An Open Letter to Seahawks Fans

A recent history

Hello, Seahawks fans. How are you, 12s? I mean, how are you really? It’s been a weird week. It’s been a weird couple of years, actually.

Maybe even slightly longer than two years. The issue started with Marshawn Lynch not getting the ball at the end of the Super Bowl. Let’s be honest. Had Lynch received the handoff we are talking about back-to-back NFL champions. No matter how much New England Patriots fans like to gloat, the simple fact is the Pats are not stopping Lynch from scoring three straight downs (if it had even taken that many). Lynch scores. We all know that.

Then came the hangover of the 2015 season that started with the Kam Chancellor holdout. The Seahawks that we love are an emotional group. Pete Carroll wants his team to care. Many coaches do not seem to need that from their players. Emotion, though, makes the Seahawks a better team; such as it has been since Carroll and John Schneider arrived and such as it will be until they leave, if not longer.

The current Seahawks’ frame of mind fits the city more than in any era in Seahawks history. Seattle is an active, emotional and caring city. The team in its current makeup is the same. Seattle is the greatest city in the world. The Seahawks are the greatest team in football. We believe both these truths and truths they shall remain.

We are all 12s

We go to the QFC and we run into Dave Matthews. He is not just this very good musician that we witness in his shopping. He is a 12, just like us. He may or may not know it, but he is. Seattle is a city of artists and scholars and bartenders and businesspeople. We are all 12s.

We are a city of bike riders who wind our way through steep and narrow streets. We bike around Green Lake and we bike to work. Then we see Michael Bennett ride a bike on the turf of CenturyLink after Seattle’s win over the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game. We are all 12s.

We are a city of laid back people who also know how to agitate and create volume. We are the city of Hendrix and Cobain and CenturyLink. We bring the noise. We are all 12s.

The Effect of Disaster

That same emotion that causes people to strive for success – indeed, the achieve success – can also lead a team to break apart. And maybe slowly the Seahawks have been doing so since Lynch did not receive that handoff. Lynch was not the same player the following season. Yes, he was hurt, but he just did not seem to be himself. We all knew he was upset that he was not given the ball. We all knew, just like he did, that he would have scored. Going from impending triumph of the highest scale to complete disaster in a matter of seconds is an awful thing. That can have a punishing effect on players. No one should doubt that it happened with Lynch.

It could also be that since that Super Bowl moment Richard Sherman has not been the same. Sherman uses emotion to fuel his every play. Sherman also has allowed his feelings to influence his sideline actions. While Carroll wants his players to be themselves, he also talks about how a player needs to “protect the team.” At certain moments, Sherman seems to have put himself first.

Adam Schefter, who covers the NFL and apparently never sleeps, reported this week that Sherman requested to be traded from the Seahawks. Seattle’s Schneider has been open about the Seahawks entertaining trade proposals for Sherman. This is not click-bait; this is reality. Most likely on the field, though, the Seahawks are a lesser team without Sherman and Sherman is a lesser player without the Seahawks.

Also most likely, Sherman will not be traded. His large contract makes that difficult in a sport with a hard salary cap. Sherman will probably remain in Seattle for some time. The question is whether he and the city of Seattle can remain on good terms. Will his emotions begin to affect the overall chemistry of the team and be the leader who causes the Seahawks to slowly digress into NFL hell? Or will he stay the great talent he is for years and teach young secondary players what it is like to be a member of the Legion of Boom?

The scary part is 12s do not know. No one does at this point.