 |
| Marshawn Lynch's Quirky Side Must Take A Break, But Not Marshawn |
The Seattle Seahawks are going through the second phase of
their Organized Team Activities (OTA’s) this time with players and coaches on
the field together. Two years ago the
Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) agreed on between the NFL owners and the NFL
players Association (NFLPA), changed the way that the off-season programs would
be constructed, allowing players more personal time during the off-season and
among other changes, eliminated “2-A-Days” requiring players to practice both
in a morning session and an afternoon session.
Primarily veterans are opposed to the longer training camp and more
strenuous practice sessions, but the NFL owners and coaches are finding the new
CBA training schedule to be limiting and prohibitive to putting together a team
ready for the preseason contests as well as the first regular-season football
game in September. The players… They’re
loving the shorter practices and extended off-season. Especially one particular Seahawks running
back, the truculent and interview resistant Marshawn Lynch. Lynch has always been a bit camera shy, or
probably more accurately, he hates the media and getting an interview with him
is harder than tackling him in the defensive secondary.
The Seahawks have one of the most formidable and deep
rosters in football this year and several NFL sources have picked Seattle as an
early favorite to win Super Bowl XLVIII in New Jersey. ESPN rated Seattle number one in their power
ranking system before free agency, before the NFL draft and now after all the
preseason events off the field have concluded, the Seattle Seahawks are still
sitting on top of the transparent hill of greatness, according to media sources
online, in newspapers and magazines and most NFL television programs. There is however, an argument brewing on who
is actually the better football team, the Seattle Seahawks or the San Francisco
49ers. Both teams play in the NFC West
which has turned from worst to first regarding the league strength of all for
division teams. It was just two years
ago that the NFC West was considered a dismal mess of mediocre football and
regarded as subpar with the rest of the NFL divisions in both conferences. A lot changes in a short period of time in
the NFL and the NFC West is no exception to that rule. From top to bottom, NFC West teams are of the
most bruising and physical teams in football and their offensive power is now
unmatched by any division in football.
The Seattle Seahawks put up 150 point ingest a three-game span,
slaughtering the Cardinals 58-0, then brutalizing the Buffalo Bills in Toronto
50-17 and then embarrassing the rival 49ers at CenturyLink field in a total
domination beating 42-13. However,
things are tightening up in the NFC West and in a real hurry.
Last season, the St. Louis Rams had a 4-1-1 record in the
division, losing only to the Seahawks in Seattle in the last game of the
season. The Arizona Cardinals started
the season winning four straight games and looking every bit a tough team
defensively and as long as Larry Fitzgerald is running down the field, their
offense is always dangerous. However,
the Cardinals playing without a true starting quarterback faltered down the
stretch losing ten of their last eleven games.
The 49ers, however, were the best football team in the NFC West for the
2012 season if you consider simply their win-loss record. They won eleven games, lost four and tied the
Rams taking the West division by one half game over the Seattle Seahawks. The 49ers also advanced through the NFC West
playoffs representing the NFC in Super Bowl XLVII. The Seahawks had a fantastic season as well,
winning eleven games and losing only five, including an undefeated season at
home in Seattle (8-0) in front of their most valued 12th man, all
65,000 strong at CenturyLink Field. It
was a bittersweet season for the Seahawks who lost the division championship by
one half of a game, even after throttling the champs 42-13 in Seattle sending
the 49ers back to the bay with their tails between their collective legs in
shame.
But now it’s a new season and all for NFC West teams are
much improved and that’s bad news for the rest of the NFL. There isn’t a weak team in this division and
with the additions of; veteran QB Carson Palmer in Arizona, veteran WR Anquan
Boldin in San Francisco, and rookie sensation WR Tavon Austin in St. Louis, the
Seahawks are going to have their hands full trying to regain their superiority
in the NFC West division. It’s safe to
say that all for teams in the division have bolstered their rosters
significantly through the draft and in signing key players through the free
agency market. All four teams are well
coached and their players all compete with pride game in and game out.
Is clear who rules the NFC West division however. The San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks
have dug deep trenches in their resolve to dominate the best division in
football. Gone are the days of the
former great rivalries; Patriots vs. Ravens, Redskins vs. Cowboys and Giants
vs. Eagles and Packers vs. Bears. The
greatest football rivalry in the NFL has become the Seattle Seahawks vs. the
San Francisco 49ers. This has become a
game to put on your calendar, twice.
Whether or not this game is in Candlestick or the deafening noise of
CenturyLink Field, these teams show up with giant resentment toward each other
and a loyalistic sense of allegiance to their head coaches who clearly don’t
care for each other. It’s personal, and
that’s the way these gridiron warriors play from the first whistle, until the
last. Pushing and shoving often starts
before the flip of the coin and neither of these teams will flinch, showing
absolutely zero apprehension or fear.
Both the Seahawks and the 49ers look forward to this game more than any
other on the schedule. Where, when or
whether or not the game is televised nationally, simply doesn’t matter to these
players. They could line this game up in a gravel pit, with tree branches for
goalposts, and car headlights to illuminate the field, and it wouldn’t
matter. It’s a battle for the West title
and all bets are off, and rules are relevant, if you can get away with it. The coaching rivalry goes back to the Pacific
coast conference when Pete Carroll led his USC Trojans against Jim Harbaugh and
his Stanford Cardinals. The two games
between these two Titans of the NFC are going to be bruising, physical and
hard-hitting. Lots of ice baths and
bandages will be waiting for both the Seahawks and 49ers after the decisions of
these games have been made and the outcome of each will be crucial along their
path to the playoffs.
Now, my main point of this column comes into view. As these two teams prepare for the upcoming
season, every bit of planning and practicing becomes more crucial and every
repetition and every bit of focus gained or lost makes a difference for the
opportunity to execute each play and each potential defensive stop or take
away. So, why is Marshawn Lynch sitting
at home in his Oakland hometown while the rest of his football team is hard at
work preparing to take on the best football teams in the NFL, hopefully on the
way to an NFC championship and a chance for a home-field playoff advantage?
Several radio hosts have discussed the implications of
Lynch choosing not to participate in the voluntary OTA’s currently taking place
in Seattle. Apparently, this is nothing
new for the probable running back who just posted his career-best in yards
gained from scrimmage. Many have
suggested that Marshawn has earned the right to be absent from these
conditioning events. His personality is
a bit quirky and of course his success over the last three years can’t be
denied, but the difference between great running backs and Super Bowl champion
running backs is the willingness and the ability to do what other players can’t
or won’t do. It simply a matter of drive
and desire and when a player decides to sit in his living room while his
compatriots sweat and work at the training facility in Renton, it looks bad for
him, the coaching staff and the football teams desire to be the best. I don’t care if Marshawn has terrible back
spasms and can’t work out with the team.
He needs to get off his butt and get onto a plane and fly up to Seattle
to be with his teammates, even if all he does is show his face as a sign of
solidarity and resolve to take this team to a higher level than the night they
stood on the sidelines in Detroit at Super Bowl XLI the lost to the Pittsburgh
Steelers. This football team is hundreds
of times better than that Super Bowl football team and I contend that it is
better coached and better quarterback led then that team in 2005.
Here’s the question?
Is Frank Gore working out with his teammates in their voluntary workout
in Santa Clara? How about Adrian
Peterson in Mankato, Albert Morris in Richmond, Doug Martin in Tampa, Steven
Jackson in Flowery Branch, or DeMarco Murray in Oxnard?
These are the questions that Marshawn Lynch should be
asking himself and he should be answering by showing up at the involuntary
conditioning OTA at the Renton training facility with the rest of his Seahawks
teammates. It’s time for Marshawn Lynch
being a veteran leader that he is and when a rookie running back like Christine
Michael says that he can’t wait to get to training camp so that he could learn
from one of his idols, that’s the moment that should have stirred something
inside of Lynch and college him to get off the sofa in his Oakland estate and
acted like the leader that he should.
It’s time for the rest of the Seattle Seahawks and Lynch
to decide if they are ready to take the next step and take separate them
control of the NFC West and answer the calls and expectations of the rest of
the football nation expecting the Seahawks to represent the NFC and Super Bowl
XLVIII.
