Fisticuffs In Seahawks Practice

Normally, fights during a football practice are a complete non-story. I usually don’t ever talk about them, but I just really wanted to use the word “fisticuffs” in a headline. That, and I thought it was interesting which players were involved.

It seems that rookie corner Jeremy Lane and wide receiver Ben Obomanu got into a minor altercation and had to be separated. Nothing out of the ordinary there. Both are fighting for a roster spot and I’m sure tensions are high.

Here’s the interesting part: the entire incident seemed to be over, until Earl Thomas took a swing at Obomanu, forcing Doug Baldwin and Mike Williams to get involved on Obomanu’s behalf. Things cooled off fairly quickly at that point, but why was Thomas even involved? His job in not in danger at all. He should be concentrating on learning the defense better and simply getting better at his job. There’s no reason for his emotions to be so high.

As Pete Carroll said: “there is a line that you can’t cross, and that’s what we talked about afterward. We want to be able to take it as far as you can and demonstrate the poise when you need to most.”

Throwing punches at your teammates is crossing that line.

A little pushing here and there. That’s different. It’s  ok in my book. I want these guys to be working that hard that their emotions get the better of them at times. I want these guys to care that much.

Seems Pete Carroll agrees with me on that as well: “We’re asking these guys to work really hard, and it really matters to them and they really care, and they want to make their plays and their statements, and I don’t blame them one bit.