Seahawks: Weturn of the Wookie

Seahawks’ Weturn of the Wookie: Seahawks followers the world over, including Towonto, Canada, Wonce upon a time, I used to wevue wookies, as it was of gweat intewest to welatively evwyone. Wecognizing some of the wedundancies of wevuing wookies evwy week, led me to de-emphasize/wegulate the appeawance of the “Weekly Wookie Wevue”. Wookies are no more welevant than comeback players, wecently wecovering fwom injuwy. So I’ve weserved my weports for other things. Today I wevive the Wookie Wevue. That’s Seahawks’ other starting rookie quarterback (middle linebacker) Bobby Wagner (left) and constant opponent pass-pest, Bruce Irvin.   Since pre-draft, rookies were the center of nearly all NFL conversations, especially quarterbacks who, until this renewed age of trial-by-fire, were thought unready to control a team’s direction without a little driver’s-ed. We were so obsessed with who’d be drafted first and that inflated story held its hype for quite some time. We’ve heard lots about Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III. We’ve spent plenty of air on Cam Newton’s rookie campaign, which apparently set a new watermark for the next crop of rookies. Among the conversations, we heard (or read) about the regularity of rookies starting at quarterback. Griffin, Tannehill, Weeden, Luck and (Seattle Seahawks’) Russell Wilson. Though Wilson was more of a surprise to many NFL observers for many reasons, including having fallen asleep before the end of the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft. Good for you dedicated scouts. I guess you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone, 73 picks after the big story is over. For more focused research, review this ProFootballFocus link. How about this from Bleacher Report’s Featured Columnist Michael Moraitis: The race for the NFL Rookie of the Year will be a two-horse race between Robert Griffin III of the Washington Redskins and Andrew Luck of the Indianapolis Colts. With both quarterbacks having equally impressive seasons, this race could come down to who makes the playoffs. I don’t suppose any of us, including the Seahawks’ faithful, have ever taken the easy way out of a debate. A case like Moraitis’ would be throw out of my court (I don’t really have a court, more of a sandbox) without more substantiating evidence and a little “devil’s advocacy”. Why not do a little compare/contrast against a few other plaintiffs? You must anticipate the counter-arguments, the cross-examinations. My prescribed response for you Seahawks followers, fans or not, and especially those who believe in the strength of Seattle’s rookie offense-defense complements, respond “SHRUG”, if you wish to dampen the Luck-RGIII noise. I enjoy both players greatly. Luck’s stats aren’t pristine, but his team has constructed a solid mutual fund around him, so the Colts have been effective. Go on about the remarkable turnaround from last year’s record, but if you throw out the significance of Luck’s numbers so far, you must also throw out the meaninglessness of the wins-losses improvement too. In any given season, any team should have enough to perform towards the median of the league. Each season re-issues this standard. It’s hard for me to believe teams graduate from bottom-feeder to middle-feeder to top of food chain. That logic is obtuse. (Disclaimor: I don’t know what I mean by obtuse, but it doesn’t invalidate my claim…yet.) There’s every reason to believe the Falcons can lose to a losing team, twice. Is it simply divisional mojo? Maybe. But somehow I think this fortifies the argument that we need more eight-horse races than the simplified two-horse race. Conservatively, there should at least be enough horses mentioned to “win, place, or show”, no? Are you not a Seahawks fan or follower? That’s fine. If you think the Rookie of the Year is more than just a two-horse race, reply “SHRUG” in the comments section. I’m not so much soliciting votes for any of the Seahawks’ rookies, as I am looking for some response on how absurd it is to think there isn’t even one other rookie to mention. Von Miller for example has played an integral role in the tested success of the Broncos. The Weal McCoy To narrow down the field of rookies who’ll have more opportunity to raise their grades this season, look for players on the 2012 draft list playing for the Texans, Patriots, Falcons and 49ers. Also check out Broncos, Ravens, Giants and Packers. Last, but not forgotten, Colts, Steelers, Seahawks, Bears. If you want to revisit the 2012 Draft rounds, I’ve included an ESPN link for you. Perhaps now is as good a time as any to learn about rookies who’ll likely make the playoffs. I’d like to give a very honorable mention to Luke Kuechly of the Panthers. Given the season Carolina has had, Kuechly has been very active. There are times when players, squads or teams surrender to fatigue and failures. Not Kuechly, he works overtime. Rather than counting sheep to get to sleep, I bet he tackles them. Such commitment. Some would say Kuechly is yet another starting rookie quarterback. Speaking of starting rookie quarterbacks on the defensive side of the ball; I mentioned Carolina’s Luke Kuechly, but let’s not forget Bobby Wagner. He’s also a starting rookie (defensive) quarterback.   When I say “Tebow”, you say “”. “Tebow!” I understand what it’s means to be given proper recognition. In my twenty-plus years growing up in New York, I remember what it was like to think of the Seahawks as “that team out there.” In fact I was so ignorant in recognizing local NFL talents after moving to the Seattle area, I had no idea who Nesby Glasgow was when I was standing opposite him one day at Seahawks Stadium’s first open house asking him if he knew of any football leagues that I could join in the greater Seattle area. I believe he assumed I was asking about professional prospects, as I was talking to him, so he must have thought I knew he was a former Seahawk. “First, you gotta get some film,” is what he told me. Ohhh! That’s Nesby Glasgow. I knew about Steve Largent when I was a young NFL fan in New York. I probably couldn’t pick him out of a lineup without his playing card, but I knew of him. Such is the fate of the Pacific Northwest. Unless you’re Brian Bosworth, with an over-the-top trademark look, there’s a chance you’ll spend a lot more time in obscurity. I’ve come to appreciate it though. Think about it. I could be in the middle of the ennui that is the New York Jets’ media identity. I enjoy the idea that Seattle and the Seahawks carry a bit of mystery and suspense. Did you know that one of the Seahawks is a vampire? It’s true!*Citation needed. …and I bet that’s Steve Largent. Growing up in New York, I was ignorant of some of the great players out West. I’m also glad I don’t have to look at all the New York Newspapers, week in, week out. Seeing the same story over and over wears thin. There’s a kid on Long Island right now, just learning about the NFL who loves the apparent humility of the guy who wears #3 for the Seahawks, just as I enjoyed the athleticism of a receiver named “Largent”.   It has become amusing. Many fans in the area will feel disrespected for the lack of ink spent on Bobby Wagner, Bruce Irvin and Russell Wilson. I feel quite the opposite. Truth is sometimes better represented -in actions on the field- than words-in-the-papers. Vampires don’t appear in the daylight enough to appear so frequently in news media, do they? Maybe the Seahawks followers don’t need more Wilson talk to balance out the rookie conversation. Perhaps they just need less Luck-RGIII stories, the RGIII injury story notwithstanding. The New York Post back page, bigger than your face! Set of logics proves Tim Tebow no vampire, no? New York Post yet to print! Tim Transylvania? I love New York! I really do.       FOR MORE S-L-U-G-G-O-!-!-!- POSTS, CLICK HERE.  Go Seahawks!