There was a time when NFL players spent their entire career with one team. Now, many wistful nostalgics will tell you it's because they played in a time before all the me-first, million-dollar, prima donna nonsense you see nowadays and, if you don't cut them off, they'll also tell you about how when you bought a toaster in the '60s, you bought that toaster for life, not like now, where you gotta go get a new one every two years. Perhaps there was more loyalty in the olden days of the NFL, and maybe players did feel obliged to finish where they started, but more likely it's because before free agency players couldn't say diddly poo about where and for whom they played.

Either way, there's no question that the days of spending an entire career with one team are all but over. There are still some exceptions (Ed Reed and Ray Lewis of the Ravens, Donald Driver with the Packers, and a few others) but by and large, most players with long careers end up spending at least some time in a uniform other than the one they started with.

For what it's worth, I've got no problem with players exercising their leverage regarding where they play and for how much and I actually tend to side with most players in contract disputes. Even so, I think there's something special about a player staying with one team for the majority, if not entirety, of his playing days and Seattle been fortunate enough to have someone who has done just that.

Marcus Trufant has been such a consistent part of the Seahawks that it's easy to forget just how valuable he's been. Drafted 11th overall in 2003, Trufant established himself as a viable concern for opposing quarterbacks pretty early on and eventually developed into a bona fide All-Pro talent, peaking with an incredibly boxscore-filling 2007 season (7 picks, 15 passes broken up, 85 tackles). Back then, the Truf did anything but set people free, instead clamping down on opposing wide-outs and turning even the slightest throwing mistakes into immediate regrets. Toss in the facts that he was born in Tacoma (on Christmas!), was All-Everything at Wilson High, and developed into a first-round talent at Washington State University before being taken by the Seahawks, and Marcus Trufant is a certified state treasure.

A string of injuries, including the sacrum-related one that cost him this most recent season, and his struggles to regain the lockdown status he once had, have limited his impact and has (sadly) diminished many a fan's memory of how good he's been. For those wondering, he's still hanging around with the 'Hawks and lending his wisdom to the fleet of young DBs we've become so enamored with, as well as continuing his long-standing charity work in the PNW.

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to interview the longest-tenured Seahawks player on the roster, the Hawkfather, if you will (and even if you won't) and I can say that he was as engaging and friendly as could possibly be expected from a pro athlete, or really anyone else for that matter. Click through the jump to read more.

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Before the 2010 season started, my buddy gave me a call. Said he and some co-workers had been hooked up with his boss's suite at (then) Qwest Field for the Seahawks' first pre-season game and he had an extra ticket. Then he told me that he was going to give that ticket to some girl he had just met at a bar in Fremont a couple of days ago and was calling me, his lifelong pal, who is a gigantic Seahawks fan, who taught him how to pronounce the "TH" sound when we were at Promise Daycare as little kids, to talk about it.

I told him how excited for him I was, and asked who the lucky girl was. Then I congenially ended the conversation, Facebook-stalked the chick, talked to my guy who knows things, got her number, texted her that the guy she was gonna go to the game with had broken both legs and was emotionally distant anyways, and then waited. My buddy never actually called me back to offer me the ticket instead (he took his brother), so in hindsight I guess I regret my actions somewhat, but a seed had been planted and my curiosity was piqued. I Craigslisted a ticket to the game and settled in to watch all the new kids.

The very first thing that caught my eye, besides that tacky Toyota truck next to the "12" flag, was the game speed of Seattle's new free safety, Earl Thomas. The beginning of the first exhibition game of one's rookie year is the time of a career where film study probably means as little as it ever will, leaving players to rely more on instinct and athleticism than team-specific preparation. And man, just... man. You know those ESPN replays where they freeze the play and then move the icon of a certain player to where he finishes the play at? That's what Thomas looked like the whole time he was in. He seemed to cover ground at twice the rate of the others and while I was determined to not get too excited about anyone based on their performance in that game, I couldn't shake the feeling that Seattle had gotten it right when they selected Thomas in the first round. Boy, did they ever.

As we all know, Thomas took almost no time at all to show he was for real and by the end of his rookie season I think most of us felt like Seattle had a star in the making. Thomas' second season has shown a continued progression from his impressive rookie year and on top of being a leader on an unforgiving defense, he's become a true fan favorite.

Yesterday, he took some time to give Field Gulls an interview.

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Two years ago, national pundits were saying that while the Seahawks lacked elite talent in other areas, their linebacking corps might be the best in the NFL. At the time, Seattle boasted a trio of Leroy Hill, Lofa Tatupu, and new draft pick Aaron Curry. The thought was that the 'Hawks could field three guys capable of going sideline-to-sideline, thus eliminating the second level of defense from any offense's repertoire. It sounded nice, in theory, and I'll admit that I got caught up in that excitement.

Unfortunately, building a defense around linebackers is akin to building a pitching staff around middle relievers. Sure, having a stud at Mike 'Backer is a huge bonus; most of the great defenses in NFL history have had one, but skill at the second level can be all but negated by weakness at the first or third. Anyhow, all three of those LBotFs have left the team since those proclamations were made (all though Leroy is back) and Seattle finds itself re-tooling with young, athletic talent at the position. I touched on the potential of the new young LBs the other day, and found myself particularly intrigued by rookie 7th round draft pick Malcolm Smith from USC.

Fortunately for me (and you!), Agent Smith graciously agreed to give Field Gulls an interview, the body of which is after the jump.

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"Human nature, if healthy, demands excitement." -- Oswald Chambers

The 2009 Seattle Seahawks season was probably the least enjoyable I’ve ever had as a fan. The team was 5-11, which is putrid, but I’ve seen the ’Hawks lose double-digit games in a season before. No, the reason I had so little fun as a fan that year went beyond the low win total, it was the seeming disinterest from the players and the tuning out of a head coach who I never liked in the first place. That, and the fact that no one on the roster got me excited.

The stats weren’t pretty: 25th in yards gained, 24th in yards allowed, 25th in turnover differential (consistency!), but even those numbers didn’t tell the whole morose story. The team played badly against any decent competition, with performance tapering off drastically after their anomalous win over Jacksonville. By the time they lost at home to the no-less-than-terrible Buccaneers, I had lost all enjoyment in watching my favorite team. Their season was a long, slow death march.

Those Seahawks were bad, but worse than that, they were boring. Shortly before the 2010 NFL Draft, my friend asked me if I thought the Seahawks would be any good. I said I didn’t think so, but after ‘09 I didn’t really care if they were good, as long as they were interesting. I felt like "good" was at least a couple of seasons away, and I’ve got plenty of experience rooting for teams that aren’t good, so I didn‘t mind being patient. I just wanted to have fun watching them play again.

At the time, you could feel the tide turning. The stern, unimaginative (and Gary Kubiak ` doppelganger) Jim Mora Jr had been ousted in favor of the plucky Pete Carroll. Straight-laced, old-school GM Tim Ruskell had been replaced with a very differently-minded John Schneider. The overall energy of the team was shifting and I was beginning to buy in, although somewhat tepidly, to the new direction the team was pursuing. The momentum and vision were present, but the team still lacked legitimate playmakers. That was about to change.

The Seahawks 2010 draft was brimming with potential difference-makers. Russell Okung and Earl Thomas headlined the 'Hawks haul, but my favorite addition was the dynamic (and Biletnikoff Award-winning) second-round pick out of Notre Dame -- wide receiver Golden Tate. Tate's cartoonishly-impressive highlights and big-play ability provided the perfect fodder for a blooming man-crush. In fact, Tate was my favorite player in the entire draft. Not favorite as in the "he should have been the #1 overall pick" sense, but favorite as in the way McDonald's was your favorite restaurant as a kid. Sure, the Big Mac is no porterhouse, but when was the last time you saw a Wolfgang's with a slide and a ball pit? I actually yipped when Seattle drafted him.

To many of us, Golden Tate represented a shift in offensive priorities. It's doubtful that Ruskell would've picked an undersized receiver in the second round, but Carroll and Schneider seem less interested in "prototype" and more interested in "playmaker," which Tate was. Although diminutive by NFL standards, Tate demonstrated sensational football ability over the course of his collegiate career and seemed prime to make an impact with Seattle. (Vasilii has a great post about this, too). I went into last season with sky-high hopes for the team's new rookie receiver, but was left wanting more when Tate struggled to get consistent playing time. The ability is there, I thought, so where is the production?

Since then, talk has surfaced regarding an expanded role for Tate next season. What will that look like? Will he be the primary slot receiver? Return more kicks? Be involved in the wildcat? Organize team treasure hunts? With so much supposition surrounding Tate, I thought it'd be best to go straight to the source and get some thoughts from the man himself. The Seattle receiver agreed to give Field Gulls an interview, which you can read after the jump.

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The selection of Kris Durham in the 4th round was another in a line for Seahawk fans on Draft Weekend that had people scratching their heads initially rather than jumping up and down in joy. For most people, it wasn't because they thought it was a terrible pick; instead it was mostly because they had to take a few minutes to google the name and try and figure out how they were supposed to feel about it. I actually knew the name and was pretty stoked when I saw "Kris Durham" running along the bottom of my TV screen- I had done a 'Sleeper Watch' article on Durham and I remember thinking to myself when I was writing it how much this guy fits what the Hawks were supposedly looking for at wide receiver. 

Now, in my piece, I had mentioned that he would probably be a 6th or 7th round pick so I was a bit surprised, but unbeknown to most people outside the NFL, he had been quietly creeping up draft boards and with good reason. He's prototypical in size and speed for a receiver and has very dependable hands. He's a good downfield blocker and is a competitor. He averaged over 20 yards a catch over his career and does a good job of consistently getting behind defenders - something the Seahawks desperately need. He's versatile in that he can also play the slot, which he did his first three seasons at Georgia. He's good at finding the soft spot in the zone, looks to be a solid route runner, and based on limited tape reviews, he appears to have that 2nd gear that makes him very dangerous in YAC as well. 

I had the opportunity to catch up with Kris, and when I asked him what his goals were for year one, he didn't mince words, answering: "I want to come in and contribute to the team by making the receiving corps one of the strongest, not only in the conference, but also in the entire league."

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A couple of weeks ago, I wrote an article about one of the Seahawks' draft picks, Appalachian State safety Mark LeGree. Yesterday, he was kind enough to give FieldGulls an interview. If you read the previous article, you know that I am excited about the skills that LeGree has and the potential contributions he can make for Seattle's secondary, but it was interesting to actually talk to him first-hand and hear his thoughts on coming to Seattle, the draft process, and the lockout, among other things.

The transcript of the interview is after the jump.

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When the Seahawks drafted Appalachian State's Mark LeGree in the 5th round of the NFL Draft, I know a lot of people had the immediate reaction of -"who?"-. I like to think I was pretty up on a lot of the players getting drafted this year even into the 7th round, but though I knew LeGree's name I had never really done my homework on him. After the first reaction of confusion, things start to make sense as you take a look at some his statistics from his college career and you start piecing together why the Hawks were so high on LeGree through the whole process. 

I reached out to Mark's defensive backs' coach from Appalachian State, Scot Sloan, and he had some really interesting thoughts on his former player. The first thing I wanted to know was what made LeGree such a special player, from his coach's point of view.

"Mark has really good speed and plays with that speed on the field," was the first thing that the former Clemson defensive back noted, "I have seen fast guys that don't play fast on the field, but Mark will play fast."

I love that this is the first thing that comes to Sloan's mind when asked about a player; one of the things you love about Earl Thomas is his game speed. He's fast but he plays faster. I'm a firm believer in the idea that there is a difference between track speed and football speed and it's what separates the 'athletes' from the 'players'. 

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