Funny that things have a way of working themselves out. Just last week I posted comments regarding Jeremy Lane and his being upset that he'd been benched, although I don't know if that was ever actually the case. I commented that in Lane's absence due to injuries, which seem to be never ending in more recent history, that Shaquill Griffin had rightfully earned his position and that if Jeremy wanted to resume the lead at that position, that he would be given an opportunity to do so, as soon as he could play.
That opportunity came this past Sunday. Pete Carroll, true to his word, gave Lane his opportunity, and I don't want to sound to critical, but I thought Jeremy failed miserably and demonstrated to everyone why Shaquill deserved the position he was playing.
I saw one play where Jeremy missed his coverage assignment completely, on a run play, that allowed the Texans to pick convert to a first down, and then, it seems it was the very next play, that Jeremy was called for pass interference, near the Texans end zone, that put the Texans at 1st and goal, and that ultimately resulted in a touchdown in that series. I remember thinking to myself, that the hold was a border line call, but if you are playing for the Seahawks, by this point in the season, you should know that the refs are not going to do us any favors, if you give them a reason they will call it every time.
I personally don't recall seeing Jeremy in the game after that, I think that Pete and Kris had seen quite enough, and Shaquill reappeared out there, and played the remainder of the game. It also seems to me that I heard Pete mention in his Post Game Press Conference, that Jeremy Lane either developed a new injury or agitated an existing injury and that was why he was pulled out of the game, not referencing his play results, I guess trying to preserve his trade value, and not doing anything to interfere with the trade negotiations that were underway.
Then, just a short while later, like manna from the heavens, comes the announcement, that the Seahawks just completed a trade for Duane Brown, from the Houston Texans, for none other than Jeremy Lane and two draft picks, a 5th rounder next year and a 2nd rounder in 2018, which we almost never use anyways. Seattle always scores their best draft picks in the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th rounds, even a few greats have come out of the 8th round.
WOW, and with this announcement, all our position problems, are solved in one fell swoop! It couldn't have played out any better, we all just had that long discussion the other day about how Jeremy had survived not being traded at the end of Pre-Season, when he, Kearse and Collins were all being shopped. Everyone had pretty much concluded that we should continue trying to trade Jeremy and take whatever we could get for him, a draft pick or two, trading cards, with bubblegum unopened, lol, anything. Hats off to Seahawks General Manager, John Schneider, for pulling off one of the best trade deals in Seahawks franchise history.
What more could we possibly ask for, Jeremy Lane, who had become an albatross to the Seahawks, with his deteriorating play, and endless list of injuries, is headed off to play for the Houston Texans, or take up room on their bench and salary cap. I sincerely hope that Jeremy gets healthy and can do well in Texas, perhaps he'll be able to get health and stay healthy in the warmer and dryer climate down there.
Last and certainly not least, Shaquill Griffin, locks up his deserved position, and thats not all, we also signed a bonafide, real deal, genuine article, Pro Bowl, Left Tackle, to fill our weakest link on the offensive line, not to mention all the other contributions that his presence will provide to our offense.
Duane Brown, is a seasoned team leader, and will have a profound impact on the Seahawks offense. That is another Topic and post though, sorry didn't mean to get that far off track here. Call it divine intervention, or plain old fashion dumb luck, I'll call it the spirit of the 12th Man at play which historically embodies both divine intervention and dumb luck he he.
All is well once again in Emerald City, and with the Seattle Seahawks, on this day, and we all welcome Shaquill Griffin, to his hard earned and much deserved spot on the team Shaquill, competition is the word of the day and you have damn sure earned it, and have the fight and durability to play there for a good long time, I believe, your only going to get better with time and experience, which is mind blowing to think about, when considering how well you play already.
Go Seahawks !