We will all find out soon enough whether the Seattle Seahawks' decision to sign embattled cornerback Terrion Arnold is a good or bad move. There's a decent chance it will be neither. This story has several more expository chapters to go through before we really see what it means.
There may have been a few breathless moments in the buildup to the decision. There certainly were questions – questions that remain to this day. How will Arnold fit into Mike Macdonald’s secondary? Given his legal situation, will his presence have a negative impact on team chemistry and/or fan reaction? Will he even be permitted to play?
Now that it appears to be a fait accompli, the hand-wringing is less intense. And given the manner in which John Schneider and Mike Macdonald run their team, it seems far more likely that if Arnold does indeed have an impact, it will be positive rather than negative.
Seattle Seahawks' signing of Terrion Arnold follows a well-established NFL pattern
Al Davis and the (then) Oakland Raiders had a mantra. “Just win baby.” The old Raiders became a clearinghouse for all the NFL’s reprobates and ne’er-do-wells. More often than not, they did win.
When Bill Belichick assumed control of the New England Patriots, he modified that approach. But the core principle remained the same. If you could play – if you offered special talent – you were going to get a chance. Maybe multiple chances.
Terrion Arnold is getting a second chance with the Seahawks because he is a young, gifted cornerback. In many ways, he is another Devon Witherspoon. Is it fair that players with athletic gifts get extra chances? Probably not. But that’s the way of the world … in life as well as in sports.
Dallas Cowboys’ coach Jimmy Johnson summed up that attitude as it pertains to the NFL very succinctly when asked if he treated all his players the same. Johnson said that if a backup offensive lineman fell asleep in a team meeting, he would be cut on the spot. If star quarterback Troy Aikman fell asleep, Johnson would get him a pillow.
When Belichick ran the Patriots, he was never afraid to bring in a player with question marks. He did it with receivers Randy Moss and Antonio Brown. Both were Hall of Fame talents. Both had issues.
Moss came in and immediately adapted to the Patriot Way, putting to rest any lingering doubts about his character and helping them very nearly complete an undefeated season. In so doing, he firmly established himself as one of the all-time greats.
Brown was the exact opposite. Despite his exceptional talent, he was cut after eleven days.
Belichick could take those chances because he trusted in his veterans. He trusted in the team culture that would impart the requisite ground rules to all new players – rookies and veterans, stars and scrubs. The Patriots would clearly benefit from the addition of a great player, but they didn’t need that player. The team was already a success. That is what Schneider and Macdonald have in Seattle.
Schneider and Belichick are worried about two things. Can Arnold help improve the team? What will his presence mean for team chemistry? We can never be one hundred percent certain, but the answer to the first is probably "yes."
The answer to the second? I have a feeling Leonard Williams and Ernest Jones IV will make sure any potential locker room issues are handled quickly and decisively.
As for the public fallout, that's for the PR people to manage.
For his part, Terrion Arnold just needs to keep his head down and do whatever his coaches ask of him. When reporters pepper him with questions, and they obviously will, he needs to stick to the same polite answer. Something along the lines of
“I’m focused on helping the Seattle Seahawks beat New England on September 9.”
That’s the way Bill Belichick used to handle situations like this. It worked out pretty well then, and it can work out just fine now.
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