Seahawks fan comments: Who is the worst person in sports media?

Quandre Diggs responds to Seaside Joe, Umbrellas vs Raincoats, and more origin story news: Seaside Joe 1581

For this Friday’s Seaside Joe, the 1,581st straight day of a FREE newsletter (read Friday’s bonus article on training camp position battles here if you’re interested) I wanted to try something new and highlight some of the top and most interesting comments from the last week of articles. I’ve always said that the collective knowledge of this community is FAR more than I will EVER know about football and the Seattle Seahawks, so I’m grateful to learn more from you everyday than you’ll probably learn from me.

I think what this also does is give us a chance to dive deeper into some of your comments and open these ideas back up to the Seasider community to keep the ball going. You’ve said literally over 100,000 great words in the comments section in the past that I’ve never highlighted before, but it’s never too late to start.

Become a Seaside Joe subscriber to not miss more articles like this one and follow-ups, and consider upgrading to paid for all the bonus content and to help us reach #1 on Substack!

This is just a small sample of your great comments from the past week. Sorry if you didn’t get a shout out this week, it could be your lucky day next time if you all feel this is something you want to see more of in the future. Hit the heart button to “like” any articles you think deserve more attention and I’ll keep more like them.

Super Bowl Coverage: Umbrellas vs Raincoats

In my post about the Seahawks announcing open practice training camp dates, I mentioned the “no umbrellas rule’ and Paul G offered his thoughts on the true value of umbrellas.

Seasider Paul G:

“Re no umbrellas, I rarely carried one when I lived in Seattle--it would meant going around one-armed for 200 days a year. A rain jacket sufficed. When I moved to Richmond (VA), I silently sneered at the way Richmonders whipped out an umbrella whenever it so much as drizzled. Well the first time I wore a rain jacket in 85-degree heat, I got the point of an umbrella really quickly: It was like I was wearing a steam bath. Eleven years later, I keep an umbrella handy at all times. I’m still reluctant to use it in a light rain, though.”

I live in sunny California, so rarely do umbrellas become a topic of conversation around here. However, did you know that it has rained more inches in Los Angeles since October than it has in Seattle?

Who is the worst person in sports?

On my post about which Seahawks could make the top-100 lists in the future, Chuck Turtleman shared a common feeling about CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco, a guy who I think because of his faults has never grown much outside the walls of CBS. Does anyone think about Prisco other than these rare times when someone like me shares an article? Does Prisco actually have any “fans”? Even Skip Bayless and Colin Cowherd have fans. Millions, in fact.

Seasider Chuck:

“Pete Prisco is my least favorite person in sports. Sure, I dislike Skip & Shannon and such "sports shock jocks" *more* but those guys are all in it for the gimmick. As a fan, it feels like he's deliberately dense when it comes to our team. The Sea Hawkers podcast have an Elmo voice singing for him that delights me every time.”

ESPN made a few notable layoffs this week, cutting NFL names like Todd McShay, Steve Young, and Keyshawn Johnson. What are your thoughts on ESPN’s layoffs, if you have any?

Seasider IdahoFred on my origin story for Nick Bellore:

“A record for depth of Nick Bellore in one article.”

One of my favorite Seaside Joe testimonials ever. Having fallen backwards into the origin story series just based on the fact that a) I’ve already written every other kind of football article you can imagine and b) I like doing “custom range-based research” on Google, I feel lucky to get to be the person who gives the longform treatment to players who rarely get that kind of attention.

I know that I can do a better job of origin stories, I consider this to be sort of “phase two” of my learning process because I have done them in the past but never with this kind of regularity, but every new article is a learning experience that makes me eager to see how the Seaside Joe origins will look in the future. Here’s a link to every origin story from the past two months.

What origin story ideas do you have?

Running Backs have an NFL problem - What can we do about it?

I’m really happy that I finally put some thoughts down about how to help running backs. I have covered and touched on the topic many times in the last 10 years, but I go over potential solutions in my head all the time without ever writing them down so this felt like a first step—even if know that the NFL doesn’t care what I think. But I know that good potential solutions could be found in our community, such as Doug’s wine-thought for a rookie contract pool.

Seasider Doug:

“Me thinking out loud after a couple glasses of wine: the NFL should have a a 'rookie contract pool' that pays out (for offensive players) on value to their team that has no impact on the team's cap space. An "entertainment bonus" if you will, based on touches, yards, "explosive plays" (which would be different for RBs and WRs). RBs, who can usually be productive right from year 1, would benefit more than WR or TE players. The pool would be large enough to add 7 figure bonuses to 'top' performers.”

I’m not smart enough to say what potential downsides and problems such a plan could run into, but I’ve long found it interesting that so much of an NFL player’s pay is based not on how he does in the league—instead it’s based on how good of an NFL prospect he is. That doesn’t seem like the best way to do it. And I’ll add a bonus comment here from Maeve on how the Seahawks could be “outfoxing” the league.

Seasider Maeve:

“When the Seahawks drafted Charbonnet, and the internet had its expected response, I remember thinking to myself "honestly, it's not a terrible idea to keep taking the top RB talent in the 2nd, use them for 3 or 4 years, and replace them"“

Seaside Joe-rigin Story?

In my post on needing cap space to sign Devon Witherspoon and Zach Charbonnet, a commenter made an interesting request for a more personal origin story story.

Seasider Ode:

“You know - and maybe you already covered it before I subscribed - someday I would love to hear about your experience running FG. As someone who's been lurking there on-and-off since '07 (though less frequently of late - too much negativity for negativity's sake imho), it was really interesting to watch your transition in and out of that role from afar, but a firsthand account would be cool.”

I appreciate you and everyone else here who has helped give me the right to call myself a writer for the last 10 years. I am such an “undrafted free agent” of this business, and really continue to be, but having people who care about seeing the next edition of Seaside Joe is LITERALLY what keeps me going.

As far as my own origin story, I will keep that in the mind for the future-future, but definitely want to keep crafting Seahawks-specific stories for now. One of the most important lessons I’ve learned over the years is that you should give the people what they want and the highest-percentage shot on a Seahawks blog is Seahawks content. This is possibly the biggest mistake I see other creators make, especially on Twitter, which is that they think their followers want to read and hear about stuff that isn’t related to the very reason they’re being followed in the first place.

So that’s why I may put something like that off for a while, but I do appreciate the request and I have ideas in mind for an adjacent newsletter that is about writing, newsletters, and making money as a content creator. That’s where it may one day fit best.

Quandre Diggs likes Quandre Diggs

Thank you Quandre Diggs for reading the Quandre Diggs origin story and sharing it on Twitter. I’ll have part II out as soon as possible!

Will the NFL ever evolve into the Arena League?

My “Do linebackers have the same problem as running backs but with worse PR?” article addresses the extremely poor rate of quality first round picks at linebacker over the last decade and I think “Hammar” could hit the nail on the head as far as asking a broader question about the league’s pass-happy nature. The original comment is much longer than this, so go check out the comments to read the whole thing, but this is what I wanted to pull out from it…

Seasider KHammarling:

“Wider question, how long before we see the NFL really just become a bigger outdoor ARL that's all about explosive tricks and wide open offence only games?”

Of course, the devaluation of linebackers and running backs is a symptom, right? What are your thoughts, will the NFL go too far in their efforts to help quarterbacks achieve record passing stats every year?

New School Pete?

Seasider Charlie Swift, from the Jaxon Smith-Njigba game breakdown:

“In 2023 Pete and John have 2 top tier receivers, 1 top tier corner (found in the fifth round, avg. to above avg. nickle corner and an avg. corner. They also have two first round picks. Who do they draft - best receiver and best corner and expect both to contribute immediately. Pete may talk old school but he and John are building a new school team.”

“Ken, Kenny, or Kenneth?”

As someone with the same name, I can say from experience that people are obsessed with asking me what name I prefer when they first meet me. “Which do you prefer? Ken, Kenny, or Kenneth?” From the Olu Oluwatimi origin story comments I’ll hand it over to…

Seasider Shaymus:

“Also, Author Arthur, I love seeing you refer to our guy as Ken Walker III, NOT Kenneth, as that is how he has asked to be referred to. Or at least, that's how John said he is to be referred. We wouldn't want another angry little elf. I also dig K9 because of his jersey number and the dog in him.”

Ken Walker III has definitely said he wants to be called Ken, so I’ll do him that honor. My answer? It’s always been, “I don’t care. Call me what you want to call me.” But some people have a preference (my old boss Matthew used to get legitimately quite upset if you called him Matt) and I’ll respect it.

Where does Evan Brown play?

Seasider Charles R Dyer:

“I think they are going to have Evan Brown play snaps at right guard during preseason, as well as being first team center.”

During my position battles preview on Friday, I went over the center position and why I think Evan Brown should have a considerable lead over Olu Olu going into training camp. Pete’s been pretty clear about it so far, including Brown playing center. However, Charles is right: Because there isn’t a winner yet at right guard, Brown might still be considered the best option there, IF Seattle feels comfortable about either Olu or Joey Hunt.

Comments are open so jump in there—you have ALL weekend!