Pinch Me.

In all the 37 years of living, breathing and dying with this team of ours, I've never, ever been this excited or had reason to be. Young, talented to the point you would expect a fine from the NFL, and this sharp in character? Perhaps the Football Gods really DO exist and they are flat out telling us it really IS our time.

Leave no doubt, 24/7.

That's the message written on T-shirts distributed among the Seahawks and their coaches. The phrase is written on the back to keep its message at the front of the team's mind. More than a motto, it's more like a mission and it's something worth considering for anyone who questioned how this team is going to handle both the expectations and scrutiny that are going to be part of this season.

To understand why this is important, you need to know where it came from: inside the locker room. One of the youngest teams in the league gathered in a meeting and threw around ideas until they decided they wanted to leave no doubt, a statement that's as much about the results on the field as the behavior off it.

http://mynorthwest.com/292/2328076/Leave-No-Doubt

Sweet, I would love one.

I am both pumped and jacked. More so than any other time as Seahawks fan.

I really like the slogan. I want to see the team lay waste to the NFL so that at the end of the year, there's no, "Well, they slipped into the playoffs and then got hot." No underdog role; just fear on the part of our opponents.

peachesenregalia":kpjwxr05 said:

Couldn't agree more. This is definitely the greatest Seahawks team I can remember being assembled. No outstanding weaknesses that I can see - injuries or no.

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Well, in the category of "Healthy Percy Harvins," we are sorely lacking. The good news, though, is that every other team is lacking in that category, too... and we're the only ones with the potential to improve in this category later in the season.

Sarlacc83":4kbunpo3 said:

...No underdog role; just fear on the part of our opponents.

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I like that. Fear. Sorry opponents, it's what's for breakfast this year.

SacHawk2.0":3pggm5of said:

I am both pumped and jacked. More so than any other time as Seahawks fan.

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Oh yeah? Well, I'm super stoked!

HoustonHawk82":2ykhwecf said:

SacHawk2.0":2ykhwecf said:

I am both pumped and jacked. More so than any other time as Seahawks fan.

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Oh yeah? Well, I'm super stoked!

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Oh sure, but are you cranked and clipped?

The Year of the 'Hawk!!

I was in "pinch me - this can't be real" mode last April when Wilson's name was called, and the months that followed were a continuation. Seriously, everything that happened to the Seahawks from April to January last season was Disney movie shit, and that kind of thing never happens to a Seattle sports franchise.

It's more than Wilson too. We have the NFL's most talented roster, one of the youngest teams, the NFL's best GM and the NFL's best coaching staff top to bottom (IMO).

This year I feel like a Patriots fan. I expect my team to win 11+ games. I would consider anything less than one championship during the Wilson era to be devastating, and frankly I'd probably be disappointed with less than three.

If Seattle went 12-4 and lost in the NFC Championship game, I'd consider this season a disappointment, even though it would be one of the best seasons in our history. Because my expectations are so high, it kind of kills the excitement factor. I don't even think I'll be that excited in 2013 until it feels like that first Wilson Superbowl is very, very close. If we are up by 17 in the NFCCG, I think that's when the excitement will finally kick in for me.

Until then, I'm sure it will be a fun season. I've bitched about the schedule, but a silver lining is that all those Detroit/Miami/Rams type teams that beat us at 10am last year will either play in Seattle or in a night game slot. So even if we go 11-5 again, at least we are a lot less likely to see gut wrenching last second losses to bad teams. That alone could make 2013 a funner season than 2012 was.

kearly":1h5mrnac said:

...This year I feel like a Patriots fan. I expect my team to win 11+ games. I would consider anything less than one championship during the Wilson era to be devastating, and frankly I'd probably be disappointed with less than three.

If Seattle went 12-4 and lost in the NFC Championship game, I'd consider this season a disappointment, even though it would be one of the best seasons in our history. Because my expectations are so high, it kind of kills the excitement factor. I don't even think I'll be that excited in 2013 until it feels like that first Wilson Superbowl is very, very close. If we are up by 17 in the NFCCG, I think that's when the excitement will finally kick in for me...

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You sound... excited

And they had RW in check the first 4 games? last year. In the end they were 1/2 game out of the division. Winning a road playoff game and nearly a second :snack:


Look at the roster end to end... :3:

This is going to be good

I'm with both Aros and Kearly here. Being a Seahawk fan from the beginning, we all know that to expect something from this team is usually to be disappointed. They raise up our expectations, only to let us down, and when we expect nothing, the team overachieves just enough to give you hope, then dashes it (usually in the last 2 games of the year or the 1st round of the playoffs).

I feel different now. This team feels to consistent and deep on both sides of the ball to seriously falter. And like Kearly said, that's the problem. With this team, making the playoffs isn't an accomplishement, it's an expectation. Even with a very tough divisional rival like SF, and a scrappy and younger talented rival with one of the best game managers in the league (STL), a divisional title still feels like an expectation. Therein lies the problem; I've invested too much in this team, so now it's going to be on the edge of the seat for pretty much everything. Every loss will seem to be magnified. Every win only leaves you wanting/expecting more, and looking forward to the playoffs. Anything but the Superbowl would be a disappointment, and that is unrealistic. Even the Pats don't make the SB every year, and they've been the most dominant dynasty in recent NFL history.

So they asked RW what should be on the t-shirt and this is what he came up with?

Good story

Football Outsiders rates me as one of the most pessimistic fans out there But this year, I can't shake it, no matter how many faults I know we have on this team...returning to mean on injuries...10AM east coast starts...rush defense...Bryant's foot....

I really believe this is our year. This is the year I think we win it all. My brain says we could go 10-6 or 11-5 with that schedule. My gut says we win it all.

It's going to take a two game cushion at the top of the NFC West before I start to dream about a Super Bowl. If this team can keep the hungry dogs at bay enough to go up two games, then I will get pie-eyed excited!

Until then it's Seahawk fandom as normal--expect no victories, prepare for bad news at all times, let's make it to the playoffs as the #1 goal. One step at a time.

In my opinion, the committment to character on/off the field is a deeply important intangible for long-term success. Talent and swagger can take a good team far in a given season, but to sustain season in and season out, when your team becomes everyone's target and circled on their calendars, that same swagger must be put into remaining above reproach.

It leaves a bad taste in my mouth giving credit to a team who's coaches had no problems cheating to gain an advantage in a Super Bowl and on other occasions, but players like McGinest, Bruschi, Vrabel and Brady had the type of swagger I'm referring to. A 'winning is what we do, don't screw it up' attitude that enveloped the team. I believe that is why they were able bring the occasional malcontent or trouble maker, and get them to play their best and step in line. It worked for all the years they were together. Consistently at or near the top, and deep playoff runs every year.

I believe the Hawks' team leaders are developing this kind of swagger, and am so hopeful for this group not only this year, but for years to come.

I haven't lost even an ounce of realism. Injuries, as we know, happen. The NFL season always is a process of ebb and flow. There is NO perfect season (1972 Dolphins excluded)...It's a guarantee that there will always be that one or two games that you think is a lock, and yet the team comes up short. Look no further than the Dolphins game last year after the bye.

Still, it's entirely probable...LIKELY we don't win less than 11 games this year, even with that schedule.

No Seahawks team has ever been this potent on both sides of the ball. Ever.

My next child, regardless of sex, is going to be named Russell.

Can I just pinch you because I want to, and is that weird?

Largent80":3akthy6j said:

Can I just pinch you because I want to, and is that weird?

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Not at all. Do you know a good lead guitarist? See? People helping people.