Seahawks news and notes for 8/16: Aretha Franklin and more

The Seahawks played tribute to the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, in practice on Thursday. And other stuff happened too.

Aretha Franklin passes away and the Seahawks pay homage

The Seahawks opened practice today with Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” playing on the speakers. Franklin may have been of a much different generation than all of the current Seattle players, but understanding of importance does not go without notice.

Russell Wilson, according to John Boyle of Seahawks.com, said his family would often play Franklin’s music. And this is a year when Seattle is probably getting a bit more disrespected than in previous seasons. The Seahawks lost a lot of talent this offseason, but have a bunch of young talent possibly ready to step forward.

Just the way coach Pete Carroll likes and wants it.

And Franklin was only 76. She was robbed of life too early. Just as Seattle was robbed of a Super Bowl title in Super Bowl XL on a bad call. Just saying.

Brandon Marshall might actually be important this year

Seattle may have signed a steal in Marshall this offseason. Marshall, of course, has been extremely productive in his career. But he also hasn’t been healthy in a while.

So far in training camp, though, he seems to be building a rapport with Russell Wilson. And if Marshall really is healthy, his size and physical ability could more than overcome the loss of Jimmy Graham. And Marshall can play out wide more than Graham.

The only issue is that Seattle also lost receiver Paul Richardson. Can Marshall really help replace the 16 touchdown catches that Graham and Richardson had combined in 2017? 12s better hope so. Because at this point, Marshall seems to be a lock to make Seattle’s roster in 2018.