The Unauthorized Story of of Matt Flynn in Seattle

theENGLISHseahawk

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Can't wait for the thesis on Charly Martin's rise and fall.

Matt Flynn is a complete irrelevance. A guy who got paid millions to do absolutely nothing. I wouldn't read a short blurb on his time in Seattle, let alone a complete run down from someone who spent weeks last year castigating the decision to start Russell Wilson.
 

Scottemojo

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I read it. I even promised myself to be fair.

HB loves to drop credentials. He wants you to know how close he is to the team. It's a way of making his opinion more important than yours. the post is filled with unnamed sources.

listing WAGS being a reason Wilson got the job and completely ignoring the elbow injury is hilariously bad and self protective journ crap.. HB has always thought the elbow was bullshit and Pete was using it conveniently to get his way. At the same time, calling the coach a liar in your expose could affect what little access to the team you currently have.

Funny, he says Lockette got exposed as a pretender by Terrell Owens, but can't see that when Flynn declined to match Wilson's work ethic, the same happened to him.

This was an awful piece of journo crap where HB gets to say he was still right, vaguely alluding that we would have won another game (and been division champ) if Flynn had started the season. Revisionist crap.
 

HawKnPeppa

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Scottemojo":2wnhi8t2 said:
I read it. I even promised myself to be fair.

HB loves to drop credentials. He wants you to know how close he is to the team. It's a way of making his opinion more important than yours. the post is filled with unnamed sources.

listing WAGS being a reason Wilson got the job and completely ignoring the elbow injury is hilariously bad and self protective journ crap.. HB has always thought the elbow was bullshit and Pete was using it conveniently to get his way. At the same time, calling the coach a liar in your expose could affect what little access to the team you currently have.

Funny, he says Lockette got exposed as a pretender by Terrell Owens, but can't see that when Flynn declined to match Wilson's work ethic, the same happened to him.

This was an awful piece of journo crap where HB gets to say he was still right, vaguely alluding that we would have won another game (and been division champ) if Flynn had started the season. Revisionist crap.

Exactly my sentiment. There were people giving him mad props on twitter for that piece, but they really don't have a critical enough eye. I hit him with quite a few counterpoints which fell on deaf ears. The dude is thin-skinned and obsessed with being 'right'
 

Seahawk Sailor

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Well that was an interesting read. Of course the subplot of machismo and stubbornness was the best part. It'll be very interesting to see how well Flynn does in Oakland. If he shines at all, HB will crow he's validated. If he doesn't, HB's already set himself up with the "Flynn didn't have any great weapons in Oakland" excuse. Of course, everybody thought our receivers were the weak point going into last year, for what it's worth.
 

Hawkstorian

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Tate's gf is friends with Wilson's wife. Wow. That must of been the true gamechanger because it's the only fact in the article I didn't know before.
 

Shadowhawk

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Scottemojo":3m3vfuzd said:
I read it. I even promised myself to be fair.

HB loves to drop credentials. He wants you to know how close he is to the team. It's a way of making his opinion more important than yours. the post is filled with unnamed sources.

listing WAGS being a reason Wilson got the job and completely ignoring the elbow injury is hilariously bad and self protective journ crap.. HB has always thought the elbow was bullshit and Pete was using it conveniently to get his way. At the same time, calling the coach a liar in your expose could affect what little access to the team you currently have.

Funny, he says Lockette got exposed as a pretender by Terrell Owens, but can't see that when Flynn declined to match Wilson's work ethic, the same happened to him.

This was an awful piece of journo crap where HB gets to say he was still right, vaguely alluding that we would have won another game (and been division champ) if Flynn had started the season. Revisionist crap.

Yep. For a piece that is supposedly the story of Matt Flynn there's an awful lot of "I, I, I" in there. "I heard this." "I react vociferously," etc. He might as well have called it The Unauthorized Story of How I Was Really Right All Along.

As for Flynn, he really doesn't do him any favors when he says things like this:

Wilson was showing up first to the VMAC and leaving last. His now famous work ethic was in full effect. Flynn was a veteran that did not need the same level of study time that Wilson did, but the juxtaposition over the course of training camp was making an impression, and not a good one for Flynn. There was almost a sense that Flynn felt matching Wilson's hours would reduce his standing as a veteran.

Really? Let's put aside the author's assumption that Flynn "didn't need" to put in the same amount of work that Wilson did. If he really thought that working as hard as a rookie would "reduce his standing" with the team, then that's not a guy that deserves to win a starting job in the first place. If I were a coach I would want somebody like Wilson who busts his butt every day to earn a job, not somebody who feels that kind of effort is somehow beneath him. For Flynn's sake, I hope that was nothing more than conjecture on Hawkblogger's part.
 

Subzero717

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I skimmed over it. A little too Cloak and Dagger. It is self serving article. Even if it is true, they gambled on the right horse and won. The how and why are irrelevant to me at this point.
 

-The Glove-

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Shadowhawk":3210ehbo said:
Scottemojo":3210ehbo said:
I read it. I even promised myself to be fair.

HB loves to drop credentials. He wants you to know how close he is to the team. It's a way of making his opinion more important than yours. the post is filled with unnamed sources.

listing WAGS being a reason Wilson got the job and completely ignoring the elbow injury is hilariously bad and self protective journ crap.. HB has always thought the elbow was bullshit and Pete was using it conveniently to get his way. At the same time, calling the coach a liar in your expose could affect what little access to the team you currently have.

Funny, he says Lockette got exposed as a pretender by Terrell Owens, but can't see that when Flynn declined to match Wilson's work ethic, the same happened to him.

This was an awful piece of journo crap where HB gets to say he was still right, vaguely alluding that we would have won another game (and been division champ) if Flynn had started the season. Revisionist crap.

Yep. For a piece that is supposedly the story of Matt Flynn there's an awful lot of "I, I, I" in there. "I heard this." "I react vociferously," etc. He might as well have called it The Unauthorized Story of How I Was Really Right All Along.

As for Flynn, he really doesn't do him any favors when he says things like this:

Wilson was showing up first to the VMAC and leaving last. His now famous work ethic was in full effect. Flynn was a veteran that did not need the same level of study time that Wilson did, but the juxtaposition over the course of training camp was making an impression, and not a good one for Flynn. There was almost a sense that Flynn felt matching Wilson's hours would reduce his standing as a veteran.

Really? Let's put aside the author's assumption that Flynn "didn't need" to put in the same amount of work that Wilson did. If he really thought that working as hard as a rookie would "reduce his standing" with the team, then that's not a guy that deserves to win a starting job in the first place. If I were a coach I would want somebody like Wilson who busts his butt every day to earn a job, not somebody who feels that kind of effort is somehow beneath him. For Flynn's sake, I hope that was nothing more than conjecture on Hawkblogger's part.
Wow...never read HB too much but do follow him on Twitter. That quote is ridiculous. The best players in any sport, no matter how long they've been playing, put in the most time in the gym, on the field, in the video room, etc. You don't ever just come to a point where you don't have to really work anymore, because as has been shown by all the freak athletes, it takes a lot of preparation to be elite. And for someone fighting for a starting job to feel he doesn't have to work as hard as the rook, according to HB, that vet deserves to ride the pine if any of that is true.
 

mikeak

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That blog is nothing but a one-sided version of what I read here for the past year....

Flynn didn't come in and work hard because it would have undermined him as a veteran...

1) He was a veteran backup
2) He should have been working hard BEFORE RW entered the building.....

Flynn could maybe have win more games

Yes but if RW doesn't get the beginning if the season he isn't as good in the end

Special players make their coach look good.

Yes BUT good / great coaches recognize who those players will be and let them become allstars....
 

sc85sis

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Someone please correct me if I'm mistaken. Didn't Pete say after signing Flynn that Matt understood he was coming into Seattle to compete for the starting job? And that was before the draft, when John and Pete didn't know for certain whether they'd be successful acquiring Wilson. I believe Matt even said that he was there to compete. It was only ever a foregone conclusion to the media and some fans that Flynn would start.

Always compete.
 

Fuzzman55

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sc85sis":1ln9d37n said:
Someone please correct me if I'm mistaken. Didn't Pete say after signing Flynn that Matt understood he was coming into Seattle to compete for the starting job? And that was before the draft, when John and Pete didn't know for certain whether they'd be successful acquiring Wilson. I believe Matt even said that he was there to compete. It was only ever a foregone conclusion to the media and some fans that Flynn would start.

Always compete.

You're right. It was said multiple times. Flynn also said it multiple times. I remember because I was pulling for Flynn as much as any Seahawk because we really, really needed a starting QB. The whole 'maybe he didn't understand truly what that meant' is kind of an insult to Flynn. If he didn't grasp something that was heavily emphasized around the program and to him than that's his own fault.

The post was full of a lot of wandering words and veiled excuses as to what happened. The funniest part to me is that it can be explained with the simplest answer. Flynn got beat out. Period. End of story. It wasn't unfair. There were no favorites. And when you look at it that way there is absolutely no reason to knock Flynn. I like Flynn, I hope he's successful for the Raiders. I think he gave us a years good service and is mutually being moved on to help both the team and him.
 

CaptainSkybeard

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Based on the title and the build up I was expecting to see new, inside information. Instead, it was a regurgitation of randoms musings that have been floating around forever.

Author eludes to inside knowledge but his points seem based on speculation that any one of us could have surmised based on publicly available info.

I suppose its a decent timeline of events for someone who isn't familiar with the situation, but thats about it.
 

StaffAmerica74

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I remember seahawks.com filmed almost every single training camp session and put it online... I watched everyone single one and always thought wilson looked the best when they showed qb drills. I was also a huge kjr listener at this time and they never mentioned wilson at all and just said that he was no good. Also another thing at this time was that there was a rep count for the qbs and Flynn almost always had the most reps. Saying Flynn didn't have a fair chance is a bunch of BS.
 

JKent82

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Complicating matters was the emergence of the Owens story. Seattle brought in Owens to challenge for the split end position opposite Sidney Rice. He had shown glimpses of his past talents in practice and had proved his purpose by exposing Ricardo Lockette as a pretender. Lockette had flashed early in training camp, but faded immediately upon arrival of Owens. This was not a player who would rise to a challenge, but a man who would acquiesce when confronted. Golden Tate had thrown his lot in with Wilson at this point. His girlfriend had made fast friends with Ashton Wilson, and Tate's ability to high point a ball had made him a trusted target of Wilson.

T.O.'s purpose was to expose Ricardo Lockette as a pretender? What the hell? T.O.'s purpose was to see if T.O. could play football. Lockette got hurt part way through camp and didn't seem to progress after that. And then the part about Golden throwing in his lot with Wilson partially because their significant others were friends? Way to go twitter sleuth.

And he goes and blames T.O. for sabotaging Flynn? Does he think that Carroll couldn't see he threw a TD and T.O. dropped it? Does he still think Carroll picks his starters based on preseason stats alone or something?

A coaching staff and front office that knew their legacy would be defined by the decision they made at quarterback chose to put their weight behind the player they had targeted for more than a year.

Here's the fixed version.
A coaching staff and front office that knew their legacy would be defined by the decision they made at quarterback chose to put their weight behind the player they thought would be best for winning a superbowl.
 

hawkblogger

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Hey All,

Just wanted to thank you for reading, even if you disagree. To be honest, this was the reaction I expected to see when writing the article. Most people on the web have come to believe I am a Flynn apologist, and some even believe I am a converted Russell Wilson hater. I am neither, but can understand where the casual reader of my blog or twitter account would have come to those conclusions. In any event, I appreciate your opinions, even where I strongly disagree with them.

My beliefs and predictions are out there for the world (albeit a small world) to see, so I am very accustomed to being wrong in public. I was 100% wrong on the Flynn prediction, but the story for me will always be the aspects and people surrounding that decision.

Take care, and Go Hawks!
Brian
 

HawkMania

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MontanaHawk05":1gdb078c said:
Hawkblogger was enough of a Flynn apologist last year that he predicted on July 31st that Flynn would win, then said "Know better" to anyone else who was tempted to think otherwise. It was a safe prediction and followed the expected narrative, but he was remarkably John Morgan-like in his self-assuredness, and in the waffling and equivocations that ensued when the expected narrative bit him in the butt.

Two things that turn me off to a sportswriter, especially an amateur: smarminess and the inability to admit you're wrong.
Montana wins.
There were plenty who verbalised they thought flynn would win. Heck plenty of us on here thought and said the same stuff.
Albeit he lost. Say "i was wrong" and move on.
 

the ditch

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It's just an opinion but with Flynn's elbow injury and how terrible our offensive line was in the first half of the season, especially on the right side, I doubt Flynn would have been better that Wilson last season, I don't think there is any way you could convince me otherwise. You play to win the game and they chose the best guy last season and for the future.
 

Hawknballs

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I don't really know much about 'hawk blogger', is there some reason there is so much venom towards him/her? Maybe I'm naive I just don't know.

I read the article and I don't really have an opinion one way or the other on it. It's another story from someone with above average yet still limited access, which isn't uncommon in the age of blogs. And considering the quality level and motivation of even 'legitimate' credentialed journalists these days I don't really find any grievous offenses. Just another blog?
 
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