It's just a game, I tell myself

I was almost ready to buy an NFL game>pass for the rest of the season before the Seahawks lost to the Rams.  It seems like the NFL is really struggling for European viewers, offering a weekly rate of 99 cents, but it still wasn't worth it with Seattle now out of the playoff hunt.  It's the only reason I still follow American football.

As it is, my wife doesn't like me following the gamecasts on ESPN.  She wants my undivided attention in the evening.  Both hands, not one scrolling my cellphone, as we stretch out on the couch with me rubbing her feet as we watch some program on television.  No worries anymore.  What was left of the season was blown to hell when Seattle gave up a 10-point lead to the Bears, assuring their worst season of the Pete Carroll era.

I don't know why I let this get to me, but it does.  I spent the next morning on facebook responding to all the news feeds on the game, getting into useless arguments as to what Seattle should do next to improve their fortunes.  My wife was worried all our friends would see my ramblings and think I had gone crazy over Christmas.  

Any other team would have fired their coach after a game like that, but Pete is an icon at Seattle.  He guided the team to its first Super Bowl win in 2014 and has the unwavering support of the owner, Jody Allen, who no doubt will give him another chance next year to right the ship.

Seattle almost lost its football team in the late 90s.  Los Angeles had lost its franchises and was shopping for a new team.  The Seahawks had never really done well.  The Kingdome was falling apart and residents weren't willing to pay for a new stadium, but still they loved their 'Hawks and were very grateful when Paul Allen bought the team.  He invested heavily in the Seahwaks, provided of course the city build a new stadium, which it eventually did.  The Kingdome was imploded, bringing to an end a long era of futility, and with it hopes of a brighter football future.  Allen delivered.  He lured away the head coach of Green Bay, who rebuilt the team around a young running back Shaun Alexander and a strong defense, which led the 'Hawks to their first Super Bowl appearance in 2006.  Unfortunately, they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Chet Holmgren couldn't repeat the magic and the 'Hawks began to fade.  Allen hired Pete Carroll to overhaul the team.  It didn't matter that he left USC in shambles.  Paul had complete trust in Pete.  Things didn't start out very smoothly, two 7-9 seasons with the brightest spot being an explosive running back named Marshawn Lynch, who earned the nickname Beast Mode because of his ability to run over defensive players.  The 'Hawks did get to the playoffs one year, seemingly by default, which set up the most memorable run by Beast Mode, where he appeared to run over every New Orleans player en route to a 67-yard touchdown.  The crowd was so excited that you could literally feel the stadium shake, hence the term Beast Quake was born.   

In 2012, Seattle added a virtually unknown Russell Wilson to its roster, a rookie quarterback out of Wisconsin that they had drafted in the third round.  No one knew what to expect from him, but Pete saw something special in Russ, choosing to go all in that season and make him the starter over veteran quarterback Matt Flynn.  Russ was an immediate success.  It was still Marshawn's team, but Russ provided the perfect balance with his uncanny ability to escape pressure and find receivers downfield for huge scores.  The Seahawks posted their first winning record in several years and made it to the playoffs as a wild card, losing in the waning seconds to Atlanta in the divisional round.  

The team built on this success and stormed through the 2013 season to a 13-3 record.  They laid waste to their opponents in the playoffs and faced a resurgent Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 48.  This was supposed to be Peyton Manning's shining hour as he had been awarded the MVP for his prolific season.  However, Seattle stole the limelight with a stellar defensive effort that shut down the Broncos completely.  Russ and Marshawn did the rest, routing Denver 43-8.

At the height of my euphoria, I had cut out practically a full team of paper cubees, and had Marshawn and Russ sitting on my desk at the office.  I got one of the young interns interested in American football. We would talk about the games Monday morning after he watched a highlight video on Youtube.  He was amazed by the athleticism of the players, especially when I told him how big they were.  Marshawn Lynch was running over players who weighed 20 to 30 kilograms more than he did.  It is hard to imagine that kind of power.  

I tossed a football with my daughter those early Fall days of the 2014 season, but she preferred badminton instead.  Even still, she posed with me in Seattle jerseys for a picture I sent to the Seahawks facebook page, showing that they had fans in Vilnius.  My Seahawks cap always got looks whenever I wore it around town, mostly because no one had any idea what team it represented.

Seattle looked so good that sports pundits thought they would be the team to beat for the rest of the decade.  For Seattle fans, this was a special moment.  Having lived so many years in the shadow of San Francisco, this was the team's chance to win multiple Super Bowls, like the 49'ers did back in the 80s and 90s.  Unfortunately, an ill-fated pass play brought the would-be dynasty to an end the following year, when New England stole Super Bowl 49 from them.  Seattle has never been the same team since.

Sure, they've been respectable, returning to the playoffs year after year.  There was even great hope last year that Seattle would return to the Super Bowl when Russ got off to a stellar start, but it was not to be.  Los Angeles dealt the Seahawks a tough loss in the wildcard round and bitter feelings began to fester in the off-season. 

I didn't know what to expect this year.  The team still seemed solid even if Russ had hinted that he wanted to be traded back in March.  Chicago was so eager to grab him that they were willing to give up two first round picks, 2022 and 2023, but John Schneider, the general manager, didn't think that was enough.  It showed how much value the Seahawks placed on Wilson.  Great expectations turned to bitter resentment when Russ no longer seemed able to work his magic.  Seattle lost 6 of 7 games during an awful stretch in which he missed three games due to a finger injury.  A big win over San Francisco had fans thinking Russ had regained his touch, but two weeks later he suffered an ugly loss to Los Angeles, ending any playoffs hopes.

The Chicago game didn't really matter other than fans wanted Seattle to win out and regain some measure of respect, but a late game sack and a shift in momentum saw the Bears pull out a last minute win in Lumen Field, adding insult to injury.  This is what has gotten fans so riled up, me included.  How could you lose to the hapless Bears up 10 in the fourth quarter?

Pete had always been one to take the blame when things went wrong, but for some odd reason he pointed to the sack, which cost the team a valuable field goal.  Pete has had a great run, giving Seattle more than any other coach ever had, but there no longer is any bounce in his step and he is truly at a loss as to what went wrong this year.  He blabbers on about execution, as if it is a breakdown in fundamentals, but Russ was trying to make something out of nothing, which has been the case all year.

I doubt many of you could care less, and I understand why.  It's just football.  Yet, for some odd reason it has this hold over me.  I suppose it is because I still retain a strong sentiment from my youth, having grown up watching these games on Sunday afternoons with my father.  I was so excited when Seattle finally got an NFL team in 1976.  I wanted to see them play, but we lived at the opposite end of the country in Florida.  I cheered them on when they scored a huge upset win over Miami in a 1983 New Year's Even playoff game, earning the enmity of my Florida friends.  I have followed them for 45 years.  European football fans have their Maradona and Renaldo, I have my Beast Mode and Russ.

Anyway, I will put this year behind me and accept whatever fate befalls the Seahawks during the off-season.  Obviously, there will be a major shakeup.  My guess is there will be no more Russ, just as I have had to live with no Beast Mode for the past few years.  It's just a game, I tell myself.