Seattle WR Koren Robinson has hands of stone, and may be suspended for four games shortly for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy. Mike Holmgren was Jerry Rice's offensive coordinator when Rice and 49ers were at their peak. Put it together and it equals the Seahawks giving up almost nothing (a 7th round conditional draft pick) for a washed-up Rice.
It's hard to see how Rice is going to help the Seahawks much. At 42 he's way too slow now. But Seattle has very little after Daryl Jackson and Robinson. Bobby Engram is also slow, and Alex Bannister is tall and slow and not very good. The Seahawks have Jerheme Urban, who has the potential to be a stud, but he's white so no chance of using him.
Ricewas going to be waived by the Raiders (who are weak at receiver but not using him), and Holmgren and Seattle want to let him go out on his own terms. There's something to be said for that, but unretiring Steve Largent's #80 is pure pandering. Largent's number was retired in 1995 after he was inducted into the football Hall of Fame.
A retired number is just that -- retired. Retiring a number means that it will never again be worn by a member of that team, or at least it did until now.
Rice called Largent to ask for his permission to wear his number and Largent "received his blessing" is the way an AP article put it. Largent will likely be widely applauded for showing "class," but that's not class, it's racial pandering. It's no different than Brett Favre falling down so that Michael Strahan could break the all-time single season sacks record that had been held for almost 20 years by Mark Gastineau.
Can you imagine Favre going into the fetal position if say Patrick Kearney only needed one more sack to break a record held by Reggie White? No way. And it's highly unlikely Largent would "bless" unretiring his number for a great white receiver.
And Rice allowing his number to be worn by any other receiver? He's one of the most selfish and self-absorbed athletes ever. After his admittedly tremendous record of 274 straight games with a catch ended earlier this season, heslammed his helmet on the ground and threw a temper tantrum. What a way for a 42-year-old with 20 years in the league to act. It didn't matter that his team had won, it was all about Jerry.
His taking 45 minutes to put on his uniform while studying himself in a full-length mirror is also telling. In the "bad old days" when the NFL had a different ethos and a different demographic composition, Rice would have had the you-know-what beat out of him the first time he tried that trick.
Edited by: Don Wassall
It's hard to see how Rice is going to help the Seahawks much. At 42 he's way too slow now. But Seattle has very little after Daryl Jackson and Robinson. Bobby Engram is also slow, and Alex Bannister is tall and slow and not very good. The Seahawks have Jerheme Urban, who has the potential to be a stud, but he's white so no chance of using him.
Ricewas going to be waived by the Raiders (who are weak at receiver but not using him), and Holmgren and Seattle want to let him go out on his own terms. There's something to be said for that, but unretiring Steve Largent's #80 is pure pandering. Largent's number was retired in 1995 after he was inducted into the football Hall of Fame.
A retired number is just that -- retired. Retiring a number means that it will never again be worn by a member of that team, or at least it did until now.
Rice called Largent to ask for his permission to wear his number and Largent "received his blessing" is the way an AP article put it. Largent will likely be widely applauded for showing "class," but that's not class, it's racial pandering. It's no different than Brett Favre falling down so that Michael Strahan could break the all-time single season sacks record that had been held for almost 20 years by Mark Gastineau.
Can you imagine Favre going into the fetal position if say Patrick Kearney only needed one more sack to break a record held by Reggie White? No way. And it's highly unlikely Largent would "bless" unretiring his number for a great white receiver.
And Rice allowing his number to be worn by any other receiver? He's one of the most selfish and self-absorbed athletes ever. After his admittedly tremendous record of 274 straight games with a catch ended earlier this season, heslammed his helmet on the ground and threw a temper tantrum. What a way for a 42-year-old with 20 years in the league to act. It didn't matter that his team had won, it was all about Jerry.
His taking 45 minutes to put on his uniform while studying himself in a full-length mirror is also telling. In the "bad old days" when the NFL had a different ethos and a different demographic composition, Rice would have had the you-know-what beat out of him the first time he tried that trick.
Edited by: Don Wassall
