PFW: Bad Vibes?

by Shrug on Dec 18, 2006 3:31 PM PST

How could a team that thrived on chemistry to win the NFC Championship get so sulfuric so quickly? An uncredited article published by Pro Football Weekly, and reported by Sando on his blog, suggests it could have been a combination of front-office incompetence, and a potential, yet not fully flourished, tiff between Mike Holmgren and football op president Tim Ruskell.

It contains some good points. They're probably nothing new to you, but put together in this context, they're a little more revealing:

According to multiple NFL executives, the relationship between head coach Mike Holmgren and president of football operations Tim Ruskell has been strained ever since management went against Holmgren's wishes last spring and opted to save $600,000 by designating Pro Bowl OLG Steve Hutchinson with a transition tag that ultimately resulted in Hutchinson's well-documented departure to Minnesota.

Said one NFL exec, "Mike went on vacation and then the next thing he knew, he (Hutchinson) was gone. Mike is not the type of guy to forgive and forget."

We hear Holmgren was further put off by the team's subsequent free-agent signing of Vikings WR Nate Burleson, which he considered an unnecessary payback attempt by Ruskell, who is extremely well-liked in league circles but is considered a relative novice when it comes to dealing with the salary cap and handling day-to-day inter-office matters...

"Ruskell assured Holmgren (departed special teams linebacker Isaiah Kacyvenski) would clear waivers, and he didn't," another NFL executive told PFW.

Some of this would appear to validate previous statements by folks like, say, Steve Hutchinson that implies the front office bungled at least a couple of judgement calls in the area of personnel.

And it wouldn't entirely surprise me. Such miscalculations aren't entirely unheard of in Seattle sports, if you know what I mean.

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Comments

Thats tough

part of me wants to side with Holmgren and part of me wants to tell Holmgren to grow up and not hold a grudge because you will live longer.

"I got to fulfill every defender's dream of punching Tom Nalen in the head" - Chuck Darby

by Scruffy Lefty on Dec 18, 2006 3:36 PM PST reply actions

::shrug::

Much ado about nothing. Chemistry=Winning. Bad Chemistry=Losing when you expect to win.

Hutchinson has been missed, but Minnesota badly overpaid for him. You just can't pay a guard like that, and if that's what Hutchinson wanted it's better we let him go and begin to rebuild for our next Super Bowl shot. If Sims can be 60% of Hutchinson at 10% the cost that frees up cap for a badly needed DT or two.

The Burleson contract was a little immature, and considering his talent and lack of playing time, I wonder if it is being held against him. I'm not too worried about Burly though, he's young, has talent and if nothing else, has been worth more than most FA signings based solely on his special teams play.

I would expect to hear a lot of this hubbub over the next few weeks. The Seahawks late swoon coupled with a controversial loss in the SB last year should provoke more than a couple of national columnist from writing the-sky-is-falling-in-Seattle articles.

It's important as fans to not get caught up in this. Ruskell is an excellent GM. NW sports fans are frustrated and NW sports writers are practically paid to point fingers, today it's Ruskell, tomorrow Holmgren, next week Tatupu, Hasselbeck, ALexander etc.

by John Morgan on Dec 18, 2006 4:13 PM PST reply actions

Note on Burleson

He has been playing better at reciever recently. He has made some tough catches.

"I got to fulfill every defender's dream of punching Tom Nalen in the head" - Chuck Darby

by Scruffy Lefty on Dec 18, 2006 6:23 PM PST up reply actions

I've noticed that.

I wouldn't mind seeing a Burleson-Branch (Hackett?) receiving squad next year.

--Shrug

by Shrug on Dec 18, 2006 7:15 PM PST up reply actions

I still like Jackson a lot

but I want to see Hackett number 2 catches

"I got to fulfill every defender's dream of punching Tom Nalen in the head" - Chuck Darby

by Scruffy Lefty on Dec 18, 2006 8:59 PM PST up reply actions

get number 2 catches that is

"I got to fulfill every defender's dream of punching Tom Nalen in the head" - Chuck Darby

by Scruffy Lefty on Dec 18, 2006 8:59 PM PST up reply actions

What I Believe:

I think Hutchinson's loss hurt us to a certain extent. But I think, offensively, nothing has hurt us so much as the instability of the offensive line, and that's not because Hutch got signed, it's because there's been a lot of injuries, and a platoon of youth and inexperience at key positions on the line. To a certain extent I think the experimentalism cost the line their identity, and I think it's caused some hesitation on, say, Shaun's running game.

It won't fix itself overnight -- I mean, over off-season -- but it can start getting fixed with the offensive line knowing who'll they'll be. That's probably impossible to know at the moment, but they can get started. I know I'm speaking in broad, psychoanalytical generalities that have no bench-pressing strength whatsoever, but it's just an observation.

I hold Hasselbeck pretty blameless. I think Shaun needs to play another full season.

The defense has to finish. I'm just tired of seeing them take for granted that a play is over. I don't know if John Marshall could possibly be held responsible for this, but I have no idea who is. I hate that.

And, of course, we need to get Josh Brown a long-term contract and his own hot dog or something.

--Shrug

by Shrug on Dec 18, 2006 10:36 PM PST up reply actions