My Apology

I want to take this time to apologize to the Seattle Seahawks’ front office, GM John Schneider in particular, for comments I wrote on this blog during the last few days. Many readers told me to trust and have faith in what you are doing, but I wouldn’t listen. It wasn’t until I came to the end of my last post that I finally saw the light. I admit, I was looking at things in the short term when my vision should have been on the big picture all along.

I never thought taking two offensive linemen with your first two selections was a bad thing. I just thought that having a starting offensive line that featured two second year players and two rookies was a risky proposition. I felt that starting the two rookies side by side against defenses like Pittsburgh, Baltimore and the New York Giants this season wasn’t a wise thing to do. I stand corrected.

It doesn’t matter that these young players won’t have OTAs and mini-camps to get used to playing with each other and build cohesiveness. It doesn’t matter that they might not have a full preseason to improve. They’ll learn the old fashioned way, by doing it during the regular season.

When previewing the draft, I myself said you can’t have too many defensive backs. So what if you let fifteen defensive backs come off the board on Day 3 before you selected your first one. Quantity, not quality, is what matters. Not only does this mean Kelly Jennings isn’t coming back, but now you can release Marcus Trufant and not have to worry about depth in the defensive backfield. I eagerly anticipate watching one of the rookies and three second year players be our starting secondary this season. The 49’ers won a Super Bowl with a secondary as young. Yeah, it was thirty years ago and most of those players were high draft picks, but still!

I know I obsessed over building depth and talent on the defensive line during this draft. I was being short sighted. How is this young secondary going to learn and grow if their jobs are made easier by a sound defensive line? BTW, on behalf of Brandon Mebane, thank you for not getting Marvin Austin or Stephen Paea and putting yourselves in a position where you will be forced to significantly overpay him. He and his family are going to love those matching Lamborghinis.

You guys in the front office had the foresight to realize that the 2011 schedule was significantly tougher than the one you went 7-9 against last year. You agreed with my assessment that nine wins was a best case scenario and even that might not be enough after looking at the 49’ers far easier schedule. You had the common sense to understand that the Seahawks probably weren’t going to win the division and definitely weren’t going to be a wild card, so why bust your asses to win eight or nine games when all you would get out of it is drafting in the middle of each round?

The fan part of me knows you’re building a foundation for the team to enjoy success for several years. The offensive line and the secondary will have the opportunity to learn and become powerful units that will restore the franchise to Super Bowl contention. I listened to the season ticket holder part of me, the part that spends thousands of dollars each year to watch the Seahawks play. The part of me that didn’t want to sit through a 3-13 season. The part of me that didn’t want to witness the continuation of the streak of double-digit losses that stands at ten and includes nineteen of the twenty-one losses over the last two years. I’m going to grit my teeth and try to get through it, just like the coaches will tell the team numerous times over the season that things will soon get better.

I watched ex-Seahawk Trent Dilfer on ESPN eviscerate the franchise for not taking Andy Dalton in the first round of the draft. I didn’t have a problem with that, but even if I did, knowing now what your plan for the franchise is would have changed my mind. If Dilfer knew, he’d retract everything he said. Your plan for the quarterback of the future is brilliant, and I wish I’d realized what it was several days ago. It would have prevented a lot of anguish.

Trust and patience are the keys. Trust that the front office has a plan they can execute, and patience in giving them time to see the plan come to fruition. Again, I apologize for doubting you. When I see the Seahawks down 27-3 this season, whether on TV or in person at Qwest Field, I’ll do my best not to boo or get angry.

Whenever I get discouraged, I will repeat the mantra that will calm me down and restore me to a peaceful state of mind:
“With the first pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, the Seattle Seahawks select Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford.”

The 2012 NFL Draft started last Saturday. The Seattle Seahawks are on the clock . . .