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July 2009
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| You can't call Seahawks owner Paul Allen a cheapskate. He spent over $550 million during a five year period (2004-2008) to make the Hawks a better team. He was only out spent by the Dallas Cowboys. Arizona was the highest NFC West team after Seattle. They came in 14th place, spending just over $505 million. So do you think Seattle got the most bang for their buck? During that time, the Hawks won 4 NFC West crowns and went to a Super Bowl. Seems like they did all right. ...The Seattle Seahawks will open 14 training camp practices at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center beginning August 3 and concluding August 20, the team announced this morning. Fans interested in attending training camp must register through the team's web site, seahawks.com, beginning July 16 at 10 a.m. Registration will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Only fans that register through seahawks.com will be allowed to attend practice. The VMAC parking lot will be closed to the public. Fans will be bussed to and from VMAC before and after each practice and will pay a $5 per person transportation fee through an online training camp reservation system. The Seahawks have partnered with The Landing Shopping Center in Renton, serving as the Seahawks Training Camp Parking and Transportation Center. Guests will receive transportation transfers and training camp passes upon check-in at the Seahawks Training Camp Guest Services location, located on the south end of the shopping center at 915 North Landing Way. Practice times, bus schedules and maps will be available on seahawks.com at the time of registration. The team will also host open practices at the University of Washington on August 7 and August 18. Parking will be available on the UW campus. ...CBSsports.com's Pete Prisco put out an NFL top 50 list for 2009. No Seahawk made the list or even his version of an honorable mention. Prisco's "just missed" list adds another 24 players. So he's basically saying of the top 74 players in the league, Seattle doesn't have a player good enough to crack the list.
Had a chance to chat with 49ers QB Damon Huard the other day when he was interviewed by Chris Egan for our Northwest Sports Tonight Show. He is looking great and is ready to hit camp with SF's returning Alex Smith and Shaun Hill. Like his brother Brock, I think Damon would be a hit in the sports broadcasting business. He even filled in for Brock on 710ESPN Seattle the other day. His family is back in Seattle and playing in San Fran is a lot better place to be than KC. Oh, and one other note, Dave Wyman will be our co-host this year on "Seahawks Fone Zone," starting on NWCN right after the first game of the regular season on Sept. 13th. Dave is doing some great work on the Kevin Calabro Show on KIRO radio and will be part of the Seahawks radio team this year as well. We welcome him to the show as he teams with NWCN's Chris Swanson and gets a taste of TV. ...Seahawks Fullback Owen Schmitt who was arrested over the weekend on suspicion of drunken driving issued a statement today. "I sincerely apologize to the team, the NFL, the fans and my family and friends for my actions and my poor judgment. I fully understand the seriousness of this matter, and I am disappointed in myself. I am committed to earning back the trust of everyone affected," Owen Schmitt. Is it bizarro world? In what world does one's hated rival cross state lines and play for the other team? Especially a legendary one. A Minneapolis TV station confirms Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings has a contractual agreement in place. Plus, the Vikes have already ordered the #4 Brett Favre jerseys to sell to fans.
Former Seahawks receiver Peter Warrick wants to play in the NFL again. But the 32-year-old has a mighty task ahead of him. It's been four years since his last NFL game. He's had 4 knee surgeries. And Warrick is toiling in the Indoor Football League. He made $10 million in the NFL. Now he makes $200 per game. OUCH! But you gotta love his passion for the sport. Anyone who plays for that, while battling through all his injuries, has to love football. ...Profootballtalk.com reports that there's a rumor out there that Brett Favre has signed a contract with the Minnesota Vikings, but the Vikes are sitting on the contract and waiting to send it into the NFL. One of their sources wouldn't confirm or deny the rumor. The other bit of information, which we also posed to the source who declined to confirm or deny the rumor, is that the Vikings already have green-lighted the production by Reebok of purple jerseys bearing the number 4 -- and the five-letter name that isn't pronounced like it's spelled. According to their report, they're putting 2 + 2 together. The Vikings' trainer has gone and helped Favre with his recovery. Plus, head coach Brad Childress plans to take a closer look at the future #4 in purple soon. ...What a difference a year makes. Last season, thanks to injuries, the Seahawks were desperate for wide receivers, this season, they are loaded up with plenty of talented receivers. So what should they do? Who should they keep? Who should they send to the practice squad? Who should they send packing? T-J Housmandzadeh, Deion Branch, Nate Burleson, Deon Butler (3rd round pick), Logan Payne, Courtney Taylor, Ben Obomanu, Jordan Kent, Mike Hass, Billy McMullen and Michael Bumpus ...The Seattle Seahawks will open up two and a half weeks of their training camp practices to the public this summer at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center in Renton, but fans will be required to register through the team's website before gaining entrance. Day one of the Seahawks June Mini-Camp ended with a disscussion about Michael Vick. Vick's former coach and now Seahawks head coach Jim Mora says, Vick deserves to be reinstated to the NFL, though it seems unlikely he'll get that second chance in Seattle. Mora went on to say that Vick has paid his debt to society. When asked if he'd welcome Michael Vick to the Seahawks, Mora said Seattle is not adding any more quarterbacks and the Hawks do not have a need at that position.
Multiple reports say the Seahawks have signed a few draft picks. They've agreed to deals with Rutgers quarterback & 6th round pick Mike Teel and with 7th round pick DE Nick Reed. UPDATE: Hawks official news release after the jump. ...It was probably a foregone conclusion. Quarterback Charlie Frye wasn't going to come back to Seattle. Well the Oakland Raiders make it official by signing the former backup QB.
Yes, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports the Rams are officially for sale. The club has reportedly hired Goldman Sachs to find a buy. Post-Dispatch reporter Bernie Miklasz breaks down the reasons for the sale. Chip Rosenbloom owns 60 percent of the club. Denver Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke owns the other 40%. Forbes listed the Rams' worth as $929 million in 2008. Rosenbloom reportedly didn't put any pre-conditions on selling the club. That means an out-of-town buyer could swoop in and buy the team and move it. Could the Rams be headed back to Los Angeles? ...The rumors are flying around about where Michael Vick will play next season and the Seahawks have even been mentioned as a possible home for Vick since Jim Mora was his head coach in Atlanta. Coach Mora did not talk about Vick during today's Seahawks practice, but quarterback Matt Hasselbeck did share some thoughts on Vick. When asked if Vick deserves another shot in the league, Hasselbeck said, "I've been getting that question a lot, without knowing everything about the situation, there's just so much about it, it's hard to keep up with everything, but it seems like he paid a pretty severe penalty and I definitely believe in second chances for people. Again, I'm not an expert on the subject, but that would be my initial gut reaction." Hasselbeck was then asked if he would welcome Vick on a team he played on, "He was always great to me, every time I hung out with him or met him or was around him, he was great to be around." So What do you think? Would you want Michael Vick to come and play for the Seahawks? Share your thoughts. ...The NFL just gave teams an additional $5 million in cap space when they went from a projected $123 mil to $128 mil. That's good news for the Hawks. They were expected to have nearly $3 million to play around with. Now the Seahawks currently sit $7.8 million under the salary cap. After looking at each team's cap space number, it's difficult to fathom two teams are more than $30 million under the cap. By the way, those teams are Tampa Bay ($36.6 mil) and Kansas City ($31.1 mil). For what it's worth, division rival San Francisco has $25.4 million in cap room. ...Former Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren is already ready to come back to the NFL. The Washington Post ran a little blog sharing a story about MIke. Apparently, his wife caught him watching the NFL Draft and commenting on what teams should or shouldn't do. It sounds like Holmgren will surely be back in the NFL by 2010, if not sooner. He's just unsure in what capacity.
According to Profootballtalk.com, new (old) Seahawks CB Ken Lucas nearly was a Detroit Lion. Back in February, the Panthers discussed sending Lucas to the Lions. In that scenario, Detroit would be on the hook for Lucas' $5.6 contract. Apparently, Lucas didn't like the idea so the trade didn't happen. Then in March, Carolina cut Ken. Of course, you know the Hawks signed Lucas. He signed a 1-year deal worth $2.3 mil. In essence, Lucas lost $3.3 mil to not play for Detroit. I guess it seems reasonable. Lucas is 30. His NFL career is nearing an end. Why would you want to go through that rebuilding process if you don't have to. Sure he loses over three mil, but would you go to an 0-16 team? Sounds like a soul crushing experience. ...In case you're unable to catch Northwest Sports Tonight on Thursday night, you missed Hawks running back T.J. Duckett's new look. His teammates are calling him Kimbo Slice. Duckett has grown a beard that resembles Slice. He plans to keep growing it for training camp. Duckett also has a new number. Last season he was #42. He's now sporting #44. We're not sure why yet, but when we find out, we'll pass it along. If you want to see Duckett's beard, watch Northwest Sports Tonight at 9:30 on NWCN, 11pm on KONG 6/16, or 11:30 on NWCN. ...Free agent Levi Jones has postponed his visit to Seattle, according to FOXSports.com. On Wednesday, the same site reported Jones was going to visit the Hawks. Apparently, Levi found a better fit with other teams who are pursuing him. ...FOXsports.com reports that offensive tackle Levi Jones is coming to Seattle for a visit. Jones was just recently let go by Cincinnati. He was the 10th overall pick back in 2002. The Hawks may be kicking the tires on Jones in case their current Jones (Walter) runs behind schedule on his knee surgery. Big Walt had microfracture surgery. Obviously, if they sign Levi, that's not a good sign of Big Walt's recovery. ...The Seahawks hit the field today for day one of a three-day rookie mini-camp, but most of the attention was centered around Leroy Hill, who just signed a new six-year contract with the Hawks. "It's just good to be back, physically I'm hurting to be back, but mentally, I'm happy to be back," said Leroy Hill after practice. Hill said the removal of the franchise tag last Saturday did not rattle him. "They let me know we were still trying to work out a deal, I still felt like I was going to come back even when they dropped it." Hill, joined forces with Lofa Tatupu and top draft pick Aaron Curry as the starting three linebackers at practice. Curry, who has already spent 15 hours studying the playbook, says it may take some time to get the entire defensive scheme down, but he's excited to be playing next to linebackers such as Tatupu and Hill. "As a rookie it's great to be playing next to two veteran linebackers like that, I have alot to learn to catch up to them and Leroy and I have to try and catch up to Lofa," said Curry.
The Seahawks have announced that Linebacker Leroy Hill has agreed to terms on a multiyear contract. It is reportedly a six-year contract with $15.5 million guaranteed and a total value of up to $38 million. Hill became an unrestricted free agent Saturday when the Seahawks rescinded the franchise tag that had been placed on him. With Leroy Hill now officially signed and sealed, the Seahawks will more than likely start Lofa Tatupu, Aaron Curry and Hill as their three linebackers. Does this give Seattle the best linebacking corps in the NFL and if so, does it really matter? Time to share your thoughts Seahawk fans. ...It's official, the Seattle Seahawks and linebacker Leroy Hill have agreed to terms to a multi-year deal, the team announced this evening. |