The Seattle Seahawks were one play away from winning their second Super Bowl a little over two years ago, and we all know how that turned out. Since then, they have not managed to advance past the divisional round of the playoffs.
Warren Moon does not see that as a coincidence.
Moon, a Hall of Famer who played two seasons in Seattle and is now the team’s radio color commentator, said recently on TuneIn’s “NFL No Huddle” show that the Seahawks have not been able to move past Malcolm Butler’s game-winning interception in Super Bowl XLIX.
“They are still having a hangover from two years ago, if you can believe it or not, about losing that Super Bowl in the last minute with the interception on the one-yard line,” Moon said, as transcribed by Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. “And with a lot of guys, it just kind of rubbed them the wrong way and they just haven’t gotten over it. This team will not be able to move on and really do what they want to do which is win another Super Bowl unless they can somehow put that behind them. There are certain guys on the team that just haven’t been able to do that and until they are able to do that they are going to continue to keep having a very good football team but a team that is going to probably come up short of their goals because of not being able to let go of the past and letting those things become a hindrance to their success.”
Of course, Richard Sherman is one of the players Moon is talking about. The All-Pro cornerback was the subject of a bombshell ESPN feature last week that shed light on how much he resents Russell Wilson and Pete Carroll since the loss to New England.
“I think you just can’t have these negative things in the back of your mind,” Moon said of Sherman. “You have to be focused and be all in on what’s going on in front of you and not worrying about what’s behind you because those just hinder your teams success. It can become a huge distraction.”
It’s tough to blame something that happened two years ago for Seattle’s recent shortcomings, but there is likely some truth behind it. When you read reports like this, it’s easy to see that Sherman isn’t getting along with all of his teammates and coaches. Carroll’s terrible play call against the Patriots did nothing to help that, but the Seahawks should have put that loss in the rearview a long time ago.
