ESPN piece on Seahawks Wilson breakup

[keasley45]

Simmering tension, a 'declining player' and a public breakup: Inside Seattle's trade of Russell Wilson

Wilson's personal aspirations conflicted with a Seahawks organization that had different goals and was skeptical about its QB's long-term future.

www.espn.com

one thing I didn’t know:

Then came the clearest sign yet to Wilson's camp that Seattle's interest in other quarterbacks was something more than due diligence. The Seahawks, according to someone in Wilson's camp and the Seahawks' front office, called the Cleveland Browns before the 2018 draft to discuss a trade that would have swapped Wilson for the No. 1 overall pick. Wilson's agent, Mark Rodgers, found out.

Been saying this for a while now. John was done with Russel. Why? Because even though some here don't want to admit it, for as much good as he's done and for as amazing as he is, he's also a liability when trying to run a traditional passing offense.

John wanted to cut bait when he saw that we couldn't succeed with Russ unless we had a kickass defense and running game to cover over the shortfalls.

Russ's team knew this, knew they were looking at other options, and Russ himself has lived through teammates being frustrated with him and in particular a defense and running game that was made to make his shortfalls 'OK' long enough for him to not actually run the plays called, effectively, but to do his own thing and just make stuff up... unless it was off of PA or his Alert audibles.

Everything from Russ and team Russ since 2018 has been setting the stage to retaliate and save face.

John was right. Pete was wrong and screwed us.

Hass had an interesting take on the situation when he commented that last year was just bad for Russ, saying that he wasn't making plays you'd expect a high school qb to make.

I wonder how many of those fails were plays that were sent in by Shane, from the 'new' playbook, that we attempted but then when he failed would end up reverting back to the handful of plays and formations he was comfortable with.

The emperor had no clothes. Russ just made it ok, because he looked the business in his jammies.

I'd wager more Intel on this whole thing will be coming out over the year.

But not surprised at all.

 

[keasley45]

If only John Schneider got his way and traded Wilson to the Browns, used the number one pick and grabbed Josh Allen.

Yup

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Fair enough. I guess I just don't understand the obsession. Sounds more like a bunch of people who can't get over a high school breakup. This is the NFL, players move on.
But it's not going away anytime soon so.......

 

[FattyKnuckle]

This article is a horrible look for Russ. It largely paints him as an egomaniac concerned with individual accolades.

Not surprising.

I remember that play it mentioned where he threw the puck instead of running for a 1st. It makes total sense now from the pov of this article.

 

[JPatera76]

He's gone, as everyone else has said, He's a Bronco Screw him.

But overall, Between the quotes and that article, Russ burned bridges, pissed of team mates (obviously a whole defense LOB as well) threw people like Duane Brown Under the bridge which he wasnt happy about. But.... Wilson became about himself, HIS legacy and HIS desire for MVP.

Russ became about Russ. Its how it is, and how it will be.

Honestly I'm also not suprised by any of this either. I think and still stand by it, the most telling thing of wilson was what wasnt said when he left, and that was the lack of or NO goodbyes, goodlucks or any of that when he was traded to Denver from former to current players. No one said anything and still hasn't. Current and Past teammates have voice more about the Wagner situation than Russell.

 

[Maelstrom787]

Fair enough. I guess I just don't understand the obsession. Sounds more like a bunch of people who can't get over a high school breakup. This is the NFL, players move on.
But it's not going away anytime soon so.......

There are definitely a lot of strong feelings.

Really, my interest just lies in getting a peek behind the curtain.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

I'm guessing down the road, there will be a hell of a documentary.
It's very telling that I'm glad he is gone. No secret that he WAS my favorite player. I'm long since over it. And I'm seeing things a lot different these days.
SOME of the stuff said about him is looking true. Then again, he's gone. Waste of energy. It's like dwelling on a High School break up.
Sometimes you just need to get over it and move on. Just my opinion.

 

[seatownlowdown]

I've seen Pete coast when he has a lead. The defence plays 10 yards off of the receivers, giving up huge chunks of yardage play after play. It's risky and infuriating to watch.

that's one my biggest gripes with his handling of the offense and defense. literally taking what got the team into a winning position, whether its an aggressive offense or aggressive defense, and then changing the playstyle- playing not to lose rather than continuing to destroy the other team. it's lunacy. it also demoralizes the team that worked hard to obtain that lead, that leverage. you can see the team get tentative, and start to look at the scoreboard and clock, rather than be in the moment. i get the need to protect the football, limit big plays, run clock, etc... it just that it works against us more often than not... imo . add in that we get behind in games because we are too passive and run against 7 man fronts, letting the other team dictate the scoreboard... seems like we are always behind at halftime, even to scrub teams because of this passiveness.

...KEEP YOUR F*CKING FOOT ON THE GAS...

 

[m0ng0]

^^^ That's exactly right!! It's like coasting down to the bottom of a hill and realizing uh oh it's a tie game so you floor it thinking we can regain the speed and intensity again but as they say it's now an uphill battle.

If you are going to lose, lose playing your game not this prevent defense garbage, sub in some youngsters and let them get some reps and let them feel the intensity and let them try and maintain it. That's how you learn and grow. If you get beat playing your game your beat and I have no probl with that.

watching a dominant defense let the other team dink and dunk their way to a win is maddening.

 

[m0ng0]

I find it curious that Russ is so insecure, being an MVP candidate and all that, why would he be afraid of bringing in a rookie to push him. If nothing else Russ could have expanded his brand to mentor of fresh young talent and/or it could have pushed him to being more unlimited than he already was

 

[SoulfishHawk]

As insecure as the fans?

 

[Aircrew]

Been saying this for a while now. John was done with Russel. Why? Because even though some here don't want to admit it, for as much good as he's done and for as amazing as he is, he's also a liability when trying to run a traditional passing offense.

John wanted to cut bait when he saw that we couldn't succeed with Russ unless we had a kickass defense and running game to cover over the shortfalls.

Russ's team knew this, knew they were looking at other options, and Russ himself has lived through teammates being frustrated with him and in particular a defense and running game that was made to make his shortfalls 'OK' long enough for him to not actually run the plays called, effectively, but to do his own thing and just make stuff up... unless it was off of PA or his Alert audibles.

Everything from Russ and team Russ since 2018 has been setting the stage to retaliate and save face.

John was right. Pete was wrong and screwed us.

Hass had an interesting take on the situation when he commented that last year was just bad for Russ, saying that he wasn't making plays you'd expect a high school qb to make.

I wonder how many of those fails were plays that were sent in by Shane, from the 'new' playbook, that we attempted but then when he failed would end up reverting back to the handful of plays and formations he was comfortable with.

The emperor had no clothes. Russ just made it ok, because he looked the business in his jammies.

I'd wager more Intel on this whole thing will be coming out over the year.

But not surprised at all.

100% this.

Also, as it became glaringly obvious over the last 2-3 years, Russ's public image was a sham and he was all about himself and not the team. "Good Riddance" has never felt so right and I'm SO glad Schneider traded him when he did and got what he did in return. Russ will probably have a good year in 2022, but something tells me Huard was right, he'll start noticably regressing in 2023 and beyond.

 

[toffee]

I'll just leave this reminder here:
Superbowl LI
3rd quarter:
ATL-28 NE-9
Final:
ATL-28 NE 34

Never let the gas off. Beat them up always.

Use the passing game to build a lead, then use the running game to kill time and protect the lead. That was Bill Walsh's philosophy, well documented in his books. In ATL's case, Shanahan didn't do that, he did "stepped on the gas", and kept passing the ball. ATL blew the lead and lost.

You sir may want to rewatch that game.

 

[toffee]

100% this.

Also, as it became glaringly obvious over the last 2-3 years, Russ's public image was a sham and he was all about himself and not the team. "Good Riddance" has never felt so right and I'm SO glad Schneider traded him when he did and got what he did in return. Russ will probably have a good year in 2022, but something tells me Huard was right, he'll start noticably regressing in 2023 and beyond.

I like to further speculate that Jody (with y) and John teamed up and overrode Pete, I often wonder if Pete still have the final word on all things Seahawks? or John is an equal now?

 

[Palmegranite]

Did the ATL defense all head to the locker room when NE put up 25 unanswered points?
Foot off a da gas I tell you.

 

[chrispy]

...also: Props to Brady Henderson for a really good article. It seems well researched from other media sources and backed up by personal sources both inside the Seahawk organization and RW3's camp. I liked Mike Sando's "just the facts" articles when he covered the Seahawks for ESPN but haven't seen anything this good yet from Brady up 'til now. I hope it keeps coming. It adds a lot to a season and an organization. Print media isn't dead yet....

 

[Sun Tzu]

Simmering tension, a 'declining player' and a public breakup: Inside Seattle's trade of Russell Wilson

Wilson's personal aspirations conflicted with a Seahawks organization that had different goals and was skeptical about its QB's long-term future.

www.espn.com

one thing I didn’t know:

Then came the clearest sign yet to Wilson's camp that Seattle's interest in other quarterbacks was something more than due diligence. The Seahawks, according to someone in Wilson's camp and the Seahawks' front office, called the Cleveland Browns before the 2018 draft to discuss a trade that would have swapped Wilson for the No. 1 overall pick. Wilson's agent, Mark Rodgers, found out.

Great read, thanks for posting.

I remember a thread on .net from the 2020 offseason (post-draft and before preseason - the slow news time) arguing about whether or not the Hawks had explored trading Wilson to the Browns in 2018. I think it got started up by some clickbait "journalist" saying something. If my memory serves it got pretty heated. For me, this is a good reminder that even lazy clickbait journalists have inside information from time to time. Sometimes the hacks say things the legitimate journalists keep to themselves in order to maintain the relationships they've built with teams, players, and agents.

 

[toffee]

Great read, thanks for posting.

I remember a thread on .net from the 2020 offseason (post-draft and before preseason - the slow news time) arguing about whether or not the Hawks had explored trading Wilson to the Browns in 2018. I think it got started up by some clickbait "journalist" saying something. If my memory serves it got pretty heated. For me, this is a good reminder that even lazy clickbait journalists have inside information from time to time. Sometimes the hacks say things the legitimate journalists keep to themselves in order to maintain the relationships they've built with teams, players, and agents.

2019/2020 was the turning point for me, I SLOWLY opened my eyes and reviewed my position as a Russell Wilson die hard homer, by 2021 I was advocating to trade Wilson. Back in 2018, I was surprised by Wilson's reaction or in my opinion at the time, over reaction to John scouting QB. I thought a HOF caliber QB shouldn't worry about having a young apprentice, and I thought John won't be doing his job if he wasn't looking around all the time.

2019 opened my eyes to Russ' inability to carry the team when Carson and Penny went down, by 2020 I was open to trading Wilson, lol, 2021 was all out trade him.

 

[toffee]

In this article, our Angry said the best line:

"From my vantage point," said former Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin, a teammate of Wilson's for seven seasons, "the divorce was inevitable and was many years in the making. The reasons are multiple, but ultimately, I think it comes down to a difference of pursuits."

I personally felt vindicated for advocating to trade Russ since 2021. The team was in pursuit of winning games and ultimately rings, Russ was in pursuit of whatever he was pursuing but different from the team's.

A difference of pursuits, my fellow .net brethren, Baldwin used his four years of Stanford to put together those words.

 

[keasley45]

2019/2020 was the turning point for me, I SLOWLY opened my eyes and reviewed my position as a Russell Wilson die hard homer, by 2021 I was advocating to trade Wilson. Back in 2018, I was surprised by Wilson's reaction or in my opinion at the time, over reaction to John scouting QB. I thought a HOF caliber QB shouldn't worry about having a young apprentice, and I thought John won't be doing his job if he wasn't looking around all the time.

2019 opened my eyes to Russ' inability to carry the team when Carson and Penny went down, by 2020 I was open to trading Wilson, lol, 2021 was all out trade him.

I started seeing him differently in 2016 when I saw them play in person on Monday night against the Lions (the game where we won with the forced fumble as Megatron was about to score the winning TD... KJ knocked the ball out thr back of the endzone for a touchback).

I remember having just bought my Authentic Wilson jersey... got to our seats and started chatting folks up and to a man, they were sooo down on his play. Then, for the first time, I saw for myself what I couldn't on TV... he made his plays, but for about 55 minutes, missed more than he hit.

But yeah, I thought Wentz was the benchmark for being butthurt about your FO looking to the future. His tantrum doesn't compare to what went down here.

Brady was challenged when they brought Garappolo in as his heir apparent and he promptly sent him packing. He didn't disparage the FO. He didn't sew division. He just went out and balled.

It will be interesting to see how Russ handles the pressure of the truth about him coming out. I mean, it was Pete who identified early on that his psyche was shakey when it came to hyper criticism. Now, he's made his bed and put a fence around it.

I dont think it's a coincidence that he played so poorly last year - I think the fact that the house of cards was crumbling and even DK was frustrated with him internally, folks outside were questioning his greatness, and he wasnt comfortbale with Shane's playbook, directly led to what Hass described as not even high school quality execution.

Hes also the same guy who KNOWS the league has him figured. B Baker pretty much summed up the strategy against Russ when recapping their victory against us in OT in 2020... that their defense knew that when they brought enough pressure, he'd start to panic and make mistakes.

That formula is no different. We've been on the receiving end of it for 3 years now. When Russ was ok making way with his legs, he could buy more room to execute. But since he stopped doing that and tries to sit back and just deal... he doesn't have the anticipation or the ability to progress through his reads quick enough. He'll pull the ball down and try to make space. Force him to make a mistake in confusion, throwing to an area he isn't comfortable with, and his confidence will be shaken.

We just need to get to him a few times.