Unity. Is it still there?

[Hawk&Awe]

First, I'd like to say a hearty 'Thank You' to everyone for the warm welcome and kind comments. I do appreciate it very much!

Secondly, I also appreciate the opinions shared thus far. I find it incredible how many different opinions we all can have about a similar subject and yet still remain unified as a part of this Hawk Nation. Unity....see what I did there?

Anyway, I'm really hoping that come the start of camp and these guys getting back out on the field, we start to see a lot of the rogue comments and perceived division begin to cease. It can all be quite distracting, or perhaps it is just us that are getting distracted by it.

I guess there is just a very large part of me that wants to continue the wave of "let's play for each other" that has propelled this team. It's crazy how many times I've seen other teams try and emulate that kind of unity. And I'm sure there are levels of unity within the other teams.

But something just seemed different about our Hawks. They seemed to mean it. Not just say it, or do it for the media's sake. But honestly and truthfully mean it. And THAT is what I want to see continue.

No matter what, one thing is for certain. It has been a long offseason.

 

[KiwiHawk]

We're different.

When other teams zig, we zag.

When other NFL teams build potent passing offenses, we build around the running game and a strong defense.

In a league of free agency and professionalism, we're about unity and teamwork.

So how does that reconcile with the massive roster turnover we've experienced since Schneider has been GM? Pretty simple - when Carroll was at USC he developed a team philosophy that didn't depend on the individuals. "Next man up" is a real thing.

We all want Wagner and Wilson to stay, but if they don't, it'll be "next man up" and the team philosophy will not change, because the team philosophy is larger than any individual - it has to be in order to survive.

Many of the stars on the team are guys who took over from starters who fell to injury or went off to pursue money elsewhere. There will continue to be roster turnover because that's just a fact of life in the salary cap era of the NFL.

However, Pete Carroll has dealt with it before. He produced a system at USC that produced numerous championships over many years in spite of losing key players every year as they graduated to the next level. Carroll had QBs important enough to be taken in the first round of the NFL draft, who were replaced by guys who also got taken in the first round of the NFL draft, in spite of the fact that none of them are particularly successful NFL QBs.

As a franchise we have spent so much time in the limbo of 8-8 football - not good enough to make post-season but not bad enough to draft elite players - that when we do get an elite player we want to hold onto him with both hands and never let him go.

We need to get used to the idea of having an elite system instead of elite players. We need to embrace the players we have, and thank the departing ones for their service. We don't need to be resentful that they move on, or fearful that the the loss of loss will sink us back to 8-8 land.

"I'm In" is buying into the work ethic and always-compete philosophy that Pete Carroll has for the team. It exists in the off-season in the form of new guys having a legitimate shot at making the roster regardless of the method by which they were acquired. It exists during the season in the form of players having each other's back and putting maximum effort into game preparation.

"I'm In" doesn't mean "only compete on the field, not in contract negotiations". In fact, it's an expectation that demands the Seahawks to compete with other NFL teams to retain the player's services because if the player isn't always about doing the best for himself then he never really understood the concepts of being honest and always competing.

We will have unity and we will have turnover, and the two concepts are not mutually exclusive. Brandon Browner will always be a founding member of the LOB regardless of who he plays for. Those guys will always be good mates. Team rivalries are for fans, not players. They hate each other on the field, but can get together for a beer off it, no problem, and we fans don't get to judge who their friends are.

Every off-season is going to be nail-biting. Every year we will lose key players, but we'll also gain key players whether they are obvious like Jimmy Graham or under the radar like drafting Richard Sherman.

Pete Carroll has been doing this for a couple of decades. It's only new to you and I.

When it comes to "I'm In", it's not the players we need to be concerned about - it's us.

 

[ivotuk]

Is disunity a word?

Nice thread, lots of good opinions, differing opinions but (mostly) respectable discourse. I appreciate that.

I don't think there's as much of an issue as fans believe there is. That's because we catch the onslaught of the 24 hour sportscasting environment, getting bludgeoned by it, and their intent is to create mayhem. Get fans emotional and upset so they can get more site hits, more outlandish comments.

Twitter has been a blessing to them because they can turn a sentence in to a week long footballpalooza.

Sometimes it's just best to step back, have a bowl of cereal, and watch Golden Girls.

 

[AgentDib]

Of course the sportscasting environment only creates drama because there's a big segment of fans who thrive on it. Twitter can be a double-edged sword to the media as those fans can seek drama directly and there's a lot of fan angst these days that is self inflicted.

Unity is important but not everything. Our first quarter of the season is @Rams, @Packers Primetime, Bears, Lions Primetime. How many wins we have after the first four games is going to be almost entirely a product of execution and health. Contract situations and players focusing on a particular play call won't be why we are 4-0 or 1-3. At the same time, the off-season seems like the ideal time to discuss all the stuff that we don't know very much about and doesn't matter very much even if we do.