A fond farewell to the Seahawks’ Jermaine Kearse

The Seahawks’ Jermaine Kearse did not have a great season in 2016. He has admitted as much. Now Seattle has traded the receiver. How will it affect the Seahawks?

Jermaine Kearse is an enigma. By all accounts he is a good dude. He produced has some very good moments for the Seahawks and 12s over the last several seasons. Touchdown catch in the Super Bowl? Check. Game winning catch to help the Seahawks get back to the Super Bowl the next season? Yep. Nearly game winning touchdown juggling reception in  the 2015 Super Bowl? Close, but yes.

This was also Kearse, though. Before catching that pass against the Packers in the NFC Championship game in 2015, he botched two passes that ended up being intercepted. Plus, after signing a new contract prior to 2016, he had his most ineffective season in Seattle.

But Kearse was great with fans and good in the locker room. Was he at times maddening on the field? Yes. But did 12s ever doubt the character of the receiver? No. Kearse was a person Seahawks fans could be proud to call their own.

While the player the Seahawks traded Kearse for, Sheldon Richardson, is better on the field. There are doubts that Richardson can be the same comrade to fellow Seahawks. Richardson has been known to grumble. Kearse never did.

Plus, Kearse was our guy. He played at the University of Washington. Kearse went to high school at Lakes High School in Lakewood. In the NFL, quarterback Russell Wilson trusted him instinctively. (One wonders if the Seahawks partly traded Kearse because Wilson trusted him too much.) Kearse was a 12 who found his way to play wide receiver with the Seahawks.

Don’t get me wrong. Kearse was never going to be the best receiver on the Seattle roster. Richardson is more important. A top-end defensive tackle is much more important than a third-option wideout. Always and forever. The Seahawks are better on the field on paper in 2017 after this trade.

But off it? No. The Seahawks made a business decision. Most likely, a good one. Richardson moves the Seahawks closer to a Super Bowl contender than Kearse ever would.

But 12s should remember this

And this

Related Story: Seahawks trade Kearse to Jets for Richardson

Because one day Kearse will come back home when his playing career is over and be a part of the community. He will return to being a 12. Kearse will be one of us again. As he has always been.