Was this one:
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For me, that int, the way it happened, after the smothering, dominant performance the defense had posted up to that point felt so eerily similar to SO many games in the LOB days when Sherm, Bryant, Mebane, KJ, Wagner, Kam, and Earl would literally punish teams into submission.
Often, there would be a point in a game where the opposing offense might find a bit of momentum and begin to feel that maybe, just maybe they had a chance - only to have that glimmer of hope snuffed out by a forced fumble on a crushing hit or an INT by Sherm or Earl. The net affect on the morale of the visitors afterwards ? - Even worse than if they'd never found momentum at all.
For that play to happen at all when it did was just poetry. For Bryant to do BeastMode's Deez Nutts celebration... man. It just shows you how strong the legacy of 'what was' here in Seattle under Pete in our glory days truly is, despite us having to forever lament 'what might have been'.
That moment, that celebration, the entire performance on defense... even before the game - the comments the players made this past week about NEEDING to get the LOB sense of accountability, commitment to excellence, and brotherly bond back... it all culminated (for me) in Bryant's backwards jump into the endzone - Past greatness being transferred to the next generation (or at least for the moment, the REAL potential for it).
Its a truly special thing to know how bonded these players are to those that came before them and all it stood for.
I would always look back on the LOB days, our Superbowl win and marvel at the greatness that was playing out before our eyes for those handful of years, and then be struck by a sense of sadness for how it all was just left to crumble. The same genius spirit that created it, somehow let it all slowly fall away. Yesterday may have changed that for me, as it was the first time that i felt as though the legend and mystique of what was born here on the fields of Qwest, and the 'Clink' at the defening cheers of the crowd never really died. It just laid silently, waiting for the right men to come along and bring it forth again.
As was written in the script of one of my all time favorite movies:
'What we do in life, echoes in eternity'.
Its a line in a film, spoken by an actor, playing out a scene. But those words are as true as any ever spoken by any man who ever lived. And in this town, on this team for this city and its fans who for decades cheered moments of triumph and withstood seasons of darkness, to know that we bore witness to not just football greatness, but sports greatness. That such a unique legacy was born here. The acts. The achievements. That the legacy still echoes on...
There are so very few teams who's greatness transends time and becames a real, tangible part of the sport's fabric and a team's identity. We have witnessed and are witnessing the story of one such team being written.
For so long i lamented the death of the LOB.
It never died.
The names and numbers on the jerseys are different. But the spirit has returned.
