December 16, 2008

The Holmgren Legacy

Immediately after the 1998 season ended, I remember bounding about my apartment in Bellingham... absolutely, deliriously joyful.

Mike Holmgren was the new Head Coach and GM of the Seattle Seahawks.

Visions of multiple Super Bowls danced in my head. After 10 years of absolute, complete irrelevance in the NFL, the Seahawks were going to be a force to be reckoned with.

If the only standard we use is Lombardi Trophies, The Big Show fell short in Seattle. Plus, from a "glass half full with bitter tears and bile" perspective, The Walrus wasn't a success as a GM, and ended up presiding over a couple of the worst teams in franchise history (2000 and 2008).

However, he broke Seattle out of that pathetic fraternity of cities that have never seen their team go to the Super Bowl. Cleveland, Houston, Jacksonville, New Orleans, Detroit, and Phoenix? Suck. Mah. Ballz.

Plus, by posting 5 division titles, 6 playoff appearances, 4 playoff victories, and an NFC Championship since 1999, he's ensured that only the following teams can talk ANY shit to us (based on recent history).

St. Louis (XXXIV)
Baltimore (XXXV)
New England (3 rings)
Tampa Bay (XXXVII)
Pittsburgh (XL... fuckers)
Indianapolis (XLI)
New York Giants (XLII)

That puts us in the top quarter of the NFL since 1999. Not bad for a team that was at best ignored and at worst a punchline before The Big Show arrived.

Thank you, Mike. You will be missed.

1 comment:

gonzhawk said...

Well said man- you need to talk to some of the folks on .net about it also...people seem to forget..
"from out of the dark and into the light" don't remember where I heard it...