PODCAST: PEDs, the Seahawks, & culpability/responsibility

If you missed it on Twitter, ScoutTheSeahawks and Field Gulls contributor Derek Stephens put together a quick ten-minute reaction podcast to the whole Bruce Irvin situation, specifically with regard to a lot of people's calls that the Seahawks 'do something' about this supposed 'PED/Drug problem' at the VMAC. (Italics on the language because these are some of the main talking points/catch-words being thrown around right now, with much blame being placed with Pete Carroll.)

First - Doug Farrar passed along Pete Carroll's opening comments from the OTA Day 1 Practice presser, and it's probably worth reading in conjunction with Derek's take on the situation.

"This is a challenge -- it's a challenge for us, and it's a challenge for the league," Carroll said during a five-minute statement at the beginning of his press conference. "The league is doing everything they can to help guys make it through these young careers that they have, from teaching, to instructing, also the punitive side of it. They're doing a really good job and they're in it for the right reasons, and we are too. We go beyond with what the league does. We go well past with what the guidelines ask us to do as far as working with our young guys trying to give them the direction, trying to give them the counseling."

Carroll added, which I found very interesting:

"We have people on staff that are here specifically to work with our individual guys because I really see this as an individual challenge."

He continued:

"We try to bring each kid as far along as we possibly can to make them available for the opportunity that they have," Carroll said. "Each one of them is a different story. Each one of them, there is a different road that they traveled. Even though we go together, they have to figure out how to do this right. [We want to see] why guys make choices and why guys will jeopardize their opportunity and their future. The league understands that, we understand it and have been working with it for years and years with young people, and we continue to still face issues that we want to try and deal with in a better way. It's a very important opportunity in a sense for us to go ahead and figure it out, and then help these guys so that they can get what they deserve. Unfortunately if you go wrong, you get popped and that's how this thing works, and I'm really disappointed that we have to deal with anything like this. But there are going to be other issues too, and we have to deal with them."

"We're going to try and help him along as best as we possibly can. He made a mistake, and he admitted to it, and he owned up to it to his teammates, and he owned up to it to the staff, and he owned up to it to everybody. He wants to do right and show that he can, and we're going to see that through and see if we can get that done for him. It's no different than I would do with my own son. I do everything I can to teach them, to prepare them, to let them understand what the pitfalls are that are out there, and you hope and pray that your kids make the right decision when they're faced with options. And when they make a mistake, you take them back under and you try to lead them along again and show them and hope that they can learn from the issues that they had to face."

What's your reaction to this explanation? Derek gives his in classic Paul Harvey monologue form. Straight off the dome, no notes, no outline:

Derek Stephens ScoutTheSeahawks PED Reaction Podcast (right click to download)