It’s late and maybe I’ll respond to this tomorrow but it’s probably pointless. The dude won us a SB and gave us a decade of one of the best decades to ever do it and people are using revisionist history as if he wasnt a stud while here. I’m fine with being pissed off about the ending of it all but all this energy wanting another human to fail miserably because of it is goofy. Root against him, have some fun or whatever but a lot of what we see here is personal and borders on true hate and it’s weird to me.
He didn't win us the SB. Our ' once in a generation ' defense did. Pete's building an offense around a guy who couldn't (and still cant) read defenses did.
The beauty of Russ was how off tge charts, naturally physically gifted he was. He could create offense on his own by running around, buying time for his Wrs to find an opening (Seattle made famous the scramble drill... IN PRACTICE). But he could never just run an offense. Especially not a complicated one. Which is why Pete loved him - Pete never wanted a complicated offense. But Russ didn't take kindly to Pete seeing him for who he was, nor John for trying to get Pete to dump him 4 years ago. So rather than just facing the truth, he created his own and threw the SEAHAWKS under the bus, so that he could make himself look like something he never was.
I'll say it again. HE THREW THE SEAHAWKS UNDER THE BUS for no good reason other than strategically trying to manipulate folks into believing he was great, and that his former team held him back, so that he could save his reputation, and make millions.
It's funny. Sherm was undeniably a critical piece to our success. He was undeniably at the top of his craft. He was arguably the best at what he did . And he continued that level of play when he left. So there is zero dispute as to what his legacy is with us or as a player in general. Yet many of the same people who criticize those who call out Russ, lambasted Richard for criticizing the team when he left or betraying the Hawks for going to a rival - as if THAT was a greater trespass than actually trying to undermine an organization for one's own benefit.
So no. There's no lost appreciation for what he did for 'us'. If he was the one single handedly making us win the way Lamar Jackson did the year he won his MVP... if that season for Lamar translated into a SB, and that kind of performance was what ever happened in Seattle and saw us win it all, it would be different. That never happened. Reality has shown who the wizard was behind the curtain all those years. And Russ pulled it up himself. Russ landed in the perfect spot to maximize what he knew how to do, and then he tried to burn it all down.