Seahawks: Will Christine Michael finally live up to the hype?

Running back Christine Michael looked great in camp today, but it is impossible not to factor in his history with the Seattle Seahawks.

To quote President George W. Bush, “fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again.” Apparently that’s a saying from Tennessee or something, but it fits for Christine Michael of the Seattle Seahawks.

You see, we’ve already been fooled by him. We were fooled after the Seahawks selected him in the 2nd round back in 2013. All that potential, and yet he was rarely even active on game days during Seattle’s amazing Super Bowl run.

We were fooled again in the preseason of the 2014 season. Michael ran hard and showed off his athleticism, but apparently never worked on carrying the ball in his left hand. Once again he turned out to be all hype, and no production.

We were fooled again last year. With Lynch on the sidelines to keep him fresh, Michael got all the first-team reps in practice and in the preseason. He once again ripped off some nice runs, and  threw in some nice pass blocks as well. It looked like his time had finally come.

Turns out his time had expired. With the emergence of Thomas Rawls, CMike was shipped off to Dallas for a draft pick.

And yet, here we are. Are we going to be fooled once again?

Michael was later cut by Dallas, signed onto Washington’s practice squad, and then cut again. He returned to Seattle finally humbled and ready to work.

Michael turned in three impressive performances in his four games as a starter. On top of putting up some nice stats, he stayed within the confines on the offense and did his job.

If you listen to Pete Carroll and Darrell Bevell in recent interviews, they describe Michael and “focussed” and “a leader.” This has been a striking contrasts to past depictions that described him as “aloof” and “disinterested.”

It is almost as if he’s a completely different guy.

Watching him in training camp, he’s no longer standing off my himself like in previous years. He’s active and engaged. He’s listening to the coaches and asking questions, trying to learn. He’s a part of the team now, talking and interacting with his teammates.

Michael is now getting all the reps with the 1st team in practice, just like last year. Rawls is still out. So is CJ Procise. Alex Collins has looked good, but hasn’t looked good enough to push Michael for the top spot on the depth chart.

Michael looked great in training camp today. If you didn’t know anything about his history, it would be tough to convince you that he wasn’t the entrenched starter.

Next: training camp notes on the Seahawks QBs

Are we really willing to be fooled again? Or perhaps, just perhaps, is this the time when Christine Michael isn’t trying to fool us?