The 2019 Seattle Seahawks are poised for playoff greatness. Tough schedule? Tough schedule’s are for losers, and this team is not that. I am projecting eleven wins, and in a tougher NFC West division, that could be enough to win it. I am giving you twenty player related reasons why this team can and should come out on top. Here is reason number 15.

Edge rusher Jacob Martin.

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Why will Martin make an impact?

As a rookie in 2018, he was a quarterback pressure machine. Yes, he only had three sacks and seven tackles, and yes, he is only listed as 6-2 and 242 lbs, but I’m here to advise you not to get caught up into these numbers. On third downs, this dude was cat quick off the edge, displaying an impressive bend mixed with super fast explosion. In fact, the coaches trusted him more than the more highly touted rookie pass rusher Rasheem Green when it came to live games, and Green was the preseason darling. That’s not to say that Green won’t blossom into a good player (I actually have him listed as my twentieth rated impact player for 2019), I think it just more of a glowing testament to how good Martin actually is, and where he projects.

One thing that I trust about Pete Carroll and John Schneider is their ability to scout defensive linemen, and pass rushers. Whether it is through the draft, or free agency, or trade, they usually find their guys that they can mold. Bruce Irvin, Chris Clemons, Michael Bennett, Cliff Avril, Frank Clark, Jarran Reed are all players that came into Seattle and blossomed into better players. When Clark was traded to Kansas City (who are now going to pay him a fortune), I had a hunch that Seattle saw something, or some things on this roster that they felt could mitigate the loss of his production. I suspect that a combination of Green and Martin was a determining factor, and when they only took one passer rusher in the draft, LJ Collier, it kind of solidified it for me.

So, I’m here to tell worried fans to relax about the pass rush. It will be there in 2019, it might be better than last year’s, and I fully anticipate Martin to be a big factor. Pete Carroll keeps bringing his name up, and he should. Some players just have a knack.

I’ve read or heard some folks comparing Martin to Bruce Irvin from a few years ago, but for me, I will go further back. To me, Martin has serious Rufus Porter like traits, and if you are too young to remember Rufus, or simply weren’t alive when he was playing and pops never spoke to you about him, I suggest viewing some old YouTube clips of his, and then compare with Martin ; very similar explosion off the edge, sharp bend and dip under the shoulder of the much taller blocker. Fun to watch stuff.

I can see a scenario where Green is a starter on base downs, and maybe reduces inside on third downs while Martin comes off the edge, and there is a chemistry there. Now think about this rush when you factor Ziggy Ansah getting healthy to play again, Cassius Marsh being available, Jarran Reed continuing his inside pass rush, and maybe even Shaquem Griffin getting involved. All of this isn’t even factoring in 2019 first round pick LJ Collier who has nifty inside/out pass rush moves of his own, and is a player that I also think is poised to make an early impact.

So, yeah. I’m saying don’t waste too much energy worrying about Seattle’s pass rush. It will be there, and I expect Martin to take on a significantly bigger role. He might not be a starter, but the way Carroll prefers to rotate players, starting doesn’t matter. Let us always be reminded that when Seattle won the Super Bowl in 2013, Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril were both coming off the bench.

Rotation, rotation, rotation. When Seattle decided not to pay Clark the big bucks, this theme of rotation started to play louder in my ears.

Don’t worry about Martin. Don’t worry about Seattle’s pass rush. They will all be just fine. Can’t wait to see it. We can all enjoy it together.

Go Hawks.

The 2019 Seattle Seahawks are going to be a playoff team. I just know it. Kind of like I just knew Jon Snow was going to kill the Mother of Dragons four episodes before he actually did the terrible deed. The writing is so telegraphed that you find yourself talking yourself out of reasons why it won’t happen, but it does… to no surprise by anyone paying attention. This is reason 16 as to why the 2019 Seattle Seahawks are playoff bound.

DK Metcalf, Rookie Wide Receiver out of Ole Miss.

Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

Why is Metcalf in position to make an impact?

Have you seen pictures of this guy? It seems like he was created in a laboratory five miles below EA Sports just in time for Madden 20. At 6-3 228 lbs, this dude runs 4.3 speed and has an INSANE vertical jump. In his rookie season, his job will be pretty straight forward. Literally. It’s to use that big body to run block, and then use that speed to get down field, and out jump safeties and corners for one of the best deep passing quarterbacks in the game. It still baffles me how this guy slid to the bottom of round two in the draft where Seattle traded up to take him. I know he was injured in college, and ran a limited route tree at Ole Miss, but, however, folks, please, there are some things that you simply can not teach, and that size and speed combination is one of them.

I was wavering quite some as to where I would be placing him in my top twenty list for impact Seattle Seahawk players. I have to be honest, I had a decent impulse to place him much closer towards the top ten, but the only thing that gave me pause is that, in general, it can take a lot of receivers time to adjust to the NFL game coming out of college, and in Pete Carroll’s system, he tends to favor players that have been in his system a bit longer, especially on the offensive side of the ball. This is how Jermaine Kearse kind of stayed ahead of Paul Richardson even though Richardson had more flash and draft pedigree. It might well be a situation where Metcalf picks things up quickly though camp and forces his way onto the field early like as the cases were for Doug Baldwin and Tyler Lockett as rookies, or it could be like Golden Tate, and essentially his first year is a red shirt.

Based on OTA’s and minicamp reports, I’m going to guess Metcalf is going to be much more closer to the Baldwin/Lockett camp than the Richardson/Tate camp this year, though. In his press conferences, you could sense Carroll’s excitement in this guy, and it seems like the early impression is that he is a lot better route runner than scouting reports were giving him credit for. He is also a dedicated worker, and folks are saying that he’s generally a smart football dude. My gut is telling me that Metcalf didn’t like that big slide at all, and has come into Seattle with the mindset to prove 31 other teams just how bad of a mistake they made not drafting him earlier.

Before the draft, it was believed he would probably be taken at some point in the first round. When that didn’t happen and he almost slid out of round two, anyone watching the draft could sense his mammoth frustration. It was almost difficult to watch. This was a guy with ridiculous size who destroyed the NFL Combine two months earlier, and teams were shying away from him. Were they out thinking themselves?

Yeah, the safe bet is that he will make an impact his rookie year. I think the dude will be on a mission, and it just so happens that he is paired with possibly the best QB in the league to uncork his particular skill set. Russell Wilson loves the deep ball. Everyone in the league knows this. All defensive coordinators know this. That is why having Metcalf on the field matters. Defenses have to account for this. I wouldn’t be surprised if a couple other receivers have more catches, surely Lockett and possibly even David Moore or someone else, but I think a lot of that will be because of the Metcalf factor. With him on the field, Seattle has a legitimate split end with a monster frame.

I am really excited about this guy.

Go Hawks.

The 2019 Seattle Seahawks will make the playoffs. Not only will they make the play offs, I suspect that they will host a playoff game, and make a run. I can feel it in my fingers, and feel it in my toes. It’s all around me. It’s everywhere I go. I am giving you twenty player related reasons why. This is player related reason Number 17.

Cornerback Tre Flowers.

Why will Flowers make an impact?

He played right corner pretty well as a rookie, especially considering that he converted to the position from the free safety he was in college. At 6-3 and 203 lbs with a ridiculously long wingspan, Flowers is built like a long line of Pete Carroll Seattle Seahawk corners over the years. What’s better is that he plays like some of them; tough against the run, and decent in coverage. In fact, Pro Football Focus had him graded out better than his more touted and experienced mate, Shaquill Griffin in 2018. As the season went on, teams targeted him less and Griffin a bit more.

What I like best about this guy is that he is still growing into the position, and the style that Seattle famously likes their corners to play. It feels like his ceiling could be fairly high. The only thing lacking in his game last year was interceptions, but again, as the season went through, he was targeted less. In a few games towards the end of the season, he made some timely pass defenses with his athleticism, and with that, you could sense that this guy was getting it.

I think Seattle senses it too because they ended up with eleven picks in this last draft class, and they didn’t use a single one on a cornerback. With Griffin and Flowers, Seattle might be much happier about their cornerbacks than you are.

We shall see, but one thing I know, I wouldn’t bet against Flowers. His physicality fits their prototype, and he seems to have a really good head on his shoulders. He’s humble, and he’s a hard-worker. Hearing him in interviews is a delight because you sense that the guy just gets it, and he’s not going to take anything for granted. He’s in a great position to be Seattle’s next highly talked about corner, and with that brings a big time second contract. I’m sure he knows that. That’s why I think the safe bet is for him to take major steps forward this season.

In fact, I think he could be in for a breakout year, and that could be just enough to put Seattle back on top of the division again after a two year drought. Gonna be fun to watch, and find out.

Go Hawks.

The 2019 Seattle Seahawks will make the playoffs. I just know it. I can feel it in my bones. I can see it staring back at me in my coffee cup. Thus, I am giving twenty solid player related reasons why. This is number 18.

Safety Marquise Blair out of Utah, drafted 47th overall in the 2019 NFL Draft.

Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Why will Blair make a big impact?

If I were to take the DNA of Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor and mix them in a blender, what would pour into my cup would be Marquise Blair. Simply put, he has the range of Thomas and the knock-you-into-next-week mentality of Chancellor. He might not be a starter right away, but I suspect he will still see the field a lot, especially in the matchups against wide-open offenses like the Rams and Cardinals. I also wouldn’t be shocked if he’s starting by the season’s end. He is the highest drafted defensive back taken by Seattle since Thomas was drafted round one in 2010, and that says something to me. That says Seattle saw something special in this guy and they wanted him badly, and if you look at their division opponents, it makes a ton of sense.

During this last Super Bowl, the New England Patriots stymied the high powered offense of the Los Angeles Rams by taking away the miss-direction plays. The miss direction is what the Rams’ offense is predicated on. Their offense is all about confusing the defense, but they only run so many different plays out of it, but they show a ton of different looks and motions. To defend it, tackling in the open field is key. What the Patriots did was to put extra safeties on the field to contain the edges. That took away LA’s ability to attack the perimeter’s with miss direction, and forced them to attack more north and south. What was key for New England was having smart sure tackling safeties and who could also cover.

Enter Marquise Blair. He was an extremely dedicated run defender in college with the fast range of a free safety. I believe that this pick is everything about beating the Rams, and seeing Seattle double down at safety again in the middle round with Oregon’s Ugo Amadi spoke volumes to me because that guy has a fairly similar skill set; strong against the run, and rangy in coverage.

Does this mean the LOB is back? Maybe. I don’t know. Doesn’t matter. Don’t even care.  They will be much deeper at safety this year than last year, and personally, I would be cool to let the whole LOB thing die, and let these guys on this defense create their own mark and moniker.

This guy, though, I fully expect to blossom into a player that fans will get genuinely excited about. When Pete Carroll takes a defensive back early, he’s seeing something special. Outside of Thomas, they are have more than been comfortable waiting until the later rounds to find their guys. Carroll wanted this guy.

Cannot wait to see what he does.

Go Hawks.

The 2019 Seattle Seahawks will be a playoff team this year. I am sure of it. In fact, I will go one further than that. I say that not only will they be a playoff team, I think they are going to do some damage in the playoffs, and other teams and fans of those other teams won’t like it. Nope, not at all, and I am giving twenty player related reasons why. This is Player Related Reason Number 19.

Mike Iupati; Offensive Left Guard.

Why is Iupati poised to make a big impact?

Well, for one thing, he’s massive. At 6-5 and 331 lbs, Mr. Iupati is the human definition of a road grader built to move other big humans out of the way. Another thing is that he is seasoned veteran who, when healthy, adds veteran leadership and savvy. But perhaps the most exciting reason to be optimistic about the addition of this guy is just how much further the commitment of the team is to get more physical at the line of scrimmage.

Seattle wants to run the ball. There is no secret about this. This is been the stable of the Seattle offense for nearly a decade now. But the way they are going about things over the last season to this point it quite different. When Tom Cable was coaching the offensive line, they preferred quick moving lighter players at guard to incorporate a zone blocking scheme. For a while, it had it’s effects, but the league caught up to it, and Cable was unable to adjust, or unwilling, however you want to view it, and that led to his firing. Enter Mike Solari, and a power blocking scheme.

Last year, Seattle was dominant running the ball, and the addition of DJ Fluker (6-5 342 lbs) at right guard was a revelation. Seattle brought Fluker back this season on a two year deal, and reached a one year deal with 32 year old Iupati. That one year deal just made Seattle’s offensive line considerably even bigger considering who Iupati replaced, and I would expect this to be a trend that continues.

Seattle drafted  Phil Haynes (6-4 322 lbs) in the fourth round this year probably likely with the intentions of developing him into a starter, but with Iupati, Haynes has the luxury of learning from a veteran, and Seattle has the luxury of not rushing a rookie. Yes, Iupati might well just be a veteran stop gap, but that’s a huge stop gap of a player, and while his recent injury history suggests that he may not play a full sixteen game season, Seattle showed last year with relatively unknown youngster Jordan Simmons thrust into the starting lineup for a few games, that they have a type that they look for to be effective in their power scheme, and with that type, size most definitely matters.

With Iupati, Seattle’s offensive line will boast four former first round picks, and a second round pick at center. The average weight of these five players is about 324 lbs. That’s a group of some pretty big men. The average of the projected backups is at about 320 lbs. Yeah, big boys.

Simply put, for Seattle to win in the trenches this year size matters, and this Iupati signing shows even more clearly that they want to be the bully of the division again, even if that means that they might only get Iupati for ten games, or so. Based on last season, they might be onto something.

They played the Los Angeles Rams tough in their two close losses to them. They had success running against a defensive line that included top self defense linemen Aaron Donald, Ndamukong Suh, and Michael Brockers. During one match, Fluker owned Suh in the run game, and in another match they got under Donald’s skin, which isn’t an easy thing to do.

I suspect 2019 is going to very much be a continuation of that. Is it sexy and innovative? Nah, it’s about as unsexy old school as you can get, but I gotta admit it, a big part of me applauds this approach.

Seattle doesn’t have the exotic weapons to likely match LA in a shoot out, but that isn’t how they want to play it. Seattle wants to hit LA in the mouth repeatedly on offensive until LA is forced to take away the run, and New England might have just given the league a blue print on how to slow down LA’s offense. If Seattle can execute that blue print a bit better in 2019, that offensive line could pave the way to a victory or two over LA, and might just put Seattle in the driver’s seat in the division again.

We shall see, of course, but personally, I like this Mike Iupati signing. I like it a lot. Add in the fact that Iupati will be reunited with his old O-line coach from his San Francisco days in Solari, and I think he’s poised to fit in really nicely here in Seattle.

I’m looking forward to it.

Go Hawks.

The 2019 Seattle Seahawks will make the playoffs again this team. I’m sure of it. Absolutely. In fact, I am so sure of this, I am going to give you twenty reasons why by way of player personnel. Starting today, I will profile a player a day that I think will make a major impact on this team either as a starter or major contributor this year.

Are we ready for this? Sure, we’re ready for this. Let’s do it.

Number Twenty: Rasheem Green, Defensive end.

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Why is Green going to make an impact?

He was an extremely athletic defensive lineman heading into his college football days at USC from high school. There was a vibe around the draft circles in 2018 that had he had stayed another season in college, he would have probably been a first round pick this year, but, he left USC early, and entered the league at 21 years of age, and Seattle eventually landed him in round three. He flashed mightily in the preseason, but as predicted by some, the regular season proved more or less a redshirt year for him. The scouting vibe was that he probably needed to redshirt to get more NFL strong.

Why I believe he will make an impact this year is that he has now benefitted from a full offseason in Seattle’s strength and conditioning program, and organized team activities. While Seattle took LJ Collier in round one this year, I wouldn’t be surprised if a healthy more built up Rasheem Green is ready to make perhaps a bigger impact sooner. They could both easily become starters on this line by the end of the season, but I, for one, am pretty excited to see what year two has in store for this former Trojan.

Some think that Green is best suited to play the five technique spot that Michael Bennett once held, but I kinda see potential at the other end spot. Yes, Green has played both end and tackle in college, but I wonder if they don’t give him looks at the LEO end position this training camp while free agent addition Ziggy Ansah is mending from his shoulder injury. He reminds me of former Carolina Panther intimidator Greg Hardy a bit, especially in terms of body type. For five tech, the team has Collier, Naz Jones, Brandon Jackson, and Quinton Jefferson. In short, it’s a crowded spot, but if Green plays up to his athletic potential at LEO, he could give Seattle a massive and intimidating looking base front with tackles Jarran Reed, Al Woods/Poona Ford, and Collier/Jones/Jackson/Jefferson, etc. That’s potentially the biggest d-line we’ve seen Seattle roll out with in the Pete Carroll era, even when they had Red Bryant and Alan Branch. Ansah could be preserved to coming in on passing downs like Cliff Avril did in 2013. Some interesting stuff to consider.

It’s easy to be dismissive when thinking of Green. They drafted Collier with their first pick, and former seventh rounder Jacob Martin flashed more than Green did in the regular season of 2018 when they were both rookies. However, when they traded away Frank Clark, and only used one draft pick on a defensive end when the position was a perceived big area of need for the team prior to trading Clark , yeah, something sort of smelt like they might think they got something waiting in the wings already on this roster. Even with the one year rental signing of the still on the mend Ansah, it feels like they aren’t in any rush to add more. Why? Could it be Martin? Shaquem Griffin? Cassius Marsh? Maybe.

But I gotta hunch that they might be waiting for Green to blossom. If he does, I think he has got the potential to an interesting every down player. So, I’m calling it here. I think he is going to be a surprise player this year, and he’s going to make an impact. I’m looking forward to it.

Go Hawks.

Could the return of Cassius Marsh be what the Seattle Seahawks need to get back to the Land of Milk and Honey? Maybe, yeah. (Patrick Smith/ Getty)

Baseball. The reminder of summer, and all that is America’s national pastime. Also, the one thing out there that really makes me realize just how much I love football. So much so, that I am poised to type out this State of the 2019 Seattle Seahawks June Mini Camp Edition. Why not? We all know the truth. This town and region bleeds blue and green, and the Mariners are, well.. yeah.

So, what is this piece about? Well, it’s in the title. It’s the State of the Seahawks during their final mini camp before the league requires the players to break from their teams for a month before they must reconvene with the programs at the end of July. For those not terribly in-the-know about these league wide mini camps, allow me to describe. For the players, there are no pads involved, except for leg pads if you want to wear them, and you wear your helmets. There is also obviously no hitting involved, and defenders aren’t even allowed to make a contested play on the ball. Basically, it’s hard to gage how well defensive and offensive linemen are doing, how well secondary players are doing, and Russell Wilson makes a lot of really beautiful deep throws to receivers who don’t have to worry about a defender playing them aggressively. The coaches are looking at how well the players are into their assignments, routes, positioning, etc. It’s just mini camp. In the theater world, we would call these “table top reads.”

So what can we gleam from all this mini camp stuff? Well, I’m not a reporter. I’m just an overly obsessive type who wants to be a blogger. So, I don’t get to go out there and see, but listening to Pete Carroll, the other coaches, and veteran players during their press conferences, and I think I can still parse a few things. I can read the tea leaves.

Here’s the nutshell that I am piecing together; I think this team is more capable of winning the division than a lot of people think. I think they are another year fuller along in a new offensive system, and they might be deeper on the defense than many think. Let me walk you through the position groups to explain.

Quarterback

The most important position in all of football, and Seattle has one of the very best in Russell Wilson. I know football is a team game, but that it literally half the battle. I also know that Seattle wants to be a running team, but one of the reasons that they run with such success is the threat of Russell Wilson that defenses face. I think last year was likely Wilson feeling out offensive coordinator Brian Schottenhiemer’s version of the vertical Air Coryell offense. I would suspect a major step forward this year. Wilson’s deep ball is elite, and Seattle just added more deep ball targets with this last draft class. Put these things together, and I suspect Wilson is due a monster year this year even without Doug Baldwin on the roster. I would say take that to the bank.

Running Back

Chris Carson is an athletic freak and a beast, but my money is on Rashaad Penny taking a major step forward in 2019. Don’t be shocked if Seattle has the best one two punch at running back in the league this year. Rookie Travis Homer is an interesting dark horse as a change of pace and third down back, and if they finally get a healthy season from CJ Prosise, this could be an incredibly deep position group.

Wide Receiver

This is the group that will likely enter the official training camp in late July with the most question marks. The retirement of Doug Baldwin is a massive loss for the team, and they didn’t look to add veteran help to lessen the blow. They might be using these mini camps to determine whether to add one during the real camp later. What they do have on the roster is Tyler Lockett who has developed a terrific chemistry with Wilson. Also coming back is David Moore who flashed a bit in 2018 and Jaron Brown who Carroll has been praising lot lately. They also drafted the big, physically freaky and fast DK Metcalf, along with another big fast receiver in Gary Jennings, and a slot player in John Ursua. A sleeper name to watch out for is undrafted rookie free agent Terry Wright from Purdue (he has been getting a lot of organized team activity buzz the last few weeks).

It could be quite possible that Seattle like their receivers a lot more than you do. Also, interestingly enough, Seattle has quietly gotten a lot bigger and faster at receiver. These are the types of pass catchers the New Orleans had surrounded Drew Brees with for years, and are more traditional prototypes for the Air Coryell offense that Shottenhiemer calls.

Tight End

There are no names in this position group that are going to put the fear into defenses, but they do what Seattle wants them to do. Ed Dickson, and Nick Vannett are guys who are decent blockers and who can catch. Two possibly more interesting younger players are Will Dissly, who was promising last year but is coming back from a serious knee injury, and Jacob Hollister, who Seattle traded for after the draft. Hollister has been steadily praised by Wilson, Carroll, and Schottenhiemer, and might be a dark horse candidate to break out this year as a pass catcher.

Offensive Line

Outside of Quarterback, this might be the strongest area of the team, and that hasn’t been said about the Seahawks since Mike Holmgren was the head coach. Four for the five starting offensive linemen are former first round picks, and their center was a second rounder. They are set at left tackle in Dwayne Brown, but also, with Mike Iupati, Justin Britt, DJ Fluker, and Germaine Ifedi, this line is HUGE. My dark horse is 6-4 322lb rookie guard Phil Haynes. They don’t need to rush this player along, but if Iupati or Fluker get injured and he steps in and holds his own, Seattle might feel compelled to keep going with the youngster.

Defensive Line

On paper this feels like another thin area, especially after they traded Frank Clark, but I’m actually not to sure. Rookie defensive end LJ Collier feels like he could be an automatic plug and play sort at both end and tackle. Free agent Ezekiel Ansah is likely the other “on paper” starter. Second year player Jacob Martin could further become an important pass rush specialist, but for my money at end though, I think second year player Rasheem Green might become the big surprise story player of 2019. I think he has that kind of talent.

Also, another dark horse I want to suggest is the return of Cassius Marsh. Marsh had a decent year for the 49ers in 2018, plays with sound technique, and has the twitch to rush the passer. Folks might be writing him off as a bit of camp fodder. I wouldn’t. He’s only 26 years old, and likely still carries some upside. With Clark gone, and Ansah on the mend, there is a opportunity for Marsh to establish himself in a second go around in Seattle, and considering how he has bounced a bit since Seattle traded him to New England, he might view this as his last chance to salvage a long playing career. I like him coming into Seattle with that edge. I’m just going to toss there words out there now; don’t sleep on Cassius Marsh.

Defensive tackle I am not worried about in the least. Seattle has one of the best young DTs in the game in Jarran Reed playing on a contract year, and they have a promising young player in Poona Ford ready to play along side him. The vibe around the team feels like they really like Ford a lot, and think they got a steal there. I’m excited to see how his game progresses. Pro Football Focus loved him at the end of last year.

Veteran Al Woods is possibly my favorite free agent signing, though. He’s not a sack guy, but at 6-4 330lbs, he is a big powerful space eating DT that will soak up multiple blockers to make those around him more able to make the play. During Seattle’s recent Super Bowl runs, those were the kind of players Seattle had inside. My dark horse is undrafted rookie free agent Bryan Mone of Michigan. The dude is 6-3 and 366lbs of man mountain. The thought of having Woods and Mone in the game together on run downs is absolutely fascinating. If these two guys make the final roster, Seattle is very much committed to taking away the run in 2019. In my opinion, this is potentially a fascinating under the radar storyline.

Linebacker

I think this is by far and away the deepest unit on the defense. Seattle has the best linebacker on the planet in Bobby Wagner, and they have two very good veteran players in KJ Wright and Mychal Kendricks. If these three are all playing together healthy, Seattle might have the best 4-3 linebacking unit in the league, no kidding. Seattle also drafted Cody Barton, and Husky fan favorite Ben Burr-Kirven. I was high on them drafting BBK, but all the early praise seems to be landing on Barton and how quickly he has picked up on things. If Seattle were to lose Wright or Kendricks for a stretch, Barton might have the talent take one of their jobs away. Second year player Shaquem Griffin is moving to SAM linebacker and will rush from the edge, which is what he did in college. Griffin could be an interesting ex factor as an extra rusher on third downs. There’s not another position switch on the roster that I am more intrigued with.

Secondary

This is probably the area on the defense that stresses out most fans. In large part, I think it has more to do with who is no longer on the roster than who is. I think Bradley McDougald is a solid safety who can man both spots, and I think rookie safety Marquise Blair is a player that if you took the DNA of Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas and mixed it up in a blender, you would get this guy. I also think Tedric Thompson and Lano Hill are both safeties that can factor and take further steps forward.

As for the corners, here is my bold prediction. Shaquill Griffin is going to have a major breakthrough year after his somewhat sophomore slump, and Tre’ Flowers is going to take a major step forward as the other starter. I love the athletes that both of these guys are, but I think the characters of both of these guys propel them forward into a much better 2019 campaign.

Nickel corner is a bit up for grabs, but this is a Pete Carroll coached team, and I suspect they will figure out who their nickel player is by the start of the regular season. Akeem King seems like the early favorite, but my dark house is rookie Oregon Duck Ugo Amadi. He’s listed as a free safety, but if you parse Pete, it feels like they want to get a long look at him in the nickel, and the dude was a flat out baller for the Ducks. Amadi has me intrigued.

Special Teams

Seattle is set in the teams. They have a pro bowl punter (Michael Dickson) and a pro bowl kicker (Jason Myers). Not worried at all here.

Final Thoughts

It’s early. It’s not even preseason yet. There are things that will change once we get into the regular season. There will be surprise cuts, surprise players that step up, and probably a disappointment or two of players who won’t. There also could well be a player or two coming in via trade or free agency still.

However, the plain truth remains. Seattle has one of the very best head coaches in the game matched with one of the very best quarterbacks. They have an immensely built up offensive line that powers a highly productive run game, and I think they are potentially really underrated in a few areas on the defensive side.

In a league that increasingly loves to air it out and get the ball out to playmakers in space, Pete Carroll still believes firmly that ultimately the truest battle in football is won and lost in the trenches. If you can run, you set up explosive plays downfield. If you take away the run, you make an offense one dimensional and you can rush the passer and force turnovers.

I think Seattle might have a unique situation at defensive line with a blend of size and rush ability that many folks are not seeing right now because of the lack of name recognition beyond Jarran Reed and Ezekiel Ansah. There is a reason why they felt no need to pursue Gerald McCoy when he recently hit the market. I think they might like what they got.

I also think that with the drafting of linebackers, and safeties, Seattle is positioning themselves to defending better against the Rams. Tackling in space is key to beating that team as demonstrated by New England. This is my homer take, but I think Seattle is poised to overtake the Rams for the NFC West division this year. I know San Francisco is going to likely be the sexy pick in the West, and they might be pretty good, but I have yet to see their franchise quarterback play a full healthy season, and I am not as sold on their head coach as some are. He will be going into his third year there, and with that, there is pressure to win. The vibe I get from that dude is that maybe his temperament isn’t the best when the pressure is on, but we shall see.

It just has a feel like this is a year in the division where a veteran head coach matched with a veteran quarterback, with a veteran offensive line, and a defense led by veterans mixed with youth is going to win the day more times than not. I also think relying on some key underdogs like Cassius Marsh, Al Woods, Shaquem Griffin, and Poona Ford, they might be bringing back the “we all we got, we all we need” chants full throttle. I could be wrong, but I don’t think I am. I like it.

One thing I am certain about, I will be writing a lot more about this team soon enough. Oh, yes. I will.

Go Hawks.

Canada time? I think so, and my wife and I are actually in this photo just to the right of the ball. Go Storm!

I’m a Seattle Storm fan. I have grown to become a bigger and bigger one over the years, once I started dating the wonderful person who is now my wife. Sometimes you get lucky in life like that, and you meet the person that will make you more well rounded. For me, that was my wife turning me onto this WNBA franchise way up here in Alaska South.

So, Christmas before last season, I bought season tickets to the Storm for her as a present. I have been a diehard Seahawks fan all of my life, yet I have never so much as shelled out on season tickets for them, but I had a feeling that 2018 might be a season that my wife would not want to miss a home Storm game in person, and I really wanted her to experience that. So I dropped the serious cheddar on them, and I was glad I did.

I was ridiculously glad that I did. The girls delivered their third WNBA championship, and I found myself as invested in them as my wife, if not more, and the Seattle Storm officially became my team.

Sometimes you can just get a feeling about the greatness of a team. If you step back from your optimism, and just soak in the talent, character, and chemistry, you can sometimes sense greatness around the corner. I’ve felt this a few times in Seattle sports. I felt it in 1983 about the Seattle Seahawks when head coach Chuck Knox took over, and the team went one game away from a Super Bowl in his first season. I felt it in the 1992-’93 season of the Seattle Supersonics when head coach George Karl took over a young athletic roster, and they went 55-27 and lost in the Western Conference finals to Phoenix. I felt it again with the Seattle Seahawks in 2012 when head coach Pete Carroll surprisingly made rookie quarterback Russell Wilson the starter, and a year later they won the Super Bowl.

With the 2018 Seattle Storm, I felt something major was on the verge of happening. 2017 wasn’t a great year for them, they inched into the playoffs with a young roster, and were out of it right away. But they made a coaching change bringing in veteran WNBA stalwart Dan Hughes, and they acquired athletic veteran forward Natasha Howard from Minnesota. Howard was one of those sneaky acquisitions where the new head coach was familiar with the player and saw a specific role in mind. In short, Howard proved to be a key missing piece to the Storm puzzle. Then the Storm followed up that acquisition by drafting the electric UCLA point guard Jordin Canada in April. While a backup point guard might not seem that splashy of draft selection, watching Canada’s break ankle speed on the court was a sight to behold. It became clear to me what Hughes’ plan was within the first two games of the season with the additions of Howard and Canada; Seattle was going to be a running team.

As a fan of the 1990’s Supersonics, I got really excited, and invested. Veteran All-World point guard Sue Bird did, too. She literally reinvented herself as a player by midseason.  Gone was the methodical half court Sue Bird. In was the leaner meaner race down the court Sue Bird. It was a dramatic shift from the style of ball she had become accustomed to, but she not only embraced it, she commanded it. She would lead the starters into a up tempo style of ball.

They lost size up front by having Howard play center, but because so much attention was on long lean MVP forward Breanna Stewart, that opened up opportunities for Howard’s quicks and hops towards the basket. Then factor in whenever Canada replaced Bird, and the fact that the bench would get even faster, the other WNBA teams had to do A LOT of running up and down the court to stay up with Seattle. Dang it all if it wasn’t a lot of fun to watch. Dan Hughes’ gassed the WNBA with his 2018 championship team. They out did what the Sonics did in the 1990’s. I kid you not about that.

Now fast forward to May 2019. How are we looking? Well, I’ll be honest, things could be better for Storm fans.

The Seattle Storm are about to start their 2019 campaign without Breanna Stewart because she tore her Achilles in an overseas basketball game, and without Sue Bird who injured her knee in preseason practice, and will be essentially done for the year after surgery. They will also be without their savvy head coach Dan Hughes as he is out for a while battling cancer. These are massive blows to the team, no doubt, but I for one, will be eager to see how this team responds.

How would have the 1994 Seattle Supersonics responded if they didn’t have George Karl for a while, and were without stars Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp for the entire year? Well, they still had Nate McMillian, Sam Perkins, Detlef Schrempf, Ricky Pierce, and Kendall Gill. There was still talent on that roster to still compete, absolutely.

So, I am here to tell you that there is still talent on the 2019 Seattle Storm roster to compete and make the 2019 season worth watching. Canada is an electrically fast point guard with strong potential as an outside shooter. Howard is an athletic forward who won’t have the benefit of Breanna Stewart soaking up attention in the paint, but still possesses a skillset that other teams need to be wary of. Throw in the steady play and defensive prowess of small forward Alysha Clark, the high powered scoring abilities of shooting guard Jewell Loyd, and the long time veteran savvy of center Crystal Langhorne, and this feels like a starting five that could still give teams fits. A lot of it will hinge on Canada taking a big step forward. Personally, based on what I saw towards the end of the 2018 season, I think Canada is ready for it, and I’m excited to see it happen.

And this is still a team with more than capable talent coming off the bench. Veteran forward Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis can drain a three from almost anywhere, and shooting guard Sami Whitcomb was ON FIRE during the intense playoff series against the Phoenix Mercury. One could easily argue the her bench play was the match that lit the fire under the team that ultimately got Seattle past Phoenix in that dramatic series. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Whitcomb take a much bigger role on this team this year. I think she was poised to do it without the injuries to Bird and Stewart, and like Canada, I think she’s ready for it.

For the 2019 Seattle Storm it is simply a matter for next woman up, and this is why try fans watch. Can they do it? Can they stay competitive without their two brightest stars?

I’m in. Are you?

I hope so. These girls have earned it.

Go Storm.

This is what Monarchy looks like.

As mentioned in the title above, this is my one and only post about Game of Thrones. Not that I don’t like Game of Thrones, I actually quite enjoy the long running HBO show about swords, dragons, and the occasional unnecessary orgy scene. I’ve even enjoyed the last couple seasons in all their problematic hurried writing to get it to the finish line flourish. However,  since there is only one more episode left, I really don’t feel there is much for me to write about on it, but since this blog site states that I write about “Seahawks, Seattle sports, and other cool stuff,” I figured it was my blogger duty to write about this whole Game of Thrones thing at least once because it falls so squarely under the whole “other cool stuff” spectrum. And, well, that last episode called The Bells, right? That’s probably one worth writing a thing or two about, I would say.

Where to begin?

I know that since it aired last Sunday, there isn’t hardly a moment that I log onto Facebook where I don’t see a post, or article about it. If the writers and director did one thing fundamentally right with that episode, and that they put together an event that got  a lot of folks talking about it. I know in my own Facebook posts, I wrote two condensed hot takes about it that stretched conversation for a few days now. I got into one semi spat with a friend over who we thought was the real central figure to the series, and I got into a bit of heated exchange with someone else over the moral implications of a main character’s decisive actions. These both stretched into days. And I’m not even counting all the other posts I’ve read, and articles folks have shared that I spent time gazing at.

That this episode stirred the pot is probably the understatement of the year, thus far. I’ve seen folks blasting the writing. I’ve read bits that pretty well state that the show has become a sexist fantasy land for white dudes that need to win. I’ve also seen posts and articles stating that nobody should have been surprised about the shocking event that transpired because the show had been foreshadowing it for quite sometime. I’ve read counter articles saying how great the episode was. I’ve seen people post how heartbroken they are, how miserable they feel, and I’ve even had one unique long exchange with someone saying how glad they were that You Know Who Did You Know What.

Well, I guess I’m here to say that all of the above can be true.

I know. That’s a cop out. But anyone who truly knows me knows that I am perfectly capable of giving a quality cop out answer, and I am not going to not give one here. Sometimes, cop outs hurt, but we need to hear them, or in this case, read them. So, all of the above can be true. Now, let’s deal with that.

Warning! For those who haven’t seen The Bells episode yet, major spoilers are rolling out here forth. Go Hawks.

So, Queen Daenerys Targaryen (aka Mother of Dragons, Breaker of Chains, Dany.. last nickname is kinda sweet) did a bad thing in The Bells. Instead of liberating tens of thousands of innocent men, women, and children during the Battle at Kings Landing, like she was pretty much swearing to do throughout the whole stretch of the show, she elected to murder them in cold blood, instead. Some would say hot blood because that look on her face moments before she did it was clearly a scowling look of hell bent fury anger, but I’m not so sure, and we will touch more on that later.

For many watching the show it was shocking to say the least, and for many of the shocked, it was also very upsetting. The reasons for being upset varied, but at least in the threads and articles I was following, “sexist lazy writing” seemed to be a thing that came up often. Personally, I think for those that feel that way about the writing, I can see that, and if that perspective is particularly held by a woman, I think it is one hundred percent wrong for anybody with a penis to make a counter argument, and if they do, their penis should be subject to dropping off into their pee stained underwear.

From my perspective, I sensed that this scenario was possibly going to happen for a few seasons now. I felt that there were enough hints along the way. Even more over, in this final season of episodes, I thought the writers were on a crack cocaine bender typing out the ridiculously obvious signals that Liberator Dany was about to turn into Tyrant Dany.

See, things hadn’t really gone young Queen Dany’s way after she landed on the shores of Westeros, poised to fulfill her destiny as the rightful ruler to sit on the Iron Throne, and liberate the oppressed masses. I mean sure, things started off great. She and her dragons kicked some opposition nobility’s butts here and there, and burnt them alive. She even met a really nice boy from the North who was pretty cute and masculine at the same time, but in that totally non threatening kind of way, you know, he could be firm and strong when you needed him to be, but also soft and tender.

So, anyway, this nice and hunky Jon Snow guy from up North convinced her that the real threat to Westeros wasn’t the evil queen of the South, but actually it was this immense Army of the Dead from, you know, the North that included giants, and thus, she decided to go up there and help him. And, frankly, why not? He’s a really nice guy, earnest, he’s cute, and he has a good point about that zombie army up North.. and, you know, maybe there is something there with him down the road. Who knows?

So, she heads North with Jon Snow to bring back one of the dead soldiers alive so that the evil queen of the South can see it for herself, and know for herself that she and Queen Dany need to work together to defeat them (I know. This is a lot to take in, but I only have this one post to cram this together, so I am just going to rush the writing a bit here. Yes. It’s lazy. I know). So up North there, they are joined by some other dudes that are going to confront the Army of the Dead, one really cool dude called the Hound, but he is straight up unseemly, so she doesn’t really notice him, and another old kinda ugly dude with a flaming sword who nobody remembers his name, and another dude who is essentially a big ginger-bearded goat f***er with a lot of personality. So she and them meet up with the Army of the Dead, and they fight, and it’s intense, and they get out of the North with one of the dead soldiers, but then she loses one of her Dragon children in the fight. Kind of a big emotional loss for her, and a big price for following along with the Jon guy’s ideas. But such as the cost for a Breaker of Chains set to take over the Throne one day and liberate the masses.

Fast forward, she heads South to show the Evil Queen the dead soldier dude, and dead soldier dude almost eats Evil Queen’s face off if it weren’t for the Hound holding him back (Hound is cool like that). So, Evil Queen decides to help Dany and Jon- no, not really, she just pretends- but good news is that Dany and Jon get naked together on the ship sailing back North and they do it. They have sex, and things are going great again because it was so sweet, and young hot people having sex is nice.

Until they get up North, and they fight the Army of the Dead without the supporting forces of the Evil Queen, and a lot of people die, and she looses her super close older male friend who was in love with her even though she couldn’t love him back in that way, and she felt really bad when he died because he died saving her, and then Jon finds out that he is actually secretly related to her, that she is, in fact, his auntie, and then he feels really bad about poking his auntie no matter how hot she is, and is acting all weird to her about it. So, things start to really turn south for her up there (pun intended). To make matters worse, she sees just how much the people of the North love Jon, and kind of don’t really give her the time of the day. I mean, they don’t really know her, and she has dragons, and her father was an insane murderous king, I think she probably needed to just give them time, but let’s be real; time is not something she had. Queen Dany Mother of Dragons don’t have time. She needed to get back down South and whoop ass on that lying, cheating, no good Evil Queen of the South with nice check bones.

So, Dany’s loosing patience, y’all. Now factor in the fact that little mister  Jon Snow tells her the truth he learned, and now they are all freaky weird with each other. She tries to kiss him to make it all better, but Jon Snow goes all prudish on her, and doesn’t want to make out with his auntie anymore, and she frankly isn’t cool with that because she is a hot girl who has never ben turned down before, AND she is the QUEEN. Fact, she’s rather butt hurt about this, but makes him promise he won’t tell anyone the truth because, you know, he’s actually the male heir to the throne, has better entitlement because they’re all a bunch of misogynists in Westeros, and the people will want him because they all like him because, let’s face it; Jon Snow is the Robert Kennedy of Westeros. He’s now a threat.

So, again, things not going great for Queen Mother of Dragons. She’s even starting to feel competition and jealousy over her nephew/lover. Bet she didn’t see any of this coming when she first touched the shores of Westeros.

Then, on top of all that, when she gets back down South to confront the Evil Queen, she discovers that the Evil Queen had built this massive land and sea force armed with gigantic cross bows as they started firing on her with them, and ended up killing another one of her dragon children. Son of a biscuit if that just doesn’t make a liberating queen wanna murder a few folks. Now she’s down two dragon babies and only got one left. Motherf***ers.

Then on top of that, Evil Queen managed to capture her best female friend, and in a meeting to offer surrender to the Evil Queen before burning her alive, stupid Evil Queen decides to decapitate the best female friend right in front of her for all to see. Game is on. Queen Dany ain’t got time for any more miscues, or bad surprises. She is ready to kill.

But surprise, surprise. Jon Snow couldn’t keep his mouth shut, and told his not really sisters anymore about who he really is, and then one of the not really his sisters anymore started telling those around Queen Dany who Jon Snow really is. That’s another annoying problem. Next thing you know, some people started looking at the loose cannon ways of Queen Dany when she gets mad-like and burns people alive, then they looking at the nice guy Robert Kennedy quality of Jon Snow, and they start thinking “Damn, I dunno, maybe we should elect this Jon Snow the King instead.” Eventually, Queen Dany finds this out, and that’s just too much, and now she’s gotta start burning alive some subjects. She’s no longer playing. She’s just flat out killing now.

Then, the next day, she has her ground forces fight with Jon Snow at Kings Landing, but she pretty much does all the damage on her own riding her remaining dragon child, and burns all the gigantic cross bows up, along with their shooters, and then burns all the Evil Queen’s ground forces up, as well. Battle pretty much won, but then she just kind of hangs tight for a bit, and surveys the situation. She looks things over, and sees all these non soldier people running, you know, mothers and young children, dudes who don’t fight, and she sees them screaming and running because, you know, there’s a fucking dragon flying around burning everything.

Then, that’s when it happens. The whole fiery awful thing. She just pretty much says fuck it, and starts flying, and burning all the innocents. Evil Queen eventually dies. Unfortunately, so does the Hound, but at least it’s cool because he takes his asshole brother down with him. Some people, like Jon, and the short smart person who believed in her, all kind of freaked out because they thought she was the liberator of people not the mass murderer.. and then she goes and mass murders. So, like they just get the fuck out of there.

So, there we have it. All perfect summed up in all my rushed sloppy unearned writing.

Here’s my final take on all this. Game of Thrones has become a hot mess of writing the past few seasons because the dudes running the helm, David Benioff and DB Weiss have each one foot out the door ready to go work for Disney on a new Star Wars trilogy together. In short, they wanted to wrap this whole series up superfast, and the result is hyper rushed writing where the writing was once grounded in nuance for five seasons or more. Word as even come out recently that HBO was actually encouraging them to add more episodes into this final season, but they were like “nah, we kind of want to just finish this out and move along.”

I mean these dudes are Gen X film dorks. Can you blame them for wanting to jump ships to take over Star Wars for Disney? They are legitimately now living their childhood dreams. But the result is rushed writing that doesn’t feel like any dramatic shifts are ever fully earned. I’ve enjoyed these shows for what they are, but I have clearly sensed that with each episode in varying degrees for the last couple seasons.

I don’t know about the sexism accusations on all this turn with Daenerys Targaryen. I think clearly, they felt compelled that Jon Snow is the righteous idealized sort of servant soldier/king that people should feel that he should be King. A sort of Robert Kennedy type who is clearly with the people and for the people. They even wanted him to not desire the crown on any level, much like supposedly George Washington didn’t want to be made King of the US after the American Revolution. I think with Daenerys the arc has always been about birthright and that frankly leads to entitlement. Of course she wants to free the oppressed, and stop tyranny, she’s young and idealistic, and feels that she is in the best position to do that, but she also wanted that throne really badly.. because it should be hers. She’s the Rightful Queen.

Personally, I’m glad that Benioff and Weiss took her character to this place for blood thirty mass murder. She’s a monarch. This is what monarchs do. Go back all throughout history. Go back into Shakespeare’s London. I’m sure you will find a scenario or fifty when a knucklehead either looked at or sneezed at Queen Elizabeth the wrong way and it was pretty much off with his head.

Monarchs murder. That is what they do. That’s what they feel they have to do. If your life is not important to them, if it is not serving them, if you don’t bend a knee then, your life is worthless.

I had someone saying to me the other day that I was making this show too political in my comments, that it isn’t based on things that happen in this day and age. You think this doesn’t happen in this day and age? Well, just a few short months ago a certain crown prince of Saudi Arabia didn’t like what a Saudi journalist who was writing for the Washington Post was writing about him, and he ordered his murder, and the journalist was brutality butchered, chopped into pieces, and hauled off in plastic bags. Monarchs murder.

Queen Daenerys Mother of Dragons Breaker of Chains is a cold blooded murderer. She’s not a mad queen. She knew exactly what was at stake. She new that the people weren’t going to love her, not like Jon Snow, so she murdered them. She also knew full well that those who survived sure as hell weren’t going to rise up, and go support Jon Snow. Shoot, she was probably searching for Jon Snow to murder at the time, as well.

This is the right direction to take this story and finish out this show. I hope that Benioff and Weiss do it right, and Daenerys keeps that stupid inherently evil throne, and essentially stays what monarchs are, and that is ruthless oppressing tyrants.

Closing the show out like that will leave a mark. It will say something. It will show the continuation of the vicious cycle of the tyranny that the show began with, and just how inherently difficult it is to move away from that tyranny. Bitter for many, sure, but a mark none the less, and it will be grounded in truth with dragon, swords, and all.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

That’s why three co equal branches of government are so critically important. They keep the United States from becoming a place like Westeros where life, even the most innocent life, is totally disposable in the eyes of monarchy. Let’s hope and pray we hang onto those co equal branches. We don’t need to bend a knee to anyone.

Go Hawks.

Angry Doug? Or Thoughtful Leader? Allanah picks the latter. Photo by Ted S Warren/ AP

For me, this version of the Seattle Seahawks, undoubtedly the best version of the Seahawks (ring doesn’t lie), started when #15 slipped in for a 55 yard touchdown in the first game of 2011. The play – and season – are largely forgettable in Seahawks lore, because they lost the game, and didn’t make the playoffs that season. This was part of the Tavaris Jackson Starting Quarterback Year, and he was never the best starting quarterback. He was an amazing backup, and was the perfect fit for the team for that position (serving as backup quarterback and lucky charm through their back to back Super Bowl appearances) But this isn’t about Tavaris Jackson.

This is about my favorite Seahawk of All-Time, one of the most physically and mentally touch competitors ever on a football field, and one of the most thoughtful and compassionate people in the public eye off it, as well as the best receiver the team as ever had (and you can fight me on that) and someone who I expect will be more impactful to the world after he leaves the sport than before. This is about Doug Baldwin (Angry Doug Baldwin).

Doug Baldwin gave up the number 15 after that rookie season for Matt Flynn (teehee) and ended up taking the far more appropriate number for his game, 89 (it’s a number that just feels right. SEATTLE FRONT OFFICE YOU RETIRE THAT NUMBER RIGHT NOW!). I enjoyed watching his game develop over those first two seasons, and seeing how a player could just work work work work work, and raise his game to a level equal to the best receivers in football. Over the course of about four and a half seasons (2013 – 2018) Doug Baldwin caught basically every single football thrown to him, scored like 100 touchdowns, Russ had an over 200 passer rating when targeting and he made opposing defenses cry after every play. Obviously, I exaggerate, but there was a spell in there, where he had these absurd numbers, which I don’t care much about, other than to say the connection he had with Russell Wilson was unbelievable and sustained across even the worst of the Seahawks most recent seasons.

What that doesn’t show, though, is the impact that Doug had off the field. Crosscut recently had a fourth iteration of a festival of ideas where he was the second name listed on the poster (he was the only athlete involved it appeared), and he was right at home to be speaking about social activism and dealing with the controversy that comes from sticking your neck out as an athlete. He consistently takes a measured approach to social issues, speaks about things that he knows about, and then waits to hear all of the information without rushing to have an opinion. His involvement in the various players based alliances around kneeling at games and police brutality is all right there, front page in his bio, and his soft spoken thoughtfulness about these impactful issues (along with some other great activist athletes I could talk about, but this is about my boy Doug) makes me think that he could be an advocate and a thoughtful leader about any kind of issue that he wants. When you ask him a question he hasn’t thought about before, he thinks about it before he answers, and you can see those gears moving in his head, and that is a quality that is virtually absent in public discourse right now, and so so so so so SOOO, necessary.

Even Angry Doug Baldwin (the best nickname ever, because it’s always the full name) was only angry on the field. He would still take the dais with the mic and present the mellow, thought out version of whatever Richard Sherman was saying (they were like a political Laurel and Hardy in a way). Richard was the mouth, and Doug the voice, and every time they engaged in a discussion with the media together, it was must watch.

And perhaps the most amazing tidbit about Doug was the fact that if he wasn’t catching touchdowns from Russ, he would have become (and still might become) a math teacher at the high school level. Now do I think that that is the best use of his mind and charisma going forward? Maybe, though I want him to become the best elite athlete/politician to ever live (really, so long as he passes Steve Largent, I’m happy with that result), and I want him to never move back to Florida. But if he were teaching math at a school somewhere here in Seattle, those would be some amazingly lucky kids, getting to learn from someone who is so clearly invested in thoughtfulness.

I am going to miss everything about watching Doug Baldwin on Sundays, but I don’t think that I am going to have to miss his impact going forward. All signs point to him knowing that his work isn’t done, that there are people out there who need his help, and that he is a person who can help them. I hope that he brings his Angry Doug Baldwin to the political sphere, and makes the world hear him.

Doug Baldwin, you are, and will always be my favorite Seahawk. You are the best receiver the Seahawks ever had. You have improved this community through sheer force of work ethic, effort, thoughtfulness and compassion. And I think that next, you are going to be the most influential athlete activist/politician of all time. I can’t wait to watch the rest of your journey.

-Allanah Raas Bergquist