Shawn Alexander to the ROH this Sunday

[RiverDog]

I'm surprised it took so long. SA has been out of the game since 2009 and he's just now being inducted to our ROH?

Shaun Alexander will be honored by the team during their Week 6 game against the Arizona Cardinals on Oct. 16 at Lumen Field.

https://www.nfl.com/news/seahawks-to-in ... nor-oct-16

Alexander is our one and only league MVP, and he did it in an era that favored quarterbacks. He was also selected to the All Decade team for the 2000's, and is ranked 8th all time in rushing TD's.

So why did it take so long?

[Aseahawkfan]

Nice. He deserves it. He gave us a lot of great memories too.

[c_hawkbob]

About time!! Our only ever League MVP deserves better!

So why did it take so long?

Not going there myself, that's a distasteful discussion.

[RiverDog]

So why did it take so long?

Not going there myself, that's a distasteful discussion.

Now you have me curious. Are you sure that you don't want to go there? I honestly don't have an explanation.

[Hawktawk]

I have no explanation either . Should have been a no brainer. Something about his departure ? To me the guy was a great back and smiling all the time . Not HoF great but ring of honor ? Definitely . Congrats mr smooth .

[I-5]

I'll bite. I think a substantial number of fans thought/think of SA as a diva AND that he unfairly benefitted from having 2 HOF'ers on the left side of the line. For being an MVP, he's pretty underrated in my book. At least by some Seattle fans. He deserves to be in the ROH.

[Aseahawkfan]

Honestly, c-bob is right. Why mar Shaun's time to get in the Ring with old talk.

Shaun dealt with the same thing Russ is dealing with right now. A lot of old timers like myself and c-bob have not really forgotten how people talked about Shaun for a long time.

I'll stop there. Glad Shaun is in. He won MVP. He set a league record at the time for rushing TDs. He drove the offense for our first Super Bowl run. Great runner. Good man off the field.

[RiverDog]

Yeah, I remember all the talk of how soft of a runner he was. But as far as I know, they don't rely on fan opinion polls or take surveys of whether or not Player A deserves ROF inclusion or not.

I do understand why he's not in the HOF. His career rushing TD's are right up there with the best and he was named to the All Decade team, but his rushing yards are well below the threshold, with Tiki Barber, Eddie George, Corey Dillon, Warrick Dunn, Jamal Lewis, Clinton Portis, Ricky Williams, all non HOF RB's of his era gaining more yards in their careers. And, of course, no ring (let's not go on another XL debate. It is what it is).

The other thing that's been keeping him out is the team he played for. We're on a virtual deserted island as far as the media and those that vote on HOF inclusion are concerned, which explains why someone like Drew Pearson can don a gold jacket. If SA had played his career with the Cowboys, he would have been in even without a ring.

But the lack of ROH inclusion is still mystifying.

[Hawktawk]

SA was a similarly talented similar type of style as Radhaad Penny , just a lot more careful with his body . Outside the 20s there’s not a lot of footage of him plowing into 5 guys to get another yard . He would have been out of bounds where Penny got hurt . When he saw defenders bearing down he stepped out . Live to play another down .

I won’t mar his induction and it’s well deserved . One of the sweetest smooth runners ever and the endzone is where he sniffed blood .
But his overall body of work and his style will stop him from going any further .
A great hawk . Great guy .

[Agent 86]

I agree it's curious as to why it took so long. I remember seeing on TV they showed the phone call he got and his reaction to the news he was being inducted into the ROH. It did not come across as he was blown away with the news, it was IMO a subdued reaction (like what took so long??).

I know he got blasted by alot of fans for his "soft" running style and his parading of the NFC Championship trophy around the stadium when they beat Carolina. But the man won an NFL MVP and put up great numbers in multiple years, definitely ROH worthy. Class act too.

But as with Russ, I have to believe he rubbed people the wrong way in the dressing room for whatever it was. Just a gut feeling I always had.

[RiverDog]

But as with Russ, I have to believe he rubbed people the wrong way in the dressing room for whatever it was. Just a gut feeling I always had.

I've never gotten that impression about Shawn. Beast? Absolutely. Earl? Without a doubt. But not Alexander.

Besides, even if he did, were those people he rubbed the wrong way in the decision-making loop as to who gets admitted to the ROH over these past 10 years? It's an honest question.

[Agent 86]

But as with Russ, I have to believe he rubbed people the wrong way in the dressing room for whatever it was. Just a gut feeling I always had.

I've never gotten that impression about Shawn. Beast? Absolutely. Earl? Without a doubt. But not Alexander.

Besides, even if he did, were those people he rubbed the wrong way in the decision-making loop as to who gets admitted to the ROH over these past 10 years? It's an honest question.

Ha, it's funny how we can view things. I never ever got the impression that Beast or Earl rubbed people the wrong way in the dressing room. I should clarify I am talking about teammates only, not coaching staff or above. In fact I felt that guys like Beast and Earl were the glue in the dressing room, highly respected players who teammates would listen to without question. True leaders (maybe not so much Earl after his incident in the tunnel with the Cowboys coach).

With Russ and Alexander, I always felt that when teammates saw an interview with them or if they would say something in the dressing room, it probably left more than a few players shaking their heads and saying "whatever" with a smirk on their face and an eye roll. Just my gut feeling. But that should have nothing to do with getting into the ROH, their play on the field more than justifies that honour.

[Aseahawkfan]

I've never gotten that impression about Shawn. Beast? Absolutely. Earl? Without a doubt. But not Alexander.

Besides, even if he did, were those people he rubbed the wrong way in the decision-making loop as to who gets admitted to the ROH over these past 10 years? It's an honest question.

I'm of the mind Shaun may not have been interested for a while after the way he was treated. But that's pure speculation and likely another thing we'll never know about one of our former greats.

It was real bad when we lost the Super Bowl and Shaun didn't produce a great deal in the playoffs. You know how fans are. They love you when the team is doing well, hate you when it isn't. There are always a few to go way overboard attacking players or coaches when they are looking for reasons why their team lost or why a player isn't performing up to par. Nature of human crazy.

[NorthHawk]

I've never gotten that impression about Shawn. Beast? Absolutely. Earl? Without a doubt. But not Alexander.

Besides, even if he did, were those people he rubbed the wrong way in the decision-making loop as to who gets admitted to the ROH over these past 10 years? It's an honest question.

Players don’t always like each other. It’s just the way it is.
But they tolerate them because they can help the team win. But make no mistake, no team is all together in
friendship amongst its players. It’s just like in life, if you get 63 or so people together, not all are going to
get along and it may be amplified by there being a room full of alpha types.

[Hawktawk]

I haven’t checked stats but I’m fairly sure SA had a pretty good game yardage wise in XL . And don’t forget the goon Joey Porter with one of the most blatant horse collar tackles ive ever seen on the league MVP uncalled by the ref but called by Al Michaels and John Madden . “ that looked a lot like a horse tackle but they probably aren’t going to call that “ . Part of a brutal 4 play series of calls and non calls all against Seattle that took us off the 1 foot line and wound up Pittsburgh ball at the 40 .
I don’t blame SA at all for that loss . I don’t know how he was received in the locker room . I remember after we beat Atlanta in 2004 and didn’t give him the ball for a yard to win the rush crown he talked about being stabbed in the back . That caused quite a stir . I don’t think anyone in the locker room had an issue with Beast . Never a doubt I’d he was going all out . But again SA is receiving a well deserved honor as one of the greatest backs of his generation . Nobody’s perfect .

[RiverDog]

I haven’t checked stats but I’m fairly sure SA had a pretty good game yardage wise in XL . And don’t forget the goon Joey Porter with one of the most blatant horse collar tackles ive ever seen on the league MVP uncalled by the ref but called by Al Michaels and John Madden . “ that looked a lot like a horse tackle but they probably aren’t going to call that “ . Part of a brutal 4 play series of calls and non calls all against Seattle that took us off the 1 foot line and wound up Pittsburgh ball at the 40 .
I don’t blame SA at all for that loss . I don’t know how he was received in the locker room . I remember after we beat Atlanta in 2004 and didn’t give him the ball for a yard to win the rush crown he talked about being stabbed in the back . That caused quite a stir . I don’t think anyone in the locker room had an issue with Beast . Never a doubt I’d he was going all out . But again SA is receiving a well deserved honor as one of the greatest backs of his generation . Nobody’s perfect .

SA had 94 yards on 20 carries and 0 TD's in XL, respectable but not MVP-type. His career playoff numbers included 584 yards on 169 carries, 3.3 YPA and 8 TD's in 9 games. The YPA number is below his career 4.3 average, TD's above his career per game average. Sort of a wash.

Too bad we didn't get that win in XL. Had SA gotten 20 more yards and a TD in a winning effort, it likely would have landed him not only a ring, but a SB MVP and might have been enough to propel him into the HOF. But as the saying goes, if your aunt had balls, she'd be your uncle.

[Agent 86]

I haven’t checked stats but I’m fairly sure SA had a pretty good game yardage wise in XL . And don’t forget the goon Joey Porter with one of the most blatant horse collar tackles ive ever seen on the league MVP uncalled by the ref but called by Al Michaels and John Madden . “ that looked a lot like a horse tackle but they probably aren’t going to call that “ . Part of a brutal 4 play series of calls and non calls all against Seattle that took us off the 1 foot line and wound up Pittsburgh ball at the 40 .
I don’t blame SA at all for that loss . I don’t know how he was received in the locker room . I remember after we beat Atlanta in 2004 and didn’t give him the ball for a yard to win the rush crown he talked about being stabbed in the back . That caused quite a stir . I don’t think anyone in the locker room had an issue with Beast . Never a doubt I’d he was going all out . But again SA is receiving a well deserved honor as one of the greatest backs of his generation . Nobody’s perfect .

Oh man, I had forgotten about the "stabbed in the back" comment he made in that post game interview. Minutes after the 'Hawks won the NFC West in a huge win. I ain't here to smear Alexander so I won't say anything more about that. Can't believe I forgot about that.

[Aseahawkfan]

Yep, he made some comments fans did not take well.

[RiverDog]

Yeah, I had forgotten about that remark, too, upset because he didn't get the rushing title. Pretty damn selfish. And we wonder why Hutch would want to leave.

Nevertheless, I have a hard time believing that one remark kept him out of the ROH for these many years. If that's a criterion, then we should keep guys like Beast and Earl out of it, too.

[NorthHawk]

He deserved to be honored much sooner.
I'm glad it's finally happening, though.

[Hawktawk]

I don’t know if Hutch left over the comment or the whole soft team and his perception of Alexander who had gotten a huge deal along with Hass and Walt .

I recall Shaun would hold up his hand and linemen would pick him up after runs. Hutch would walk right by without looking at him with a pissed off look on his face . Oh well it’s a common courtesy on most teams . Hutch had an attitude and the way he left I never had much respect for him . Great player . In the end a lousy Seahawk .

[obiken]

He was not a prime time player, he never showed up in big games. He had great moves, but was a soft back who was not very good at getting the tough yards up the middle, give me Curt Warner, or Beast any day. You guys want to put him in the ROH fine, but compared to Ken Easley, I think he pukes the ring up. IS the ROH all about numbers, or were they a tough sacrificial Hawk? Course who am I, I never thought Hass should have been let in, I am one of the few that thought putting Karl Mecklenburg's Santa Claus in, was a big mistake.

[RiverDog]

He was not a prime time player, he never showed up in big games. He had great moves, but was a soft back who was not very good at getting the tough yards up the middle, give me Curt Warner, or Beast any day. You guys want to put him in the ROH fine, but compared to Ken Easley, I think he pukes the ring up. IS the ROH all about numbers, or were they a tough sacrificial Hawk? Course who am I, I never thought Hass should have been let in, I am one of the few that thought putting Karl Mecklenburg's Santa Claus in, was a big mistake.

I don't necessarily disagree with your assessment, Obi. But in 45 frigging years, he's our only league MVP. That alone deserves admission to the ROH.

[obiken]

I don't necessarily disagree with your assessment, Obi. But in 45 frigging years, he's our only league MVP. That alone deserves admission to the ROH.

Okay, there you got me Riv!

[Hawktawk]

Really Obi? You will fight to the death for Russ and toss SA under the bus like this?

[TriCitySam]

I'm with Obi in that he was IMO soft and couldn't get the tough yards. It was almost a joke at the time, first sign of contact and he'd fold his legs and collapse - like he was mostly concerned with injury. He did have the benefit of having Hutch and Walter to run behind, along with PB's Toebeck and Mack Strong (and an underrated Chris Gray)...but you can't deny the numbers.

[Hawktawk]

He ran more like a receiver then a tailback . He would trip over the 40 to avoid a big shot and almost always run out of bounds . I remember him going down in the hole in a game vs the Ravens to avoid a Ray Lewis hit Part of an awful sequence including the Ravens getting 4 second half timeouts and erasing a 17 point deficit to win in the final seconds starting a backup qb named Anthony Wright . 01 or 02 season . Brutal .
Still a great back we won a lot of games with . One could imagine beast behind that line , really the whole offense .

[RiverDog]

He ran more like a receiver then a tailback . He would trip over the 40 to avoid a big shot and almost always run out of bounds . I remember him going down in the hole in a game vs the Ravens to avoid a Ray Lewis hit Part of an awful sequence including the Ravens getting 4 second half timeouts and erasing a 17 point deficit to win in the final seconds starting a backup qb named Anthony Wright . 01 or 02 season . Brutal .
Still a great back we won a lot of games with . One could imagine beast behind that line , really the whole offense .

If I'm not mistaken, I think that game you're talking about was in 2004, the year just prior to our SB run. It was the year that DJack and KRob had a contest to see who could drop the most 3rd down passes, and I can distinctly remember the Ravens game where we blew a big lead. It was the year where our most reliable and best hands receiver, Bobby Engram, dropped a perfect pass in the playoffs to end our season.