The 2013 Seattle Seahawks are getting something from the national media that until this point has been nonexistent: Attention … and a lot of it.
Playing professional sports in the Northwest has a media disadvantage where more often than not they forget about the teams up here and when they pick winners, they usually stay on the East Coast or California. And heaven forbid that when a team from the Northwest goes across the country with a better record, they always seem to pick the East Coast team. My father loves to use the term East Coast biased when the announcers and national pundits pick anyone but the Seahawks. But is it a bad thing to have no respect?
Last year, Seattle made headlines by paying a backup quarterback big money to compete for a starting job, and then went in the third round and grabbed an undersized rookie that fell down all draft boards due to his height. After those two bold moves, and a draft class that most NFL "experts" deemed poor, the Seahawks were once again getting a cold shoulder and no respect. During preseason games, Russell Wilson showed promise by beating out Matt Flynn and that is when the attention turned negative.
The critics’ main jab was, "He is just too short to play in the NFL." Sure the Seahawks were getting some media coverage on ESPN, but it was all about how Russell was a great college kid but they just didn't see him working out. Everywhere you looked, the Hawks just couldn't get much love or respect, but what is new?
From the beginning of the season, the Seahawks were still in the shadow of the 49ers tucked away in rainy Seattle. As the coffee was brewing, so was Russellmania and the outpouring of love and respect of the media was just awakening. Games against Buffalo and Arizona were just shown as weak opponents but to Hawks fans, the reigns were taken off the young quarterback and his talent was coming out.
As the Hawks went into the postseason, the pundits still couldn't pick the Seahawks to win. No respect. It took until the 3rd and 4th quarters against the Atlanta Falcons that this team, in fact, was going to do big things, and maybe get to a Super Bowl. All season there was no respect, and the Seahawks proved them wrong.
So far in 2013, the Seahawks are pretty much getting everyone on their bandwagon; Russell Wilson is becoming a huge star in this league, and the defense is second to none in the eyes of analysts. But something just doesn't feel right. I mean, I love my Seahawks, but I do not want to get overly excited to just get let down if things get worse. Now that everyone is picking the Seahawks, there is pressure, and that could affect some of the younger players. Being voted the best comes at a risk, and since when is the media right? I still love the attention, but sometimes it’s better to be a secret and surprise people than to be out there and fall down in front of everyone.
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