by: Mike Parker
I really, really, really hope that every man on the Seahawks' roster and coaching staff has or had a moment this morning (training camp starts in just under an hour as I type this) to read Seattle Times columnist Steve Kelley's brilliant piece in today's paper. Holmgren should use it as a script when he addresses the players for the first time this season, and I'm now thoroughly convinced that Kelley should be Holmgren's personal speechwriter. Go see for yourself.
An excerpt:
"We are the antidote. Losing isn't an option. The city is counting on us. Only we can take away the ache of all the losses.I don't even have to explain that Seattle sports fans know all too well what that's all in reference to. And in case you don't have a quarter to buy a clue, Kelley thumps you over the head with it:
Forget about me and this being my last season. Our mission, gentlemen, is what it is. We have to save this city. It's up to every one of us."
"I want you cornerbacks to crack every wide receiver who dares come across the middle. I want you to treat them the way David Stern treated Seattle."The perfect way to get the ball rolling on this season is to go for the jugular - not just physically, but psychologically and mentally - and that's what Kelley has just done for this team and this city. Every hit we've taken here in Seattle this year, from the death of the Sonics to the cellar-dwelling Mariners, needs to be returned tenfold. We need to show the sports world that when you mess with Seattle, you wake the sleeping bear.
And after Seahawk opponents limp out of Qwest Field this year under the deafening roar of the 12th Man, they'll wish that bear had never been woken up. -END-
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