‘This bond was broken’ - KJ Wright says Super Bowl XLIX ending destroyed team trust

“When we got in shotgun, I was like ‘what the hell is going on?’”

Among other revelations, this is what KJ Wright had to share on Mike Salk’s show Wednesday. The former Seattle Seahawks linebacker cited this formation and its corresponding call, to pass the ball from the one-yard line rather than to hand the ball off to Marshawn Lynch, as a key reason why the Legion of Boom (LOB) disbanded not long after, and why that edition of the Seahawks was never able to reach the same heights again.

“Honestly, I believe [the LOB] would have lasted,” Wright said. “I believe that Super Bowl 49... really hurt.”

“When you talk about trusting one another... that went away,” he added.

Salk went on to explain that he believes that it was ultimately the correct decision to pass but the wrong play call, given that the Seahawks only had one timeout remaining with less than a minute on the clock and two more downs to go should they have failed to score.

“You’re the first person I’ve ever heard say that,” Wright responded. “I wholeheartedly disagree... I believe we should have ran the ball.”

“When we didn’t make that decision [to run], that stuck with you... that energy was in the air,” he continued.

“This bond was broken. Guys were playing with torn meniscus and torn elbows and broken shoulders. To do that really hurt. We can’t look at each other [the same]. After that, it went downhill.”

So, as long as been suspected, the defense especially certainly resented the decision to pass the ball, and even saw it as a bit of a sign of disrespect. There’s no doubt that decision was part of what tore apart that great Seahawks team, especially if Wright is finally coming out and saying so himself. Perhaps it even led to some of the resentment that players like Richard Sherman seemed to have for Russell Wilson since the team broke up.

That last bit is slight speculation, but even so, I’d be shocked if it wasn’t true.