John Schneider has signed a contract extension until 2021
News of an extension for John Schneider will be gratefully received by Seahawks fans. A new deal for Pete Carroll feels like a formality too — and all is well with the world.
It’s easy to forget what it’s like to follow a slumping, miserable franchise. The Seahawks have been pretty good or excellent for 13 years. They’ve been to three Super Bowls, winning one, and had nine winning seasons in that time frame.
Since 2010, when Carroll and Schneider arrived in Seattle, they’ve had 60 regular season wins. Only perennial winners New England, Pittsburgh, Green Bay and Denver have more. Only Pittsburgh have competed in a division as challenging as the NFC West.
It’s hard to be as good as the Seahawks have been for this period of time. Carroll and Schneider have now produced a genuine golden era of Seahawks football — perhaps the greatest any of us will experience. They’ve accumulated a collection of players that pair extreme talent with character and charisma. They’ve created a team that is fun to watch, that enjoys a brilliant connection with the community and they’re led by a coach who is enthusiasm personified.
It just doesn’t get better than this.
Sure, that Super Bowl XLIX defeat was agony. It’d be nice if they could add more titles and be known as a dynasty.
Whatever happens, this is a period of Seahawks football to be enjoyed and celebrated right now. Not just when it’s over. Not just when we’re all gray, bald and/or fat — boring future generations with stories about Richard Sherman’s effervescence.
‘And then he tips the ball to Malcolm Smith and they win. Yes. We know what happened’
It’d be very easy to miss the moment and not enjoy the now. This team is capable of multiple titles and its place in history. It sometimes feels like there’s a desperation to witness that. For this team to get its due. After all, this isn’t a franchise with the glorious past of a San Francisco, Dallas or Pittsburgh.
Carroll is Seattle’s Bill Walsh. Russell Wilson its Troy Aikman.
If they don’t deliver multiple Championship’s there will be a tinge of disappointment. That shouldn’t ever replace the absolute joy this group has provided.
There are so many NFL fans already looking at the 2017 draft. So many following teams that exist within a world of constant mediocrity.
So many that operate within an eternal discord.
In Seattle fans can dream every year with legitimate hope. They have a shot. A chance at winning it all.
If it doesn’t happen, there’ll be next year. If it never happens again, we’ll always have the image of a grinning Wilson and Carroll hoisting the Lombardi in New York.
One day it’ll all be gone. Richard Sherman will be arguing with Stephen A. Smith in an ESPN studio. Russell Wilson will be campaigning for president. Pete Carroll will become the oldest man to fly to the Moon.
And the next generation might be more 2009 than 2013.
Breathe it in. Live for the now. Enjoy this golden age. It won’t be here forever.
