Who is your favorite active non-Seahawks player?

Is Russell Wilson still a favorite of Seahawks fans? Which players are popular in Seattle?: Seaside Joe 1957

The other day I was watching this film study on Russell Wilson and the most relevant take that came to my mind was “If these were college highlights of a draft eligible quarterback, the ‘niks’ would be flooding the Internet with their own versions of the same opinion that he should be the number one pick.”

(*Draftniks)

It’s not even me saying that Wilson has become underrated and treated unfairly by the media based on these cutups. It’s that a) yes, he’s still an extremely talented quarterback, even if his value has plummeted and b) these are HIGHLIGHTS. Give a talented quarterback 500 opportunities to make a play, he’s bound to give you back at least 30 exciting moments, right?

And Wilson is doing this against NFL teams, not Leslie Frazier’s Alcorn State, yet many still seem to believe that he’s less likely to be successful than backup Justin Fields based on what? I’ll tell you what: As far as throwing the football goes, based almost exclusively on Fields’ highlights at Ohio State. Not in the NFL. Fields didn’t face Alcorn State in college, but I can give you an Austin Peay, a Florida Atlantic, and Miami of Ohio.

I have to admit, I was more amazed than I expected to be when I started watching this study on Russ:

I had initially wondered if I should ask Seahawks fans if they will be rooting for Russell Wilson on the Steelers. Seattle gets no more draft rewards for any failures he has, and he’s nowhere near the Seahawks’ division or conference or schedule, so there’s really nothing on this end to lose or gain from his career right now. Basically that question only boils down to: “Do you still at least kinda like Russell Wilson?”

Well, it’s fine to like or dislike Wilson. There isn’t a right answer, in my opinion, and without any remaining connection to the Seahawks as far as the 2024 season goes only, I find that question to be lacking in value. “Do you like Russell Wilson?” Some do, some don’t. I could ask this about almost any public figure and get some “yes” and some “no” and that would be the end of the survey. “Some yes and some no.”

That’s just not enough substance to pass the editor at Seaside Joe! (ME!)

(But you can and should still tell me if you have residual strong feelings about Russell Wilson if you want to.)

My favorite Seahawks player from 2012-2021 was Russell Wilson. Oh sure, there were times when another player was more likeable (Marshawn Lynch) and who I have fonder memories of now, but as a writer I’ve never had a single player give me more content to cover—without it ever getting repetitive—than Wilson. As a former tweeter, Wilson content (i.e., “He’s the first player in history to do (THIS)”, “The highest passer rating in history for (these circumstances) belongs Russell Wilson”) was easy money. Like getting $85 million guaranteed from the Broncos, except every single day, and on Twitter so therefore completely worthless.

Thanks, Russ.

But Wilson is not my favorite non-Seahawks player in 2024. And I think expanding the question beyond Wilson and over to every single non-Seahawks player in the NFL will get approved by the editor (ME!) and give us a lot more insight into a) the Seaside Joe community, b) Seahawks fans, and c) the current NFL at large.

My favorite non-Seahawks player is Josh Allen. Never again to be confused with Josh Hines-Allen:

Every football fan laments the fact that they were “born too late to watch (this guy) play” while he was active. If you’re on the younger side, maybe it could be Brett Favre. A little older, maybe John Elway or Lawrence Taylor. A little older, maybe Gale Sayers. A little older than that, maybe Jim Brown. And if you even saw Jim Brown live, then I guess you’re going to make me go back to Bronko Nagurski.

If you saw Bronko Nagurski play football in real time, we’re going to need to have a serious and in-depth conversation about what I need to do to live as long as you have made it.

I feel like it would be a complete waste of life to be a diehard football fan in 2024 and to miss out on seeing Josh Allen while he’s active. Patrick Mahomes has won more Super Bowls in the past…probably more Super Bowls than Josh Allen will ever win…but I have had a feeling for a while that Allen will win more Super Bowls in the future.

However, I think “immense talent” is almost secondary to the Josh Allen narrative. His story is, to me, what makes him the non-Seahawks player I enjoy rooting for the most.

Yes, the story of him being completely unrecruited out of high school, going to community college, then still only getting upgraded to Wyoming when he eventually transferred, is fascinating for someone who has three top-5 MVP finishes in the last four years. But I think I just like rooting against the niks.

SB Nation gave the Bills a D+ for drafting Allen over Josh Rosen. Mel Kiper said that Buffalo had “too many holes to give up premium picks to move up five spots” (the Bills traded picks 53 and 56 to move up for Allen). And several writers at Yahoo! Sports trashed the choice, including Nick Bromberg (“Taking Allen over Rosen will haunt the Bills for years”) and Jason Owens (“The Bills gave up a haul for a QB with accuracy problems”).

So while I know that Allen is worth the price of admission (as much as any NFL player can be with $300 ticket prices or whatever they are today), I don’t think he’d be my favorite non-Seahawks player if he was beloved at draft time. And I’m not getting it twisted, Allen was the seventh overall pick so it’s not as though the move wasn’t understandable to most people. They just saw it as a risk to take a quarterback who was deemed to be a little wild with his throws at Wyoming and completed under 60% of his attempts.

And if THAT were the only story, maybe I would still forgive the niks…

But then a few years later the general draft media praised the 49ers for drafting Trey Lance over Mac Jones???

Given that the Seahawks have arguably the most infamous draft class grade of all-time—the Ds and Fs that they got in 2012—maybe that’s why rooting against niks, and therefore rooting for doubted prospects like Josh Allen who also happens to be a phenomenal dual threat quarterback (with a vastly underrated postseason career to date) and a perennial MVP candidate sure to show up on our TVs in January, is in my blood now.

(Did you watch Nagurski play? Should I have THIS in MY BLOOD or not? TELL ME HOW TO LIVE LONGER!)

I get to watch a quarterback unlike any other in the league, whose success almost never impacts the Seahawks in a negative way, and he’s also a player who as he gets better, makes the old draft takes look worse. That’s probably why Allen is my favorite active non-Seahawks player.

Who is yours?

Non-Seahawks Players

I remember when the most popular answer to this question was Larry Fitzgerald. A dominant receiver on a non-threatening team, so unlike Frank Gore, someone who Seahawks fans could like without worrying about losing to an NFC West opponent because of his good plays. It’s probably even a little bit patronizing how much Seahawks fans like Larry Fitzgerald.

Now I’ve taken your Larry away. He’s been retired for over three years and now replaced by Marvin Harrison, Jr., so I’m curious what some of the new answers will be among Seahawks fans for “favorite non-Seahawks”.

Options:

Talent - Are you going to choose someone because he’s really talented like Justin Jefferson, Patrick Mahomes, Maxx Crosby, or Allen?

Attitude - Many of the most memorable players in league history got there because of a combination of play and personality: Terrell Owens, Lawrence Taylor, Ray Lewis, etc.

Local Connections - It could be a former Seahawk like Wilson or Bobby Wagner. It could be a player who played college locally like Michael Penix, Rome Odunze, or River Cracraft (to my Cougs out there, we’re doing our best and Abe Lucas is on the Seahawks already!)

Miscellaneous - I’m sure that at least a few of you have actual personal ties to player(s) in the league. Just the other day in your “favorite things”, we had a Seasider share that they have a familial relationship to former Seahawk David Kirtman. You may have gone to school or court with/against a player in the league today.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend - How about a shoutout to Mecole Hardman for scoring the game-winner against the 49ers in the Super Bowl? That’s not a bad reason!

I want to know your favorite active non-Seahawks and why, so throw those in the comments and we’ll see what comes out of it and maybe you all have more in common with this question than you might assume.

If you’re not a paid subscriber (and therefore can’t leave a comment), I’ll always do my best to still give you a voice. So I’ll add a couple of survey questions and post the results of today’s post in the near future. Be sure you are SUBSCRIBED to Seaside Joe to not miss it or any other daily edition. Let’s start with the basics, maybe some of you don’t even care about non-Seahawks and that’s fine:

Or maybe you do and he was a Seahawk:

Will you be rooting for Russell Wilson?

I did ask the question I said I would not ask, but it’s only the accoutrement.

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