it still )that they understand the heart and will of the champion spirit that flows through the THESE halls. Here's to hoping they just need to believe in themselves and in each other, maybe for the first time, to begin to set things right.
Now for all you downers, feel free to point out that we don't have a Kenny Easley on the roster. There's no JL Williams, no Warner, no Pat Hunter, no Steve Largent, etc.
That's fine. But we didn't have those guys in 2012 either. Nope. In 2012 we had a bunch or players that looked like they MIGHT turn into something one day... like Sherman, Cam... pedestrian receivers like Tate and Baldwin. We had a star or two on Thomas and the yet to be crowned 'Beast Mode'. But the team looked on the surface to be no more gifted that year than our current team.
And yes, the 86 team had already shown a dominance early in the season that it was able to recapture, late. But its not as tbough this team doesn't know how to win. We GAVE AWAY 3 wins last year. I tbink they understand their potential just as clearly as the 86 team did.
Like I said, circumstances are different. But that doesn't mean the results have to be.
Go '21 Hawks!
https://youtu.be/LQPACX33xHA
Yes. The circumstances are different, the players are different, but no two era's are ever the same.
I thought it might be a nice change of pace to take a break from the 'Russ must go', 'Pete must go', 'Norton needs to be fired' calls and as dire as the situation might look right now, understand that this is a game played by men, but won by courage, drive, determination, and the will to overcome... from coaches to players, all else being equal, those things more often than not determine success. More importantly, those attributes can swing a season when it seems as though there's little hope.
I dont know what's ailing our team exactly. I do know there are quite a few small things across the board that are conspiring to create the poor performances we've seen to start the season.
I also know that in every interview I've heard from players and coaches carries a consistent refrain... that this is a frustrating and confusing period, but that the team will figure it out. Which is pretty remarkable given the difficulties it's faced over the last several months.
I for one still think that they can. We aren't dealing with the Cincinnati Bengals of the last 30 years, or the Jets over that same period. These are the seattle seahawks. They're a team with a winning pedigree and championship history; a HOF coach, qb, and mlb.
Things have been far from perfect, but I somehow feel as though, much like the season following the superbowl loss to the Patriots, last season left a stain on our Hawks that they have yet to wash off. The playoff loss to the Rams was tragic, and the offseason that ensued was nothing short of a media circus that im sure sent ripples through the team, particularly for so many who came to Seattle thinking that they were walking into the nfl's equivalent of Camelot. And I'm sure that the tension that we read through the media and continue to feel in post game interviews runs much deeper among players in the locker room.
The questioning of the defensive scheme by offensive players, and vice versa... the ongoing divide between Russ and Pete... I'd wager there's not yet been a moment of true brotherhood in that locker room since.... I'm not sure when... if ever in this incarnation of our team. They have yet to look at each other top to bottom, offense to defense and special teams... coaches to players and likely feel and believe that they are 'one'.
The rookies, free agents and short timers on the roster have likely all been a bit drunk on the legacy of this team. The coaches, similarly lulled into a false belief that all they have to do is do what they've done in the past for things to 'get right'.
And so now, here we are. Coaches heads being called for, the quality of our team and its players in question, the very future of a franchise that was once the embodiment of it's head coaches mantra 'win forever', now with a thick fog of doubt descended upon it.
But.
There's that thing about the human condition. Will can't be measured. Heart and spirit can't be tallied in wins and losses. And I still HAVE to believe that the reason the team looks as bad as it does and is a befuddling as it is because of that thing we can't see. It's not scheme entirely, it's not lack of talent. It's not lack of skill. Maybe it's lack of identity. Lack of belief. Lack of trust. Lack of a foundation upon which THIS current era of Hawks can build their legacy.
That CAN be changed with a mindset, leaders stepping up and not waiting for the magic of old to spin off of Pete's magic wand or Nortons iron fist. It can happen if the players get together and take control of the destiny of the team in the same way the first generation of Pete's Hawks refused to let the spotlight shine anywhere BUT Qwest Field. They willed those wins as much as the x and o's created them.
Our current cast CAN do the same. If the Pete Carrol era of Hawks has been characterized by anything, its a dogged determination to fight for every blade of grass. To never back down. To know your job. Do your job, and know with unwavering certainty that the guy next to you will too. And then do it.
Again. And again. And again.
Until the team embodies the consistency that it's head coach and QB have touted from the beginning.
Maybe these players just need to look in the mirror and realize they aren't inheriting the LOB or the success of years past. They have to create it. And the irony here is that what they may have needed to do that, has come to pass. Their backs are against the wall now in a way we haven't seen since before Pete got here. This isn't the Hawks of old. The ties to that winning history are broken. The shine, dulled. There is no Hawks team to be but the one these players make.
That notion is similar to the challenge the 86 Hawks faced after starting hot and then getting blown out and pounded into a sub 500 record.
It took all of them looking in the mirror, coming together and first willing victory, and then re- building a foundation of it. They'd go on to win their last 5 games, defeating both Afc and Nfc representatives in the superbowl, and obliterating everyone else... but missing the playoffs by virtue of a tiebreaker. That season seemed even more bleak in some ways than thus because we were great... and then, inexplicably terrible. Not just bad, but terrible. Literally from one week to the next. Snake bitten. And then they pulled themselves out of it.
I know with every fiber of my being that that team, had it made the playoffs, would have won it all. But I think the takeaway from that season and team is that you cannot discount the ability of a group of men to come together and change their circumstance.
If we can channel the spirit of that team, I can tell you that I think the result down the stretch will be similar. Because if tbis team can overcome the ghosts that haunt it today, the games that follow will seem like child's play. If tbis team can fix itself, I don't think there's anybody that will be able to stand in its way.
It won't all just come from a strength of will from the players though. Just as the 53 men we march out onto that field have now reached a point of reckoning, I think the coaches have as well. Pete all but said as much when he stated that 'everything is on the table' to try to get this season turned around. That to me at least sounds like a willingness to listen to his men about what's not working and try, with his coaches, to give them a script that they can co-author and believe in. Play the guys who deserve a shot...
The last 10 years of seahawks football have been filled with far more magic and truly special moments than losses. I think we all see that we are closer to the end of our run than the beginning. But just like all those games over the years when we found a way to scratch and claw our way to victory after going down 3 or more scores, or pulling out the improbable win despite what seemed like far too few ticks left on the clock; if any franchise has the ability to look at the odds it faces now and summon the determination to not lose, its our Hawks.
The players that pull on the blue and teal today might not yet have clarity of 'scheme' or consistency that will unlock success, but I do believe, (because you hear them say it still )that they understand the heart and will of the champion spirit that flows through the THESE halls. Here's to hoping they just need to believe in themselves and in each other, maybe for the first time, to begin to set things right.
Now for all you downers, feel free to point out that we don't have a Kenny Easley on the roster. There's no JL Williams, no Warner, no Pat Hunter, no Steve Largent, etc.
That's fine. But we didn't have those guys in 2012 either. Nope. In 2012 we had a bunch or players that looked like they MIGHT turn into something one day... like Sherman, Cam... pedestrian receivers like Tate and Baldwin. We had a star or two on Thomas and the yet to be crowned 'Beast Mode'. But the team looked on the surface to be no more gifted that year than our current team.
And yes, the 86 team had already shown a dominance early in the season that it was able to recapture, late. But its not as tbough this team doesn't know how to win. We GAVE AWAY 3 wins last year. I tbink they understand their potential just as clearly as the 86 team did.
Like I said, circumstances are different. But that doesn't mean the results have to be.
Go '21 Hawks!
