In the days leading up to Super Bowl XLVIII several Seattle Seahawks players spoke, bitched really, of a perceived lack of respect. It seemed manufactured as the Seahawks have been Super Bowl favorites since the beginning of the season. They rarely stumbled during the season and their place among the favorites never wavered. They were right there with the San Francisco 49ers, Denver Broncos, and New England Patriots all season long. The Broncos might have been favored in the Super Bowl but the Seahawks were the favorites of most of the "experts." I didn't see every prediction but of the ones that I did see most, by far, had the Seattle Seahawks winning Super Bowl XLVIII.
So, where was all that lack of respect. I really have no idea. Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman has recently bitched about the "trash talk" from Wes Welker during Super Bowl Media Day. Welker had the nerve to say that he wanted to face Sherman in the big game. Oooh, burn! "Don't talk about me...," cried Sherman. Top athletes tend to relish competing against other top athletes. Most see facing the best to be part of becoming the best. Welker's words were complimentary. To Sherman, it's an insult. All of this lack of respect for the Seahawks seemed to be manufactured within the Seattle locker room. It's impossible to criticize the strategy of the Seahawks. They thrashed, mauled, muscled, and bitched their way to a championship. They convinced themselves that everyone outside of Seattle was against them. Even if it was imagined more than real, it worked. Head coach Pete Carroll made a similar fantasy work at USC. Seahawks general manager John Schneider and Carroll have put together a fantastic football team. Everyone knew it before the Super Bowl win. Everyone admitted it before the Super Bowl win. There has been nothing but respect for the Seattle Seahawks since the end of their 2012 NFL season. I don't even think that there would have been too much surprise if the Seahawks had scrapped their way into Super Bowl XLVII, let alone dominate their way into Super Bowl XLVIII.
As annoying as the Seahawks self-manufactured lack of respect has been the excessive fawning over the production of their late-round draft picks. It's as if the 2013 Seattle Seahawks are the first team to find productive football players from all rounds of the NFL Draft. Every Super Bowl champion and every pre-Super Bowl NFL champion since 1936 has found success in the NFL Draft. It's impossible to build a champion without successful drafts. A successful draft is measured by success through all rounds of the draft. The manner in which the media has fawned over the Seahawks late-round draft picks and undrafted players you'd think that no team had ever done it before. The Seahawks needed undrafted receivers Doug Baldwin and Jermaine Kearse to step up because 4th-rounder Kris Durham, 3rd-rounder Chris Harper, and big-money free agent Sidney Rice hadn't produced to the round that they were drafted or the amount of money that they were paid. The media talks little of the six defensive starters that were drafted in the first four rounds. All that you hear about are the five starters that were selected in the last three rounds, or not at all. For each of their fifth round stars (Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor) there's a first round standout (Earl Thomas and Bruce Irvin). You'd think that the Seahawks were a champion built without the benefit of first round picks. They have first round starters on both sides of the ball. Thomas, Irvin, Marshawn Lynch, Percy Harvin, Russell Okung, and James Carpenter. Every front office decision in Seattle hasn't been golden since Schneider and Carroll came on board. If Schneider had been more successful at adding playmakers at receiver, he wouldn't have had to spend a bunch for Sidney Rice in free agency. He wouldn't have had to give up first, third, and seventh round picks for Percy Harvin. According to the fawning of the media, that seventh round pick is as good as a first in Seattle. Prior to the emergence of Russell Wilson, Schneider had been flailing around trying to find a quarterback to replace Matt Hasselbeck. He traded a third(!) for Charlie Whitehurst. He signed Tarvaris Jackson and Matt Flynn as free agents. All three were supposed to be "the guy" at one time. Even Wilson wasn't taken until the third round. If Schneider was convinced that Wilson was going to be as good as he has become, why take a chance that he'd still be available in the third? The Seahawks lucked into Wilson just as the Patriots lucked into Tom Brady. Each team is thought to be brilliant because they found a franchise quarterback in a round other than the first. Really, each team was lucky that so many teams fall in love in love with measurables every year and forget all that truly makes up a standout football player. John Schneider has done a terrific job building a champion Seattle Seahawks football team. Pete Carroll, no matter how annoying he is to watch on the sideline, has done a terrific job of coaching a champion Seattle Seahawks football team. They have not rewritten any book on how to build a champion football team. They have only written their book. Every championship team has been created differently. Even repeat champions are created a little differently than the year before. Many in the media are talking dynasty with this Seahawks team because they are so young. Schneider and Carroll's next task is staying on top, keeping this team together as much as possible. In only a few days time, free agent-to-be receiver Golden Tate has gone from saying that he'd give the Seahawks a home team discount to saying that he might not. Everything is smiles in Seattle right now. Some of those smiles might flatten when March 11 rolls around and dollars start counting more than titles. Getting to a championship is a fantastic accomplishment. Staying there for a while will be truest sign that Schneider and Carroll have written a book that might be better than the rest.
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