Oakland Raiders behind enemy lines: Q&A with Emerald City Swagger
By Kevin Saito
Q. We’ve heard stories about a divided locker room between Russell Wilson‘s guys, and everybody else, as well as Pete Carroll possibly losing the team — how true do you think these stories are, and how do they remedy it going forward?
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It is and isn’t a story. I think early in his career Russell Wilson was protected by Carroll from some of the veterans in the locker room. It pissed those vets off that Wilson was separated from some of the “bonding” rituals. Most of those guys are now gone, so it’s not the big issue some in the media made it out to be.
This is Wilson’s team, and the Seattle Seahawks will go as far as he can take them. As was shown with Bennett, if a player isn’t on board with that philosophy, they will play somewhere other than Seattle. If there was a rift concerning Wilson, it would have been with new offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer. Early in the season, Wilson audibled out of play calls often. Since Seattle has gone to a more ground and pound attack, there seems to be more harmony.
Q. Seattle had a lot of roster turnover this year — who do you feel is the most impactful loss for this team?
It’s a good question. The Seahawks would have been in much better shape had Avril or Chancellor retired, but losing both was such a big blow. Their replacements Frank Clark, and Bradley McDougal, respectively have both played very well on the field.
Off the field is a diffrent story. The kind of leadership they provided is irreplaceable. Middle linebacker Bobby Wagner is a great player and a leader, but he could use some help this year with so many young players on the team. The most impactful loss is intangible, leadership.