Scruffy and I can confirm that John has stepped down from his writing and administration duties here at Field Gulls. Both of us wish him the best of luck moving forward.
Given that I was out most of the day, the news of John's departure didn't reach me right away. When Toot got a hold of me on Twitter, my first reaction was to go into a state of disbelief. Second reaction was the launch into a ten-minute string of repeated f-bombs as Scruffy and I panicked over a Facebook chat window.
This all goes without saying, but John Morgan will be dearly missed here at Field Gulls.
Field Gulls and the Seahawks fandom as a whole has greatly benefited from John's insight and wisdom. All of us have learned a great deal about this team and the game of gridiron football itself through John's writing over the years. Even when this team we all live and die by has appeared more hapless than not, he gave us a reason care and stay emotionally invested.
On a personal note, I just want to say how much I've appreciated what John has done for this community and the fandom. I discovered his writing around the same time I ventured into the world of sabermetric baseball analysis. John was one of the writers that taught me how important it was to not settle for results. Success in football and so many other walks of life depends on how you get to those results. This is why I personally hold John in the same light as guys like Jeff Sullivan, Dave Cameron, Derek Zumsteg, and Rob Neyer.
I wish I could better convey my gratitude for what he's done for both Field Gulls and the Seahawks fandom in general. What I can say is this:
Thank you, John.
Scruffy edit:
As a note to the Field Gulls community, I want to say that Scruffy, myself, and the other mods will be doing our best to pick up the slack in the interim. There's no way any of us will be able to replace the tremendous work John has done, but we're going to give it our best shot.
We ask that you be patient with us for a while as we work out what direction we're going to go.