Yes, there is always plenty of chatter about our perennial Super Bowl hopefuls. But I also find that there is always some angle to Seahawks coverage that just doesn’t seem to get enough airplay. This column is dedicated to that “elephant in the locker room.”
Look, I am as into sports nostalgia as the next guy. Heck, I even re-ran my BeastQuake 2.0 poem from 2014 just last week!
But these things just do not end well.
The return of Marshawn Lynch and Robert Turbin to the Seahawks roster has naturally been getting a lot of ink, digital and otherwise, this week. And the opinions are all over the map… while generally headed south of the equator, with the general consensus that a.) neither Lynch nor Turbin are likely to make much of an impact in tomorrow night’s season finale at the Clink against the 49ers; and b.) the Hawks are simply too banged up and too generally weak for Lynch to have much of an impact, even if he were truly in playing shape.
What I have not read anywhere is the truth, and it is this: there is virtually no precedent for a 30-year-old-plus former star returning to his former team and having any kind of real impact.
In fact, what such a second tour of doody usually indicates is that the team in question is in serious decline, and is simply out of good options. Such teams are engaging in desperate acts of morale boosting, both for their rosters and their fans. “Since we’re going to lose, we might as well make a party of it!”
But these parties are never fun. The thrill lasts for about half of the first quarter of the first game of the reunion, and then it’s plain that all hopes are lost.
There is, of course, the lone notable exception to the rule: John Riggins’ return to the Redskins after a one-year retirement led to two more Super Bowl appearances. We can always hope that Lynch 2.0 equates to Riggins 2.0 and perhaps a BeastQuake 3.0 tomorrow evening.
In Seahawk history there was also the 1984 season when Curt Warner went down with a season-ending injury in the opener. Seattle signed free-agent Franco Harris… who proceeded to do virtually nothing, and was cut after eight games. BUT: Seattle went on to have one of their best seasons ever, as the passing game took off with Krieg to Largent and Turner, and they even won a wildcard playoff game at home against the Raiders. I remember, because I was there.
On the other hand… Brian Bosworth is raising the 12th Man flag tomorrow night. And we all remember how that turned out. I do, because again, I was there.
Not a good omen.
