Sam Darnold Frees The Spirits
Super Bowl 60 must have been cathartic for Seattle fans in a way few fanbases get to experience. They won the Super Bowl, sure, but in the process, they got to somewhat avenge one of the most bitter losses in Super Bowl history. Super Bowl 49 was over a decade ago, and as far as I know nobody from that team remained in Seattle long enough to witness this one, but the fans remember. The fans stick around. They witnessed what they thought to be the birth of their dynasty take a massive arrow to the knee to these cursed Patriots, and over the next decade the decay would set in. They would never reach the Super Bowl again, and they would get washed out of the playoffs earlier and earlier, until they didn’t make it at all. Many of the legends from that era would leave, they would be bitter (Sherman) they would go insane (Earl Thomas), they would tarnish their reputation and become insufferable (Russ). Many of the brutally irritating bandwagon 12s would peel off and become angry bitter lifetime fans like the rest of us sickos, or just pass into casual fairweather fandom. Eventually the team reached the point of a hard reset.
And look at them now. Quicker than anyone could have predicted, Mike Macdonald, he of resting confusion face, whipped this defense into a monster. They jettisoned one journeyman who was declining (Geno) and picked up a different journeyman on the rise (Darnold). They shipped off DK Metcalf (The DK stands for Diva Knob) and grabbed Cooper Kupp to mentor JSN. They filled holes in the draft, and set themselves up for success, in what ended up being the toughest division in football.
This team feels very different than the Legion of Boom team. The vibe is much quieter. Macdonald is not nearly as animated as Pete Carroll, he’s very no-nonsense and business-oriented. Darnold himself is extremely humble and chill, even going so much as to criticize his own play in his post-super bowl sideline interview. He’s humble and respectful in a way Russ always felt fake. Russ was corny and respectful, but he carried an air of elitism about him that would rub his teammates and eventually fans the wrong way. Darnold just feels like a good dude. The defense is smothering and already in contention for the best defense of the 2020’s. but they have almost no character compared to the Legion of Boom, which was all character. The “Dark Side” moniker they gave themselves feels cringe and forced. Nobody is going to call them that except the 12s.
The entire team felt like they flew under the radar until the second Rams game. I’d wager that most of America didn’t realize they were even in contention for the top seed until that game. This is not a team that Kramer’d its way through the door of the league to grab our attention. This was a team that just went to work, did the work, and won. Even other defenses got more love as the year progressed. The Texans defense got so much love. Denver got lots of attention. Even the 49ers got a lot of respect due to them punching above their weight with Robert Saleh helping overcome injuries. The Seattle D doesn’t have a lot of household names, yet. JSN seemed like the only guy who properly got the attention he deserved this year. The Legion of Boom team was the flashy celebrity team, this is a working man’s team.
As Seattle learned last time, a Super Bowl win is special and you cannot count on one coming again soon. Them being so good this year doesn’t mean things can’t go wrong next year, or that they will ever make it again. Seattle didn’t have to wait terribly long to feel this joy again in the grand scheme of the league, but they had to wait long enough to understand the moment. Congrats, guys.
Please 12’s, don’t be as annoying as you were after the last one.
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Dont forget to get your nominations in for the annual Chaos Awards!
The current iteration doesn’t have a freak of nature like Bam Bam Kam to vault over the o-line to block field goals to make statement plays.
Like you said, they’re not flashy. They just go to work and get it done. They win with scheme and technique.
Which I’m okay with. It’s refreshing to listen to every Seahawk from ownership to rookie talk about the team culture in Seattle. Once the tea starting being shared on how Russ’ behavior created a lot of fractures in the locker room (particularly with Marshawn), it’s great as a fan to see the entire team tell to nation to get fucked if you mess with them especially Darnold. It gives more hope that this’ll last into the future rather than stacking divas.
Seattle has always been too polite place. It’s great to see some of that Philadelphia-type swagger get injected into the discourse.
Go Hawks!