RENTON — The hallway that leads from the Seattle Seahawks’ practice field to the spacious locker room at their new facility includes a wall that’s meant to serve as a reminder of greatness.
The area is supposed to be adorned with framed collages of photos from each of the Seahawks’ victories, just like a similar setup at the team’s old offices in Kirkland.
The only collage on the lonely wall these days is dated Sept. 21, 2008, the date of the Seahawks’ last — and only — victory this season.
“We’re used to putting a lot of those up on the wall,” defensive tackle Craig Terrill said this week, more than a month after the team’s last win. “To see one from so early in the year, and to just have one, that wears on you.
“That will get you ready to go every day. To see that on the way to practice, that’s motivation every day.”
The new practice facility was meant to serve as a new era in Seahawks football. But that, the upcoming departure of head coach Mike Holmgren and a 1-5 start that has left players and coaches scratching their heads have served as fodder for more of a final chapter than any new beginnings.
If the 2008 Seahawks don’t get things turned around in a hurry, the end of an era will be upon them like an oncoming train.
No one inside the team’s facility is willing to close the book on the recent run of success. Four consecutive division titles, and five straight trips to the postseason, mark one of the finest runs in franchise history and an era that none of the Seahawks want to see come to an end.
But a roster of aging superstars, an outgoing coach and a subpar record mean that the franchise could be on the verge of starting anew.
Left tackle Walter Jones, perhaps the greatest player in the franchise’s history, is 34 years old and nearing the end of his career. Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is 33 and dealing with back problems. Leading receiver Bobby Engram is upset with the lack of a contract extension and is likely to move on after this season.
Then there’s Holmgren, who plans to step away from the NFL after this season but appears likely to eventually return as a head coach or general manager somewhere else.
Despite it all, the Seahawks are unwilling to put their successful run in the past.
“Do I feel the era is coming to an end? Hell, no,” said safety Deon Grant, whose biggest motivation for signing with the team in March 2007 was its recent run of success. “I would never think that.”
“If you’re asking whether the window for this organization is closing, I would say ‘No,’” defensive back Jordan Babineaux added. “Guys in this locker room are too competitive to think like that. Our record might say that we’re 1-5, but we’re not going to play like a 1-5 team.”
The Seahawks certainly have put themselves in quite a hole. The Midas touch of team president Tim Ruskell, who hit on free agents like Bryce Fisher, Patrick Kerney and Grant but has also been responsible for the Deion Branch trade and some high draft picks that have yet to pan out, has faded. Holmgren has been unable to get his backup quarterbacks to play anywhere near Hasselbeck’s accustomed level. And defensive coordinator John Marshall can’t get his talented unit to play like an elite defense.
It’s led to a team that looks nothing like previous success stories.
“A lot of guys are pressing and trying to make plays,” said backup quarterback Seneca Wallace, who started last Sunday’s game and might have to play again this week. “When guys are trying to make up for other guys, that ends up hurting you in the long run.”
Whatever happens over the final 10 weeks of 2008, the Seahawks can look back on the past five years as their most successful run ever.
Their .638 winning percentage from 2003 through 2007 marks the best in franchise history for a five-year span. The team made as many playoff appearances (five) and had more playoff wins (four) in that span as it had in the previous 27 seasons as a franchise. The Seahawks won four consecutive division titles after winning a total of three from 1976 through 2003.
“For us, to have done what we’ve done the past four years has definitely been a tremendous accomplishment,” Babineaux said. “We definitely made some strides the last four years as an organization. It’s a disappointing start to this year, but there’s no way to count us out for the year because we’ve still got 10 games left.”
Unless the Seahawks have one more run in them, the golden era of Seahawks football might be over.
“We’ve stumbled out of the gates, but there’s a lot of football to go,” Terrill said. “We know how we can play when we put things together. It’s just a matter of doing it instead of saying it.”
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