Mike Macdonald, the Seattle Seahawks’ head coach, is making significant modifications to the team’s practice facility.
The passage to the locker room has been stripped naked in order to “create our own identity,” according to defender Leonard Williams. All photographs depicting key franchise moments under former head coach Pete Carroll were removed.
The drastic modifications at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center elicited strong conflicting reactions from fans and pundits. The dispute became so heated that Seahawks general manager John Schneider referred to it as “Picture Gate” while speaking on Seattle Sports.
Two days later, former Seahawks Super Bowl winner Kam Chancellor expressed his thoughts on the makeover. Chancellor cautioned that Macdonald’s efforts were likely in futile. “You can’t erase ‘The Legion,'” wrote Chancellor on X. “The standard is already set.”
One of the images removed depicted Chancellor’s game-saving forced fumble on Calvin Johnson Jr. at the 1-yard line.
Fellow Seahawks legend Richard Sherman re-posted Chancellor’s remark. A photograph of Sherman’s memorable tipped ball from the 2014 NFC Championship was also displayed on the wall.
A admirer wrote, “Dog, nobody is erasing you. Just trying not to be the Mariners who are trapped in 1995.” Sherman clapped back.
“Yeah, I’m sure every great team is removing images of legendary players from their facilities because they can never come up to that. “Makes sense,” Sherman responded. “Sure, the Ravens don’t have photographs of Ray Lewis and his strong defense. I’m sure Pittsburg doesn’t have photos of all the memorable occasions. I’m sure Dallas, San Francisco, and Nebraska have all removed photographs of their franchise’s history due to a new coach. “Makes sense.”
Fans attempted to persuade Sherman not to take it personally, but it didn’t work. “Pete hung a Super Bowl banner; no other coach in franchise history has done so. “But it’s on brand,” he wrote.
Despite the criticism, Schneider clarified that they are not attempting to rewrite history. But he wanted to give MacDonald, the NFL’s youngest head coach at 36, an opportunity to step out of Carroll’s shadow.
“Right outside the team room to the indoor facility, (there were) a lot of pictures and slogans from Pete’s tenure here, like all the stuff we did together the last 14 years – (which was) awesome,” Schneider said in a statement. “But honoring our past is all throughout this building, so we’re also going a little more digital.
“I was actually talking to (Seahawks president Chuck Arnold) about it this morning – we’re going to have TVs up just kind of like celebrating the Dave Wyman tackles, if you will, or the Curt Warner runs, the Shaun Alexanders, the Coach Holmgrens, and the Coach Carrolls, the whole thing.” When you walk around the corner from the indoor facility, we display the plates (with names) of every player who has played here, as well as images of all the guys, even the most recent ones.
“In Mike’s (Macdonald’s) opinion, it’s kind of like, okay, we’re commemorating our past, you guys get that, but we’re not going in here with specific slogans and leadership mottos and that type of stuff. We’ll develop our own as a team.”
While the removal of Carroll’s legacy from the walls is upsetting for past players, those now on the squad have no objections. Schneider continued, “I believe the guys really embraced it. Listening to Leo the other day, I thought he expressed it well. Like, “Hey, we’re totally going to respect the past and everything that has happened here, and, you know, we just have to move on.”
Left tackle On April 17, Charles Cross told reporters about Macdonald: “I love him.” He brings vigor to the building. He is quite blunt. “He wants to finish the job.”
Cornerback Devon Witherspoon added, “He’s different. He’s not like Pete or anyone else I’ve met while I’ve been here. But it’s a lovely little difference anyhow.” In terms of the new coaching staff, which includes 21 new assistants, “It’s been smooth so far.”
While learning the new language and game strategies can be time-consuming, the goal is to bring the players together. “You can tell there’s a sense of urgency right now,” Williams explained. “In a way, that brings everyone together. That’s keeping everyone so focused.”
Leave a Reply