Alba's Dark Angel Award

Week One: I'm Not The Walrus

2009-09-16T11:21:00.000-07:00

Back from a two year hiatus, it's the Alba Dark Angel Award!

For anyone who wasn't around back in the 12 Seahawks Street hey-day, several of the contibutors to that blog would hand out weekly awards after each game, along with a companion blog post, highlighting different aspects of the competition.

Alba's Dark Angel Award recognizes the person who comes out of nowhere to have a dramatic impact on the game. This award was originally called the Moonlight Graham Award, after the Burt Lancaster character in Field of Dreams, who only got one official at-bat in his big league career, but made the most of his opportunity.

Now, on to those who were considered for the Week One Alba's Dark Angel Award!

There have been so many changes to this team and organization since the close of last season, that there are a lot of new names and faces among the coaches and players, which means that almost everyone is eligible for the award this year, from Jim Mora to Cameron Morrah.

If I could, I'd give the entire coaching staff a ADAA this week, for the aggressive, creative, relentless and successful gameplan that was developed and implemented for this opening game against a divisional opponent.

Kudos to Jim Mora for casting off the mantle of his predecessor, along with the 3rd-and-long draw play, and re-energizing a team that has a lot of unfinished business to attend to. God bless new defensive coordinator Gus Bradley, who understands that a lead is not something you fall back and try to protect, but something you use to even more aggressively attack and demoralize your opponent. And congratulations to Greg Knapp for making Seahawks fans fall in love with a former Raider by effectively using ALL the weapons on the field, and masterfully orchestrating the rotation at running back. All great signs for a Seahawks rebirth, however, not enough to draw Alba Iron in Week One.

There were four "runners-up" to this week's award. Like I said, with so many new names and faces, the possibilities were almost endless, but the Alba Dark Angel Award Selection Committee put in tireless hours reviewing the game film, checking the stats, and otherwise effing-off at work to arrive that these finalists.

The Offensive Line - much consternation and hand-wringing was done throughout the pre-season leading up to this game, especially with the abrupt retirement of Mike Wahle, the ~~inevitable~~ shocking injury to Chris Spencer, and the surprisingsurgical procedure to the knee of Mount Jones. However, the re-juggled offensive line of Willis-Unger-Vallos-Sims-Locklear performed admirably in their first official outing together, keeping Hasselbeck's jersey clean, allowing JJ to run for over 100 yards, and providing the necessary protection to unleash the first Seahawks razzle-dazzle play in over 25 years. Next week, Jones and Spencer are slated return, so hopefully the continuity and protection will be even better.

Pardon me, your bust is showing! Of course, I'm talking about the voluptuous display of mounds of aggression, titalating speed and ample power by borderline first round bust Lawrence Jackson. Seemingly, whenever Lo-Jack was on the field, he was in the backfield disrupting the Ram Offense (is that redundant or an oxymoron?) and playing with wild abandon. However, we'll wait until he puts a couple pert red cherries on top of this performace before erecting an Alba Dark Angel in his honor.

Midway through the game, I could swear I heard the following emergency announcement over the Qwest Field PA system, "Will Mr. Herring and Mr. Hawthorne please report to the defensive huddle - STAT!" Trading away Julian Peterson seemed like a good idea when it allowed us to sign Leroy Hill to a long term deal. However, when both Hill and Tatupu had to leave the game, our pro-bowl bound three-headed-monster linebacking crew featured a rookie and two NFL journeymen. Granted, Curry seems like an early leader in the Defensive NFL Rookie of the Year running, but could roster bubble boys Hawthorne and Herring really step in for Tatupu and Hill? Ummm, the aswer is a 12th man decible breaking level "YES!" Both these reserve linebackers came in and played assignment correct football with the same aggressive style that they displayed in preseason. They really came close to drawing Alba Iron in Week One, but just not close enough.

"Having one's identity concealed; to avoid notice or formal attention; a fat slob with anger issues whose boneheaded outbursts consistently help his opponents" Of course, those are the dictionary definitions of the word Incognito, who was the fourth runner-up for this week's award. Fat Richie didn't disappoint in his return trip to Qwest field, racking up false start penalties and throwing in an unsportsmanlike conduct for good measure. Seemingly, he's done more for the Seahawks now 9-game winning streak against the Rams than anyone. But it'll be a cold day in hell when an Alba Dark Angel goes to an opponent, especially one from St. Loser.

No, this week's Alba Dark Angel Award goes to one man, who was instrumental in preserving the shutout, and ironically indicative of the changing of the guard at the helm of the Seahawks, ushering in a new era of optomism and hope for our favorite club. Of course, I'm talking about the Booth Official who called for the replay review of the blocked field goal. Mike Holmgren's run-ins and disdain for the officials was well documented and publicized, and his record at attempted challenges had been futile at best. There were many blown leads against the Rams throughout his career, where defeat was snatched from the jaws of victory by a bad call or weird bounce of the ball. And don't even get me started on Super Bowl XL!

However, on this pastoral September day at Qwest, the skies opened and a heavenly ray of sunshine pierced through the glass of whereever it is the Replay Booth Official is located, startling him from his slumber and causing him to accidentally hit the buzzer indicating to the field officials that something was amiss with the previous play. And as has been indicated by many of my fellow contibutors to SeahawkBlue.com, the Seahawks 12th man was introduced to the 12th man on the Rams FG block team, nullifying the touchdown with the penalty resulting in a Seahawks first down, which lead to a 14-0 halftime lead and the rout was on!

In the Holmgren years, that play would have been the first in a series of events that would have lead to Ram victory, and then a sheepishly worded apology from the league offices on Wednesday of the following week. (yes, I'm looking at you Baltimore time keeper!) But these are not your Walrus's Seahawks, and hopefully this is the start of a beautiful new relationship, between Jim Mora and the guys who wear the striped jerseys, including the unnamed booth review official who is the recipient of this week's Alba Dark Angel Award.

Dark Angel Award: Week 10

2006-11-14T13:37:00.000-08:00

[Continued]

Now 'regular starters', Mo Morris and Seneca Wallace were given serious considerating for this prize. Morris breaking the century mark for the second consecutive week, and Wallace racking up a gawdy QB rating and out-performing is opposite number, pro bowler Mark Bulger. But since these guys have been staring for 3-4 weeks now, and are getting all kinds of accolades on TV and in the national press, they can hardly be considered as toiling in obscurity, so to the trenches we go for some other candidates.

On the offensive side of the ball, second year man Chris Spencer got the surprise of his young career, finding out minutes before game time that he would be starting in place of pro bowler Robbie Tobeck, who was stricken with a bad case of the flu. Spencer filled in admirably, opening holes for Morris to run through, and providing the necessary protection for Wallace to guide the offense. On the defensive side of the ball, veteran Chuck Darby had a career day, racking up his first two-sack day, both coming on critical 3rd down stops, one holding the Rams to a field goal, and the other forcing the precipitating punt that lead to the first Seaahawk return for a touchdown in several years. On any other week, these high-motor efforts from a coulpe of "big uglies" would be enough to walk away with honors from Alba, but not this week.

In previous posts, I have referred to my trip to Seattle as my "Pilgrimage to Mecca", and like any other pilgrimage based on religous devotion, appropriately, this one was also about redemption.

First up on the pulpit is Kelly Herndon, everyone's favoriate whipping boy of the secondary. His tight coverage and aggressive play bog down the high powered Rams offense as much as the steady Seattle rain, which also served to down the fires which usually lead to Kelly getting burnt!

Two other of Alba's favorites also had particular redeeming days, kick returner Josh Scobey and morally challenged tight end Jerramy Stevens. Scobey did muff one kickoff, but quickly recovered, and provided yoman's efforts on each of his kick returns, up to the last one. Already starting with a 15-yard advantage due to the Ram penalty on the Steven Jackson touchdown, Scobey saved his best effort for last, matching is new jersey number and ripping off 33 yards to hand over the ball for the game-wining drive, already one yard deep into Rams territory. Jerramy Stevens not only doubled his catch total for the year with three clutch grabs, one for a touchdown, but he provided great blocking and decoy services, opening options for other members of the offense, and didn't get any needless penaties or otherwise embarrass the franchise, which is always a good thing!

But the Seahawks player to be awarded this week's Dark Angel is hometown hero Nate Burleson, to submerged himself in the baptismal font of a 90-yard punt return for a touchdown, emancipating himself from an eight week bender of sloth (ineffectiveness) and sin (dropped passes), emerging as a born-again fan favorite and savior of playoff plans and divisional crowns. Burleson, who actually started this game as part of a 3 receiver set, did not allow his demotion to effect his attitude or willingness to help the team, which allowed him to contribute to the win with this momentum changing punt return, which energized the stadium, and provided the spark that the team needed to close out the Rams.

Now Nate, I know you've had to share your homecoming story line with Steve Hutchinson's departure, and your starting reciever spot with Deion Branch, so I don't know you to break it to you that you have to share this week's Dark Angel award with someone too. As noted in the opening paragraph, it's someone outside the Seahawks organization, so don't worry, there's nobody else in the locker room breathing down your neck. Actually, you co-recipent this week is someone who you probably wouldn't mind breathing down your neck, or anywhere else for that matter, as it's the lovely, but not so sweet HawkHeart from SeahawkBlue.com, pictured here with some unknown but devilishly handsome hometeam tailgater. If you look at the picture, there's no need to go further into detail about why she's receiving a share of this week's Dark Angel award!

But for the ladies in the audience, I guess I'll have to explain. While HawkHeart is certainly lovely, I don't want people to think she's getting this award just because she loves me! No, she's getting it for being a hot mom who brings the whole family to the game, and not only loves the Seahawks, but has deep and extensive knowledge of football, enough to know when not to take the advice of her husband or son when setting her weekly fantasy lineup.

So Nate and Heart, enjoy this honor and cherish it for all it's worth. You both have a starting spot on my fantasy team any day of the week, and twice on Sundays!

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Dark Angel Award: Weak 4

2006-10-04T09:40:00.000-07:00

[continued from 12SS Home Page]

Last week, Chris "Hollywood" Spencer picked up his first Dark Angel Award, for seemliness solving the problem at left guard. To quote from last week's piece, "I can't wait to see the sequel next week in Chicago!"

Not since CaddyShack II has a sequel sucked so bad, looking nothing like the original. Spencer looked more like the Hollywood Madame, as he let Bear defenders penetrate through every hole imaginable.

I thought too of giving it to rookie punter Ryan Plackemeier, who was asked to put his leg over his head more times than Madonna on an audition. However, just doing your job on punts and field goals isn't enough to earn you an ebony halo and wings. Besides, he's already getting his fair share of slobberknockers from Alan!

No, this week's Dark Angel Award actually is going to someone outside the Seahawks organization, so Mr. Myron Torkulson, step up and be noticed.

Not many people know this by Torkulson is the father of the proprietary Scheduling software developed exclusively for the NFL. Shown here working on the original version for Commissioner Pete Rozelle in the early 80s, Torkulson pushed the limits of that original IBM PC to create an application that would take into account all extenuating circumstances, like the Giants and Jets sharing a home field, possible conflicts with playoff caliber baseball franchises in the same cities, and maximizing the fuel efficiency of the Madden Cruiser.

Now comfortably retired in Duluth, Minnesota, living off his fame and outrageous licensing fees, Torkulson's original design is still present in the current day scheduling software, which now has to manage 32 teams, five broadcast partners, including DirecTV and the NFL Network, and of course, scheduling the BYE weeks.

If not for Torkulson, the Seahawks might have had to travel directly from Chicago to St. Louis, without as much as a week to regroup from one of the worst beatings in franchise history. Instead, through the genius of Torkulson, the Seahawks get a week to relax, reflect, and recuperate, before heading to the Special Ed dome to take out all their aggressions and frustrations on a St. Louis team that mistakenly feels it deserves to be on top of the NFC Western division.

So Mr. Torkulson, put down your fly rod, and clear off a spot on the end table, between the ashtray full of Pall Mall butts and half empty can of PBR. You'll need a somewhere to put your Week 4 Dark Angel Award.

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Dark Angel Award: Week 3

2006-09-24T18:59:00.000-07:00

[Contintued from 12SS Home Page]

This was the first game for newly acquired Deion Branch, as well as the first start for 2005 first round draft choice Chris Spencer at left guard. This was also the necessary wake up game for the overall Seahawk offense, but the defense wound up stealing the show.

A lot of consideration for this award was given to the much-questioned Seahawk secondary, that came up with three early interceptions, two by Kenny Hamlin and one by Michael Boulware, which set up the Seahawk offense in great field position. Adding to the outstanding play of this unit were Kelly Herndon, who has been playing like a man who doesn't want to lose his job to the 2006 first round draft choice, and said first-rounder, Kelly Jennings, who was third on the team with five tackles. Together with a solid performance from Jordan "Big Play" Babineaux, they shut down the Giant wide receivers for most of the day.

On the offensive side of the ball, it may have been Deion's debut but it was Nate Burleson's coming out party. The $49 Million Dollar Man racked up 4 catches for 42 yards and a touchdown, and should quiet any of the naysayers who were questioning the deal to get him from Minnesota. First time starting TE Will Heller also made a strong case for this award, with a 3 catch, 1 TD performance, making the injury to Itula Mili not hurt as much.

But this week's award is going to someone on the offense, whose contribution to the game was NOTHING. NIL. NADA. ZERO. ZILCH. What I'm referring to is the number of sacks the Giants were able to rack up against the Seahawk offensive line. The Lions and the Cardinals each got to Hass three times, the Giants, with Strahan, Umenyiora, Pierce and Arrington, got NONE!

While the credit goes to the entire offensive line, the biggest difference from the previous weeks is Chris Spencer, and it appears Seattle has found the answer to the burning question at left guard. Sure, they still need to gel together to get the ground game in gear, but the pass protection allowed Matt & Company to take full advantage of the great field position the defense kept handing them.

All Seahawk fans know this team will only go as far as Matt Hasselbeck can take them, and with the way he was getting knocked around like a lotto ball, it's good to see we have a young, strong, healthy optoin to go along with Walt to protect Matt's blind side.

So this week's Dark Angel Award goes to the second year man they call "Hollywood". I can't wait to see the sequel next week in Chicago!

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Dark Angel Award: Week 1

2006-09-10T17:02:00.000-07:00

Seahawks 9, Lions 6.

No, this isn't the score at the end of the first quarter, but the final score of the first game for the defending NFC Champs. Three field goals for the good guys, two for the home team, and both teams combined to miss three others.

I know the game is called Football, but this is pretty ridiculous!

You would think that kicking the game winning field goal, as well score all fo the team's points, would pretty well lock up this award for Josh Brown. However, as noted above, his first two attempts were blocked, so no blog iron for the kicker with the cute smile this week.

On offense, new starters Floyd Womack, Itula Mili and Nate Burleson would have seemed to be odds on favorites for stepping up and providing a spark for the team. However, Pork spent most of the day yelling "look out" over his shoulder, Mili caught 4 balls, but didn't dominate like Stevens, and Nate made just one catch - albeit a beautiful one - but one beautiful catch does not buy you this award!

By the same token, the Emaciated Maniac, Julian Peterson, had a very quiet seven tackle, one sack performance, D.D. Lewis did well in relief of the injured Leroy Hill, but no well enough, and rookie Kelly Jennings played sparingly, notching three tackles in the contest.

Honorable mention goes to the old man, Mack Strong, who turned in a career day with six receptions for 30 yards, and who went airborn to pick up a critical 1st down early in the game.

Serious consideration can be given to the other Kelly though. Yes, Boke, THAT Kelly, as in Kelly Herndon, who lead the team with eight tackles, and was frequently seen in the same camera shot as the man he was defending! Herndon actually played very well, covering tight and providing run support, and bringing some serious wood when he squared up to make his tackles.

But this week's Dark Horse Award is going to the return men of the Seahawks, Willie "I'm Da Mann" Ponder and Jimmy "It's More Fun To Run" Williams. My unhealthy man-crush on Josh Scobey is no secret to the regular readers here, so I was watching this new return man with a keen eye. Not to seem fickle, but it was love at first sight, as Ponder took the opening kick off at the 10 and contemplated himself for 23 yards, giving the offense great field position.

He followed that up with a 41 yard return from the two, his long of the day, and a 24 yard return from the three. Thanks to some decent play by the Seahawk defense, he didn't get any more opporunities to impress.

Jimmy Williams used to evoke the same response from Seahawks fans, as a parent watching their child running with scissors, but not today. He did call for a fair catch on the first one at the 10, but it was the right thing to do, as he was surrounded by Lion defenders. He broke the next two for 22 and 17 yards, each time handing the ball over to the offense well beyond the 20 yard line.

The field position provided by these return men, coupled with the workman effort turned in by the defense, is what kept the Seahawks from suffering another dissapointing defeat in a road opener.

And I'll take a disappointing win over a disappointing loss every time!

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NFC Championship: Moonlight Graham Award

2006-01-26T16:09:00.000-08:00

[Continued]

But an entire team cannot win this award, so how about a single unit? Consideration had been given to the Special Teams unit. Seriously. I'm not kidding. Really!

While they did give up a TD on a punt return, everyone agrees that it should have been called back, if for no other reason than the ticky-tack block in the back call on Seattle that stood, earlier in the game. But apart from this one gaff, the unit made no major mistakes and did not turn the ball over, which is to say it was SUPERB!

Peter Warrick didn't do anything special, except hold on to every punt, which when you're filling in for Jimmy "Jittery" Williams, that in itself is pretty special. The punt team kept pinning the Panthers deep in their own end with good coverage on kicks, even if the refs did put another screw job on us, originally calling one punt out at the 4 yard line, only to come back from commercial break and seeing the Panthers starting at their own 20.

Admittedly, Josh Brown did miss a 47-yard attempt, but he was money on his other tries, was kicking the ball off nice and deep, and the one pooch-punt earlier in thegame was a thing of beauty. On the other side of the kicking game, Josh Scobey once again provided adequate return yardage, and he did break one long return which set up our opening scoring drive in the 3rd quarter, the same drive that was awarded the prestigious "Corney Bronze Race Car."

But the award really needs to go to an idividual players, so let's get down to those who stepped up during the actual game.

The first person who comes to mind is Sean "the anti-Heather" Locklear, who earlier in the week dubiously stepped out of obscurity by being arrested for an altercation outside a nightclub with his live-in girlfriend, and spent the long weekend in jail. Talk about a potentially distracting situation going into the biggest game in the history of the franchise! Thankfully, the media, the organization, and Sean himself handled things well and appropriately, and he turned in an outstanding performance against one of the league's fiercest pass rushers. However, even though all the facts of the case are not public, being an East Coast liberal "hippie", this award cannot go to someone facing a domestic violence charge. Sorry Sean.

On the defensive side of the ball you've got Craig Terrill, one of the Ruskell "high motor" free agents who seemed to be everywhere the ball was when it was his turn to be in the game. Most notably, Craig "the Terrible" (meant in an Ivan wreaking havoc complimentary way) was the one who forced the Jimmy Smith fumble late in the game, which not only put the exclamation point on how thoroughly and completely we shut down the hottest receiver in the playoffs, but it allowed Matt Hasselbeck and the offense to come in and rightfully and proper end this game in the "Victory V" formation.

But while Craig's efforts were appreciated, they were only good to make him a runner-up for the MGA this week.

In terms of someone truely stepping up when called upon, and in terms of stepping out of obscurity, there is only one member of the 2005 Seattle Seahawks deserving of the MGA this week, and it's none other than backup quarterback Seneca Wallace. Never before has a backup quarter back received such accolades and attention in a close game where the starting quarterback remained healthy!

It was just one play, but that one play spoke volumes about the man, the team, and this organization. Statistically, it was a 28-yard completion from the quarterback to a wide receiver for a first down. Upon further review, it was our backup-quarterback lining up opposite one of the leagues' young shutdown cornerbacks, who incidentally left the Seahawks last year in free agency, executing a picture perfect double-move, and then making a spectacular over the should catch. Metaphorically, it was the organization thanking every selfless player on the team for being prepared week after week, understanding the possibilities of getting quality playing time were "slim and none", yet performing at a very high level when their number was called.

The list of these players is endless, but it has to start with guys like Marquand Manuel, DD Lewis, Leroy Hill, Jerheme Urban, D.J. Hackett, Jordan Babineaux, Joe Jurevicius, Sean Locklear, Jerramy Stevens, Ryan Hannam, Jimmy Williams, Mo Morris, Isiah Kacyvenski, Niko Koutouvides, as well as Pork Chop Womack and Itula Mili. Sure this seems like the entire team, but the reason why we're playing in the Super Bowl next week is that every guy on that list either stepped up in a big way when called upon, or understood and accepted that some other guy be playing his position for whatever reason.

So when "AVIS" cradled that pass from Matt on his shoulders, he was also shouldering the load for all of the guys on the depth chart, and cradling a bundle of admiration and gratitude from the coaches, the organization and all of the fans, proving that when you are number two, you definitely try harder!

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Dark Angel Trophy Options

2006-01-25T13:51:00.000-08:00

Ties in with the Moonlight Graham Award nicely, but not really a "Dark Angel"

Very Goth so it fits the Dark Angel motif really well, and just hot enough to remind you of Jessica

Two words: TITTIES!!! Very appropriate for an award, she's naked which is definitely hot, but would she fly over at SeahawkBlue??!!

Politically incorrect as hell, but certainly fits the Dark Angel motif. Pluse, odds are good that the recipient will be black.

Somewhat trailer-trashy, but I could put the photo of each recipient in the frame!

Not exactly Dark, but good Seahawk colors

Cornball enough to rival the EXTREMELY Corney Bronze Racecar

DIVISIONAL ROUND: Moonlight Graham Award

2006-01-16T11:01:00.000-08:00

[Continued]

Sadly, two of this author's fan favorites got great notice and attention during this game, but unfortunately it was due to mental errors (Jimmy Williams) and turnovers (Josh Scobey), rather than outstanding play. In their defense, each did have some credible returns during the game, and each contributed on special teams coverage, so it wasn't all bad. Clean it up for next week though boys, or you may be looking for another team to suit up for next season.

On to the game makers, and we have to start with Maurice Morris. We all know what happened to Shaun Alexander, and MoMo was called into action. He came in and picked up some critical first downs, got good yardage on first and second downs, and DID NOT PUT THE FOOTBALL ON THE GROUND. It showed that MoMo is a true professional, was prepared and knowledgeable of the gameplan, and the rest of the team has faith and comfort in his abilities.

So often you see the backup come in and run the wrong way, or miss handoffs, or just play tentatively, and MoMo did none of these things. While resting the starters seemed to make Indy rusty and off their game, it seemed to really give our backups some quality game-speed reps, which I believe helped MoMo step into this situation without being nervous or cold.

Other offensive honorable mentions have to go to "Pork Chop" Womack, who also was called into action when Big Walt went down, Ryan Hannam for one drive sustaining catch and his usual outstanding blocking, like he was 20 yards down field helping Mack Strong pick up those 32 yards, and Joe Jurivicius for his punishing yards after his one ad-lib catch, and for breaking up a sure interception on Matt's ill advised "whirly-bird" prayer.

On the defensive side of the ball, you'd like to give it to the entire squad, John Marshall and Ray Rhodes, who was back in the booth in an "observation" role. The defense seemed to be in the right place at the right time all game long, except for those two HUGE 3rd-and-forever pickups late in the game, and they were flying around hitting everything that moved, like they did in Philadelphia.

In addition to Lofa, mentioned above, Grant Wistrom was like a man on fire, and completely blew up Clinton Portis whose feable attempt to block Grant only seemed to inspire him more. If this were a regular season game, strong relief efforts from Joe Tafoya and Craig Terrill may have been enough to win them some iron.

And while most people will fault Joe Tafoya for the off sides penalty which negated the sack by Craig Terrill, upon reviewing the game tape it's obvious that Joe asked the refs to make that call to take attention away from the lame Denny Terrio/Arthur Fonzerelli "two thumbs up" sack dance that Craig broke out with after the play.

Other defenders worth noting were Kelly Herndon, Andre Dyson, Marquand Manuel and Jordan Babineux, not so much for what they did, but for what they didn't do, which was get costly penalties, get burnt, or leave the field injured. A healthy secondary is going to be a huge asset against the Pussys, err, I mean Panthers next week.

So if you're still reading this somewhat rambling post at this point, you're probably going through the roster and asking yourself, "hey Alba, who is left to give this freaking award to?", and when you read the answer below, you'll see that there is still a player or two on our roster toiling in relative obscurity.

After Shaun fumbled away our best scoring opportunity, and then left the game with a concussion, the rest of the first half became a close-to-the-vest chess match between the two coaches, and an intense battle for field position. Our best weapon throughout this skirmish was none other than punter Tom Rouen, the Divisional Round Playoff MGA winner.

I'm ashamed to admit that my source and inspiration for this award was none other than Peter King of SI, who pointed out the following in naming Tom Rouen his Special Teams Player of the Week in his MMQB article:

Seattle P Tom Rouen, whose first four punts of the NFC divisional game at Qwest Field (48, 42, 53 and a poochy 29 yards) had Washington drives start at its 12-, 15-, 8- and 15-yard lines. You saw the game. You know in a game like this one that field position is everything. Rouen was Seattle's biggest weapon in the first half.

So in a day when most people are pointing to our special teams as a unit that very nearly cost us this victory, we're reminded that we have a very solid kicking game, led by Josh "Money" Brown and the latest recipient of the East Coast Bias Blogger Award, MGA winner Tom Rouen.

We've got our proverbial foot in the hypothetical door to Superbowl XL, and with the help of these two guys, we should kick the damned thing down next week.

EDIT: I forgot to give an honorable mention to a sometimes contributor and Knock Out pool participate Ghost of Knox aka Ghost Rider aka GOX, who deserves MGA mention for redeeming himself by attending this game. He was at the opener in Jacksonville and couldn't muster the karma to reverse the poor play by the offense, but in true Seahawks style, he got redemption when the opportunity presented itself and shed that monkey off his back.

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W17: Moonlight Graham Awarld

2006-01-02T20:44:00.000-08:00

[Continued...]

Once Matt handed the ball over to Seneca, after the first team finally wrapped up the Rushing and TD titles for Shaun, it look as though he was going to run away with the ugliest trophy on the blog. He lead the team on an 8-play, 71-yard drive culminating in the first TD pass of his career, a 5-yard pass to free-agent pick-up extrodinaire, Joe Jurivicius. As if it was possible to like and respect the "unlucky hooker" any more, he once again proved his tremendous character by giving the ball to Seneca to commemorate the moment.

However, I didn't get to witness that drive personally, as I was playing Madden on my son's new GameCube during halftime, and Seneca looked dazed and confused for the remainder of the game, so that left me looking for other MGA candidates.

The two other pre-game favorites for this award didn't do much better. MoMo managed just 25 yards on 9 carries, 16 yards coming on a single run. Most of this was due to most of the starting offense line also resting, but some has to do with the eratic play calling of Gil Haskell. Both better hope the Seahawks have room for them next season, because neither did themselves a big favor to showcase their talents.

I didn't pay too close attention to how Chris Spencer played while in the game, but a first round selection is probably automatically excluded from this award. I was also surprised that Leonard "Stiffy" Weaver did not get much playing time in this exhibition, which ruled him out as well, so on to the defensive side of the ball we go.

Craig Terrill seemed to be everywhere on the field, and recovered a fumble for the second week in a row, but didn't really show up in the stat sheet, and let's face it, he's no Joe Tafoya! Kaz and Koots got quality playing time, but didn't really make the most of it, but Rodney Bailey proved to be another good Ruskell pick up.

No, this week's Moonlight Graham award goes to Jimmy Williams, who continued the good work filling in for our injury depleted secondary. Sure, the second teamers got torched enough to make the Packers look like contenders, and Brett Favre an MVP candidate, but Williams was second on the team with 8 tackles, and picked off a pass at a critical point in the game. Actually, it's that interception that locked up the award for him, since it seemed to be the first ball he's pulled in this season without first calling for a fair catch!

So, to the man with an old soul, who started the season on the 49-ers, a team just barely good enough to lose out on Reggie Bush, and ended it on the team with the best record in NFC, enjoy two weeks in the glow of the Moonlight Jimmy Williams!

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Mooolight Graham Award

2005-12-26T21:17:00.000-08:00

[Continued from 12 Seahawks Street]

For finally stepping out of NFL obscurity, with the best record in the league, and home field advantage throughout the playoffs, this week's MGA goes to the entire Seattle Seahawks team and organization.

So pour yourself a large glass of Egg Nog (preferably with several shots of rum), throw another Yule Log in the fireplace, and sit back and enjoy these Seahawks renditions of your favorite holiday classics:

GOD REST YE MERRY GENTLEMEN

Should Mike rest his healthy starting men
as they gameplan for Green Bay?
Should he risk a major injury
to get records for SA?
Rushing and TD titles are in reach
but 2,000's too far away
Not to mention Lofa's Qwest for the D-ROY
Qwest for D-ROY
Not to mention Lofa's Qwest for the D-ROY!

LET IT SNOW

Oh the weather up north is frightful
Making home field so delightful
and the next game we'll play on the road
is the Super Bowl, Super Bowl, Super Bowl.

SILENT NIGHT

Silent Crowd, Rowdy Crowd
All is calm, when we have the ball
Number 12, Loudest fans in the league
Helpless foes get false start penalties
Sweep the NFC teams
Seahawks bring Superbowl Dreams

JINGLE BELLS

What the hell?
I hear Jingle Bells
Am I asleep or half awake?
I dropped back to pass
now I'm flat on my ass
I'm a Darby-Tubbs-Rocky pancake!

FROSTY THE SNOW MAN

Shaun Alexander
Is a happy, holy soul
but when he has the rock
and Mack throws a block
he's gonna take it to the goal

He's a free agent
and a lock for MVP
After our superbowl win
Ruskell better sign him
he's the best in History!

RUDOLPH THE RED NOSED REINDEER

You know Wistom, and Fisher and Lewis and Sharper
Rocky, and Tubby and Darby, Tafoya
But do you recall, the most fearsome defender of all?

Lofa the little linebacker
has a very violent streak
but all the pundits mocked him
said the Seahawks made a reach

All of the other rookies
were thought to be much better than him
now they all get to watch him
thoughout the playoffs as we win

On one snowy Monday night
Lofa picked off an errant pass
then kicked the goal posts' ass in fight
Now he's standing pretty tall

Now all the pundits love him
said they knew it all along
but Seahawks fans know better
they couldn't have been more wrong

Hated us all season long
Like they're toking off a bong!

SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN!

You'd better watch out
You'd better not try
You'd might as well punt
I'm telling you why
Joe Tafoya's bringing you down!

He's knows the snap count
and when you hut twice
He's coming with Tubbs
Like Miami Vice
Joe Tayoa's bringing you down

He sees you when you hand off
He knows when it's a fake
And when he takes your knees out
it'll feel like an earth quake

Oh, you'd better watch out
You'd better not try
You'd might as well punt
I'm telling you why
Joe Tafoya's bringing you down!

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W15: Moonlight Graham Award

2005-12-18T18:43:00.000-08:00

[Continued from Main Blog Page]

When you team is on this kind of roll, with second and third stringers contributing throughout the run, it's getting harder and harder to find a player who is considered obscure, let alone one who steps out of that roll during the game.

Watching the game you see guys named Etric Pruitt, Cornelius Wortham and the newly signed Michael "no not that one" Harden stepping up and making tackles, and at this point of the season, we're getting used to it. Now, none of these guys made a substantial enough contribution to compete for this week's MGA, but I'll bet way back in training camp, NONE of them thought that their names would even get mentioned in conjunction with this prestigeous piece of hardware.

My first thought for this week's award is Darrell Jackson. "Darrel Jackson?" you say? "The perennial #1 receiver on the Seahawks?" you say? "The dude who still held the lead in receptions and yardage three weeks after being injured? you ask?

To all those I say "Yes, THAT Darrel Jackson!"

Anyone who REALLY believed that a guy could be out for 10 weeks and come back and play like THAT...6 catches for 72 yards and 1 TD, not to mention 7 yards on an end around, and great downfield blocking in the running game...please take two steps forward. I didn't think so!

But really, as impressive as DJACK was in his triumphant return after a 10 week layoff, I don't think he's really eligible for this award.

Looking at the stat shet, I got to give a lot of consideration to Kevin Bentley, who's been thrust into the starting LB position due to the injury to D.D. Lewis, and all he did was come out and lead the team with 8 tackles! It's this sort of "plug replaceable" team that we all knew we wanted, but didn't realize we were getting, when Ruskell was making his off season acquisitions and draft choices.

But this week's Moonlight Graham Award is going to a guy who doesn't ever show up in the stat sheet, but did his best to keep the guy in front of him from showing up either. If Walter Jones is "the Eraser", then Sean Locklear is quickly earning the title "White Out", with his performances against the opposition's edge rusher on the left.

Kyle Vanden Bosch of the Titans came into the game leading the league with 12.5 sacks, and after the long day that Osi Umenyiora of the Giants gave "the Eraser" a few weeks ago, this I'm sure was a major focus of the Titan's defensive game plan.

What was the result? Matt had all day to pass, completing 21 of 27 and was sacked only once, by Travis LaBoy. The final line on Vaden Bosch? One tackled. One Assist. One bad case of being "whited out".

It's hard to remember that if it weren't for the preseason injury to Pork Chop, Sean Locklear wasn't even supposed to be starting. And on a day where the defense was struggling at best, and we really needed the offense to step up and win the game on its own, it's only right that the award goes to one of the unsung heros on the front line, who open up those huge holes for Shaun to run through, and protect Matt (and the aspirations of the franchise) with superb pass blocking.

So congratulations Sean Locklear. What may seem like one small step for you, as been one major leap for all Seahawk-kind! And with the way you're playing this season, don't be surprised if your lunar module splashes down a little West of Seattle in Hawaii!

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A Christmas Carrol

2005-12-11T19:50:00.000-08:00

[continued from the main blog..]

The game brought us pleasure
as we watch most intently
to find a Moonlight Graham winner
could it be Kevin Bentley?

He seemed to be everywhere
three tackles in the bag
but sadly we heard his name more often
after every seahawk flag

So our reseach continued
through this blowout of a game
and names that were mentioned
already won MGAs, or had fame

Like Hasselbeck on offense
or Babineaux on D
Shaun, Bobby, Juriviscus
can't win this, you see

Then ever the good sportsmen
As Mike Holmgren tends to be
In came the replacements
near the end of Quarter three

On Mo Mo, on Spencer
On Weaver and Wallace
To close out a huge win,
we'll call you (don't call us!)

Don't take that line literally
it was meant quite in jest
for you guys contributed
in our dominance of the West

And we know you'll come in
and play your hardest to the end
which make all fans confident
that upon y'all we can depend

So to all Seahawk reserves
we bestowe this Moonlight Graham
because you prepare and are ready
when big Mike hollers "play 'em"

And you're just as important
as the team reaches goals
and our biggest Chirstmas wish
is to watch you close out the Superbowl.

We'll have home field advantage
as contenders book flights
so Merry Christmas to all
see y'all in Detroit!

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OH WHAT A FEELING!

2005-12-06T10:01:00.000-08:00

continued from main 12SS blog...

My first reaction was to bestow this award on the Seattle Seahawks. Not the offense. Not the defense. Not just the team. But the entire Seattle Football franchise and its ill fated 30-year legacy. Last night, the Seahawks definitely stepped out of NFL obscurity, shedding yet another perennial monkey from its back, winning a game in the Eastern time zone. Again, the fact that this game was under moonight, instead of sunlight, may have assisted in that respect, but it was a global coming out party for the franchise who everyone thought still needed to prove something.

Then there was the image of billionaire software magnate Paul Allen, standing on the sideline snowstorm, in his Dr. Zhivago fez, and I thought, THERE'S a potential MGA Award winner. I mean, in a league with Jerry Jones, Daniel Snyder and Al Davis, Paul Allen is one of the MOST obscure major sports team owners, who for the fist several years of presiding over this franchise, only seemed to be moonliging in the NFL. Then reality set in and I figured that anyone who cofounded Micro$oft with Bill Gate$, and is described as a BILLIONAIRE software magnate couldn't really be considered for this award.

So I had to look at the players.

On the initial scoring drive, the big name 'regulars' stepped up, Matt, Jerramy, Shaun, Bobby, the O-line, so there were no MGA eligible players there. By the time the game was out of reach, Holms called it so conservatively, not to show up his good friend Andy Reid, that AVIS, Weaver and MoMo didn't get a chance to pick up some MGA love either.

The game was put out of reach by two Andre Dyson TDs, one Lofa Tatupu TD, and a Michael Boulware INT that was returned inside the 5, setting up an each TD for Shaun Alexander. Even though Lofa is a rookie, and this was definitely a breakout game for Dyson as a Seahawk, these guys are all household names, at least to the Seahawk faithful, so they didn't fit the MGA requirements.

NO, this week's MGA award goes to a guy who really won it before the game really got going, as he announced his name, position, and college on the MNF player self-introductions. This award goes to a guy claimed off waivers who was described as the "Seahawks' summer boy on the bubble" in training camp, and to someone who nearly gave up on his NFL dreams as he bounced from team to team trying to make a roster.

"It's disheartening to get a call and then get your hopes up and then nothing. You don't get a call back from anybody. While everybody was playing the games, I was just working out, trying to be ready for that one call I hoped would be the right one. But there was nothing I could do about it."

In true MGA fashion though, this player did NOT give up, and hung in there until the RIGHT TEAM did make that call.

"He's not going to be the guy that runs the fastest, or does all the jumps," Ruskell said. "But when you watched him at the University of Arizona what struck you was just the effort at everything that he does. That's the only way he knows. He can't choke it down. He can't only go half. He's one of those high-motor guys."

So, when he got his first NFL START, on Monday Night Football, and said these fateful words, "Joe Tafoya, Defensive End, University of Arizona", he stepped out of obscurity and into the MGA Limelight. Then he proceeded to go out and pick up 2 Tackles, 1 Assist, a Sack and a Forced Fumble, cementing his selection as the Week 12 Moonlight Graham Award winner.

Congratulations, to the "average Joe". Much like the Seattle football franchise, and all of their long-suffering, faithful fans, your patience, persistence and never-say-die attitude has finally paid off!

BONUS: click the picture of Joe Tafoya to hear his post game comments.

(Leave Comments on Lead-In Post at 12SS Home)

Yuengling, Chicken Wings and Home Field Advantage!

2005-11-27T19:03:00.000-08:00

First of all, let me say HOLY FREAKING SCHNIKEES BATMAN...WHAT A FREAKING GAME??!!!

Second, let me say I'm really sorry not to be on the gameday chat thingy agonizing along with you guys, but let me set the stage for you. Me and SimpleHawk got together in a dive bar in a small town with an incredibly beautiful bartender named Rachel, the chicken wings were on special, and there was an obnoxious giants fan two stools down from us, who was a woman who went 315lbs if she weighed an ounce.
(GOX, I think you own several naked pictures of her!!!)

Anyhow, the Yuenglings were flowing, the wings were on special and me and Simple were as obnoxious as to grown men can be in public without getting yourselves thrown out. The bar was packed with Giants fans, most of whom "got" our good natured schtick, and a couple of Cowgirl fans who were sympathetic to our cause, but this ignorant woman just wanted a piece of us.

This is our usual Wednesday night watering hole after our golf league, so the bartenders and a few of the regulars knew me, so I knew we could get away with pushing the envelope. As a matter of fact, Rachel (man she's good looking) came over a few times to warn us about getting "Jabba the Giants Fan" riled up, as I guess she's a regular with a pretty bad drinking problem, and just as bad of an anger management issue. Of course, this was just more ammo for our arsenal, as Simple and I just reveled in yanking her chain. I told Rachel, "don't worry, I seen that movie and I don't want to wind up chained to Jabba in nothing but a sting bikini" which was a disturbing mental image, but she understood.

She called me a F*cking Dickhead (or something like that) and us "losers" among other things, but we wouldn't be deterred. As a matter of fact, as things were looking bleak in the 4th quarter, and the Seahawks were giving up 3rd downs like they were snickers on Halloween, Simple and I were high-fiving and shouting "4 more downs, 4 more downs!" indicating that we were psyched to see our defense play some more.

Anyhow, the only thing better than the Seahawk win, after THREE failed Giant field goal attempts to win the sucker, was watching the fat, old ugly barfly try to preserve whatever shred of dignity she may have come up with by calling us LOSERS as she left the bar. The question wasn't rhetorical, but when we asked "what is a team that loses to LOSERS called", she didn't provide an answer.

Now, on to this week's Moonlight Graham Award presentation.

The NY Giants must have felt like they were Jamie Lee Curtis and we were the infamous Michael Myers, as every time they were SURE they had us killed, we rose up and found a way to continue to haunt them until we could finish them off. However, anyone who has 6 or 7 major studio sequels to their name cannot be considered coming out of obscurity. Coming out of the woods with a bloody butcher knife maybe, but not obscurity!

From what I can remember between the yelling, Yuenglings and chicken wings, MGA consideration must go to Joe Juriviscius, Josh Brown and Michael Boulware. However, JJ has a superbowl ring, so he can't be considered, Josh Brown has been money since the Washington game so he's out, and last year Michael Boulware could have racked up a half dozen MGAs, but he's a known entity now.

So, before I get to this week's recipient, I need to say, that second Shockey catch was NOT A TOUCH DOWN. Last I checked, a receiver needs to get TWO feet in bounds for it to be a catch, whether you're in the middle of the end zone or on the sidelines. He clearly got one foot down, and then was ROCKED with a viscious hit, which dislodged the ball, but never got his second foot down. We was ROBBED on that one. (figures)

That all being said, this week's MGA goes to D.J. Hackett. The dude has been playing his heart out trying to earn some "alba love" and kept coming up a little short in the recent weeks. While he only had two catches for 47 yards, making him the second leading receiver on the team, none was bigger than his 38 yard reception with 6:00 left in overtime on second-and-21. That set up 4 Shaun Alexander runs, to pad his stats and get him is 100 yard game, and then a Josh Brown 36 yard chip shot to win it.

Much like my fellow bar patron, it wasn't pretty, as a matter of fact it was down right ugly, but it's a W just the same, and we'll just have to clinch the division next week. (freaking Texans can't hold a 10 point 4th quarter lead...who do they think they are, the 2004 Seahawks??!!)

Sure the media pundits will say we should have lost that game, so at 9-2 will go back safely under the radar, leaving them to fawn over the likes of the Bears, Panthers and Falcons, and maybe after we kick Philly's ass at the Vet next week, they'll start to take notice.

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Many Happy Returns

2005-11-23T10:16:00.000-08:00

Since several other contributors shunned the opportunity to consider me for their award, give the fact that I was in attendance at the game, being a well documented glory-whore, I'm compelled to submit my own name for this week's Moonlight Graham Award.

Making the cross country trek to the game, representing in the stands with Seahawks gear, and posting great pix of the players and cheerleaders could definitely be considered "stepping up and out of obscurity" for dear old Alba. However, given the fact that the travel was paid for, I worked in a family visit, and I forgot to bring the freaking Pay $haun Now sign to the game, even I can't justify giving the award to me!

From being at the game, it was hard to really identify good candidates for the MGA this week, so I wanted to wait until I could review the game tape before posting the award. So, like an idiot, I stayed up until 1:45am watching the game last night. (of course, I was really interested to see if I got on TV at all...I didn't)

I had a hunch that Marquand Manuel, D.J. Hackett and Josh Scobey would be candidates, and saw a lot of stuff on the tape to support any of them. Honorable mention must go to Niko Koutouvides, a pre-draft favorite for the starting middle linebacker spot, who was finally activated for a regular season game, and saw some action on special teams.

D.J.Hackett is quickly establishing himself as a deep threat to be recogned with, and a sure handed receiver. However, there were a couple of dropped passes, and he had that long bomb in his grasp before it was knocked out by the SF linebacker, so this wasn't his most outstanding outing of the year.

It's well documented that I have an unhealthy man-crush on Josh Scobey, who once again exhibited his north-and-south running style for positive kick return yards, setting up the offense with good field position when not negated by foolish penalties. He also continued his run of sure-handed returns, showing that the opening day fumble was more the exception rather than the rule. Add to that the Scobey recovery of the fumble we forced on punt coverage, and Mr. 12:30 is again a finalist for this week's MGA award.

Marquand Manuel had another solid game, and has really made the loss of The Hammer a lot easier to handle. Going up and getting that on-side kick was HUGE (unlike Jerheme Urban waiting for the ball to come to him in last year's Cowboy game) However, the forced fumble that was originally credited to him on the punt was actually initiated by Jimmy Williams, who is a surprise finalist for this week's award. Williams also had a good day on punt returns, and did his part to help the Seahawks beat his former team.

So once again we have co-winners of the MGA award, and they go to two guys who are trying their best to make our special teams special, Josh Scobey and Jimmy Williams. Enjoy this recognition and your time in the moonlight, because the Seahawk faithful are looking to you both for "many happy returns!"

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Make-Up Call

2005-11-13T20:06:00.000-08:00

This is a make up call.

You know, like when the refs blow a call, and know it, but know they can't reverse their ruling. So a few plays later, they call a touch foul on the opposition to make up for it, and the game goes on.
(like what the refs should have done for us after missing the PI call on Stevens which lead to Matt's first INT)

Last week, I admittedly didn't pay that close attention to the game, so I didn't have enough material to specify an individual effort of someone stepping out of obscurity, so I gave the MGA to Mike Holmgren and the entire team, for finally breaking the bye-week curse.

After reading the comments, and the newspaper reports of the Cardinal game, I think I slighted Marquand Manuel by not giving him the award last week, which seemed to bring additional inspiration to his play in the Rams game.

While the Rams seemed to be running through would-be Seahawks tacklers, like a canned beverage ran through Shaun Alexander last week, there was Marquand Manuel sticking his head in, wrapping up, and driving guys to the ground. Last week he was the leading tackler, this week he was 1.5 tackles behind Lofa, with 8 solo tackles.

And he was around the ball all day long, harrassing the Ram receivers and nearly picking off a late game pass from Mark Bulger.

He fought like hell to even MAKE this team, and then was forced to step in for our inspirational leader on defense, and has all but filled the shoes of Ken Hamlin with pride and dignity. So for this level of sustained effort, this week's Moonlight Graham Award goes to Marquand Manuel.

Since I don't like to give out multiple awards, D.J. Hackett will have to settle for first-runner up status, as he also stepped up HUGE in this game, with 78 yard and a TD, numbers good enough to make him our leading receiver, even though he only caught two passes. Effort like this from our reserve receivers has really supplied ballast to this ship while we're waiting for Engram and Jackson to heal up.

Keep up the good work D.J., and with a breakout game in San Francisco, you too could be basking in the Moonlight of an MGA, which will be personally awarded in post-game on-field festivities, since I'll be in Monster Park for the game.

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BYE-BYE LOVE!

2005-11-06T19:47:00.000-08:00

When we headed into the BYE week, knowing there would be a dark Monday with no Contributor Awards, I thought about suggesting a mid-year review, where we would hand out each of the awards for the best accomplishment of the year so far.

Well, that obviously didn't happen, but as I sat down to write this week's Moonlight Graham Award, it kind of unfolded that way.

The Week 7 MGA winner, Ryan Hannam had only one catch for 8 yards, but threw some outstanding blocks to contribute to the running game. Jerheme Urban, our Week 6 MGA winner, had only one grab, but it was good for 46 yards, making him the game's leading receiver, and sustained one of our scoring drives. One of Week 5's co-winners was Jordan Babineaux, who today had 4 tackles, 1 assist, 1 interception and another recovered fumble on special teams.

In week 3, Josh Scobey not only picked up an MGA, but a nickname as well. "12:30" finally had a huge kickoff return that wasn't nullified by the "yellow hankie of death", breaking off a 53 yarder in the second half to set up the Seahawks deep in Cardinal territory.

In Week #2, the MGA was shared by the entire Seahawks Defense, for keeping Michael Vick in check in the Falcons game. While not even Brenda could confuse Kurt Warner for Michael Vick, the Seahawks defense once again denied the opponent a 100 yard rusher, picked off 3 Warner passes, and held the Cards to FGs whenever they got deep within Seahawks' territory.

Admittedly, I was not watching the game as closely as I should have this week, being on "daddy duty" and knocking off some household chores as I viewed, but I do remember seeing D.J. Hackett throwing some key blocked, Maurice Morris breaking off some big runs while Shaun was "dropping the kiddies off at the pool", and Marquand Manuel stepping up HUGE in Hammer's absence, leading the team with 9 tackles and 3 assists, and just constantly being around the ball.

But the story of the day was the TEAM, more specifically, the TEAM stripping yet another hairy-asssed monkey off of its back with a huge win AFTER THE BYE WEEK, on the ROAD, against a Divisional Oppenent, that we were SUPPOSED to beat!

Last year, that was all the ingredients for "Seahawks Self-Destruction Surprise", but this there's a new Executive Chef running the kitchen, and mixing that stuff together just a little differently results in Divisional Domination Decadence - - - which is "Just Desserts" for this Seattle club.

So this week's Moonlight Graham award, which is given to someone who steps out of obscurity with an outstanding performance goes too.....Head Coach Mike Holmgren, who was previously 0-6 after the BYE week!

While he has been to the Superbowl countless times with previous teams, winning it once as the head man in Green Bay, he certainly has been toiling in obscurity since he arrived in Seattle, and this game-after-the-bye-week record is a perfect indication of the lack of focus and execution of previous Seahawk teams under Holmgren.

However, this year he has been leading by example, changing his focus to concentrate more on establishing the run, and executing his offensive schemes to perfection. He even mixed things up by giving the team the entire BYE week off, which means he's really rejecting the status quo and leveraging opportunity to the advantage of this team.

So Coach, strap on your helmet, crank up your Harley, and take a Moonlight ride to Albany so you can pick up your rightfully earned Moonlight Graham Award for Week 9.

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RYAN'S (td gives us) HOPE

2005-10-23T19:21:00.000-07:00

In terms of Moonlight, this game was a total eclipse for 3-and-a-half quarters.

Instead of a player or two stepping out of obscurity, the league's number one offense seemed to be slipping into it, and the Seahawks seemed poised to once again give away an important game, at home, and with the national media finally getting behind them again.

With the heavy cloud coverage and rain falling at Qwest for the first time since it was built, it appeared there might not be any Moonlight tonight, especially when Jimmy Williams turned the ball over deep in Seahawks territory trying to make something out of nothing on a punt return. But the Seahawks Defense really rose to the challenge set before them, and twice stuffed Dallas holding them to only 3 points, when Dallas could have salted the victory away with a TD.

But this year's team is anything but the "same old Seahawks", and it was the home team who was standing and cheering the unbelievable comeback as the final seconds ticked off the clock. For this reason alone, the entire Seahawks franchise could be awarded this week's Moonlight Graham Award, but that would be too easy!

All candidates for this week's Moonlight Graham Award were selected during the final 2:01 of the game.

Jerhemey Urban started it off with a 22 yard interception, the longest of his three catches for the day.

D.J. Hackett, seemed to be open all day, and would be a hands down winner of this award if Matt hadn't floated a couple of passes to him, also stepped up big on the final drive. His drew a pass interference call and grabbed a critical sidelines pass at the one to set up our third MGA nominee.

While the announcers incorrectly stated that it was the first TD of Ryan Hannam's career, it was a HUGE one nonetheless, and the type of play that gets a third-string tight end who is counted on more for his blocking ability, some notice.

Jordan Babineaux, who two weeks ago had to share the MGA with J.P. Darche for salting away the Rams game, once again stepped up big time, intercepting Bledsoe and then returning it 25 yards into the realm of Josh browns beautiful right leg.

And last but not least, there's Josh Brown, he of left upright doing fame and a tough loss to another NFC East opponent. But that wasn't to be today. I still remember the graphic from the Redskins game: "Josh Brown has yet to hit a game winning field goal."

Well in this cloud covered, rain soaked afternoon in Seattle, a little Moonlight did poke through, as his game winning kick sailed 50 yards straight through the uprights, and then his helmet sailed about another 30 after he ripped it off and threw it in exuberant celebration.

The Award could easily go to all of these guys, but his isn't community soccer, so without minimizing their accomplishments, I gotta whittle down the contestants.

Babineaux and Urban already have won, and Josh Brown can't be considered an "obscure" kicker (Washington game excluded) and D.J. Hackett should have made a few catches that he didn't earlier in the game.

So, whether it was his first or second TD of his career, this week's MEGA goes to Ryan Hannam, because without it the Seahawks don't win this game, or even have a chance for overtime.

Put on some sunscreen Mr. Hannam, because with the bye week coming up, you'll have two weeks to bask in the glow of your Moonlight Graham Award!

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Midnight Cowboy!

2005-10-16T21:05:00.000-07:00

Given the current hour in the Eastern Time Zone, I arrived at the title of this week's Moonlight Graham Award, which should make it no surprise that it is going to Jerheme Urban this week.

He was he the leading receiver for most of the game, but he really won the award on his first catch, a beautiful rainbow pass from Matt that he made a great adjustment to and caught before stepping out of bounds.

Granted, it was a run oreinted game, and Matt finished with less than 150 yards total passing, and our Urban Cowboy finished with only two catches for 37 yards, but the way this guy kept focused, and battled back onto the team, is enough to bestow this award on him every week.

He's also a GREAT downfield blocker, and given the way our RBs were burning up the yardage, I won't be surprised to see him throwing key blocks on a lot of those running plays.

Honorable mention goes to Leonard Weaver who threw a MONSTER straight-arm on a late 4th quarter run, and to Jordan Babineaux, who finished second in tackles and seem to be involved in every play of the game on defense.

The entire Seahawks Team was also considered for the award this week, because the way that the ESPN announcers were fawning over our greatness by the end of the game, it seems that we may have finally stepped out of obscurity as a franchise this evening!

But no, this week's award belongs solely to Jeheme Urban, who danced his way back into the hearts of the Seattle faithful, and hopefully solidified his position on this team.

(if you would like to comment on this article, please do so on the teaser topic on the main 12SeahawksStreet blog site. Thanks!)

Who says McDonald's not good for you?

2005-10-10T21:21:00.000-07:00

This edition of the Moonlight Graham award is late due to the holiday...no not Columbus Day...the first observance of the twice annual "Seahawks Kick Ram Ass" Holiday!

My only disappointments of the game are that Tory "Big Lame" Holt caught a TD pass against us, and that the failing health of Mad Martz will hang over this victory as a potential excuse. However, I loved EVERYTHING else about the game, which provided many great moments, and with so many of our starters out, or knocked out, many good choices for this award.

I'd love to give it to Joe Jurevicius, as dude stepped up HUGE when needed, with a career day in admittedly the hardest place of any for him to play. From the day he signed, I figured Joe and Matt would become close, and then after learning that he too lost a son, there seems to be an eerie similarity between he and the departed Trent Dilfer, Matt's previous confidante. However, JJ already received every accolade and honorable mention available for his performance on Sunday, and unfortunately, guys with Super Bowl rings are ineligeable for Moonlight Graham Awards!

If I hadn't seen the game, my boy Kelly Herndon might be a good candidate for this week's MGA, as he tied Lofa Tatupu for the team lead with 9 tackles. However, as anyone who did see the game would tell you, that's now knows as an "Antrel Rolle" stat, which means that Herndon picked up all those tackles because his guy was open all day, or he was caught out of position. Now if he had CAUGHT that sure interception in the endzone (like his fellow 9-tackle performer did) it may have been a different story.

I really wanted to give the award to Jerheme Urban this week, because a dude who had his bags packed and was ready to leave town on the very day he gets called back up by the Seahawks seems to embody everything about the Moonlight Graham Award. However, even though he did make a key downfield block on Shaun Alexander's second TD scamper, you got to catch the balls thrown your way and get into the official stat sheet for the game to walk home with contributor iron.

No, the co-winners of this week's Moonlight Graham award are none other than Jordan Babineaux and J.P. Darche, because these are two guys who NOBODY would be talking about, if it weren't for the forced fumble and recovery on the final punt, which allowed us to ice the game.

Let's face it, as Seahawks fans, we've seen it too many times before. The offense plays well enough for the game to be a blowout, but it's not. Then the offense gets too conservative, and has to give the ball back to the opponent, and ANYTIME left on the clock seems to be too much time to preserve the victory. And then even when the defense may step up and force a fumble or snag an interception, something bad seems to happen, like a 47 yard field goal doinking off the left upright. And that's even BEFORE taking into account that we were playing THE RAMS...IN ST. LOSER...where they have a 40-9 home winning record.

But not this week. Not this game. And not this Year!

Babineaux raced down and in making the tackle, forced the pivotal fumble, and then long snapper J.P. Darche had the presence of mind to drop on the ball and cover it up. Two first downs later we all were treated to the glorious site of seeing our offense taking the knee to salt away the victory, instead of scrambling in an all out red-alert in attempt to drive the length of the field with no timeouts in hopes of scoring to tie! (as it seems we're always trying to do in these big road games)

So enjoy your time in the moonlight this week Jordan and J.P., and tell the rest of your mates on Special Teams, that they too could be basking in the glow of an MGA, except for giving up that opening game kick return!

That's Using Your Head!

2005-10-02T17:02:00.000-07:00

It's so much harder to do these after a loss, but the show must go on!

When the announcers said that Josh Brown had never kicked a game winning field goal, I thought that as he lined up for the 47 yard attempt with 1 second left in regulation, coupled with his second half touch backs, he was about to ice the victory and pick up his first MGA. But as the ball drifted left, and doinked off the upright, not only was the game in jeopardy, but his chances of picking up an MGA were wide left as well.

Kelly Herndon stepped up with a late game interception, which set up the final drive and 47-yard miss in regulation, but since he actually LOST yardage on the attempted return, instead of getting down and letting the offense take over, even though he's my boy, I couldn't give him the iron this week.

My other boy "12:30" once again did a decent job returning kicks and making tackles on kick offs, but Josh Scobey didn't do anything outstanding, which you'd have to do to pick up an MGA in back to back weeks. Maybe next week in St. Louis when he adds punt returner to his resume!

No, this week's Moonlight Graham Award goes to Special Teams player and back up D-Tackle Craig Terrill for the blocked field goal in the first quarter which kept the game from getting out of hand early, and gave us a chance to tie it up at the end.

"I got in there and got a hand on it," Terrill said. "I came through from the side and then it hit off my facemask. It’s very hard to get through. It’s pretty exciting when it happens. Too bad we didn’t get the last one at the end (of the game)."

Terrill, who was also credited with a tackle on defense is the first special teams player to step up and actually do something special.

Even though it was a tough loss, you can bask in the Moonlight for a week Mr. Terrill, and we'll look for more "heady" play from you next week in St. Loser.

The Clock Finally Strikes 12:30!

2005-09-25T17:07:00.000-07:00

What a day to be a Seahawks Fan!

Instead of coming out flat, or letting a lead slip away, the team kept the peddle to the metal and finally blew an opponent, no - a DIVISIONAL opponent, off the turf at Qwest field.

Looking down the stats from the game, if I was not able to see the game, I might have to consider my boy Kelly Herndon for the Moonlight Graham award. Kelly was tied for the lead in tackles with 4, adding one assist, and got to start in place of an ailing Andre Dyson.

But if I was to go with the stat sheet alone, fellow defenders Leroy Hill (4 tackles, 1 assist, 1 sack) and Jordan Babineaux (3-T, 3-A and one meaningless INT at the end of the game) would have to be considered as well.

Even though Hass, Shaun, D-Jax, Engram, and company are usually not considered this way, our second half offense surely has been toiling in obscurity this season, and for this reason, the entire offense was a finalist for this award, finally coming out from the intermission as a team on a mission, instead of sleepwalking their way into another squeaker.

However, I'm finally able to bestowe a regular season Moonlight Graham award on the player recenly nicknamed 12:30 - Josh Scobey - who earned this new moniker for his consistent style of running north-and-south, rather than dancing around sideline to sideline.

With internet rumors circulating that he may be cut from the team, Mr. Scobey stepped up on both sides of our kicking game, averaging close to 30 yards on two returns, and making key tackles on kick coverage as well. Even on the kicks he didn't return, he showed presence of mind to down them in the end zone, rather than risk a return and cost our offense valuable field position.

So instead of looking over his shoulder at newly signed Jimmy Williams, or looking scared at the prospect of getting cut, Josh Scobey looked straight ahead and ran has hard as he could to either give great field position to our offense, or preserve it for our defense.

Week 2 Moonlight Graham Award

2005-09-18T19:57:00.000-07:00

It's a lot nicer to be selecting a Moonlight Graham Award after a WIN, but it's not much easier. Most of the key players of the game, Hass, SA, D-Jax, Bobby, cannot be described as stepping out of obscurity, although after last week, you could make a pretty compelling case for Matt!

And speaking of Matt, if I may digress, I'm not sure what it is he does at halftime...nap, change his uniform, read scripture, play nintendo, but whatever it is it's not freaking working!. The only thing flatter than Matt after halftime is the beer you bought in the first quarter! (or the 12 year old who got cut from the junior SeaGals) But that's not what this award is about, so I'll get back on point.

I keep waiting for my guy Josh Scobey to figure out the mystery of kick returning and step up and earn a "Grahamy", but I think he was a little skittish after fumbling the opener last week. Still and all, he did well this week, just not well enough to take home the iron.

Same goes for P-Dub. Wasn't he supposed to be a bigger part of the offense this week?

Omare Lowe stepped out of obsurity and made a great special teams tackle. In pre-season, that would have been good enough for glory. Problem is, he plays for the Falcons now, and probably was pumping them with what little information he could remember from his stint with the Seahawks...sorry, no awards for traitors playing for the opposition!

Lofa Tatupu, aka "Tofu", continued to show his nose for the ball, and is amazing as a rookie calling the plays on a potent defense. He racked up his first official sack, again Mike Vick no less, and seemed to be around the ball on every play. However, I think that was him flat on his back in the end zone on the Duckett TD late in the game, and alba does not serve "Grahamy" with a side of pancake!

First runner up for this week's award is John Marshall, interim Seahawks Defensive Coordinator who is going an excellent job during Ray Rhode's recouperation. The defense played well last week, and we even more fired up this week, showing several different looks and getting to Vick all day. However, the award went to a coach, and he gets a share of it anyway, because the Week #2 Moonlight Graham Award goes to...

...THE ENTIRE SEATTLE DEFENSE!

We became infamous last year for blowing big leads, and losing close games in the 4th quarter. Not this year. Our offense put in for a half a vacation day, but the defense worked through their coffee breaks and assured that nobody was getting any overtime!

Sure there were a couple of fleet footed Falcons running free, but thanks to pressure by the front seven, Mike Vick could not get an accurate pass to them. Sure there was the touch pass interference call which lead to their second score, and the breakdown on giving up the two-point conversion, but those paled in comparison to the cajones we showed continually pausing the D.V.D.'s on third down. The defense even got screwed early on the quick whistle negating the Falcon fumble, but they didn't let that bother them or change their intensity and focus.

So this week's award goes to Grant, Bryce, Chuck, Tubby, Tofu, Jamie, DD, Tru, B-Ware, Dyson, Hammer and all the substitutes and backups who kept the Falcons in check all day.

Week 1 Moonlight Graham Award

2005-09-14T13:20:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be hard to establish an award for the person who steps out of obscurity each week, but had no idea how much harder it would be after a loss and a lackluster performance.

I was hoping to award one of my two M.O.P. candidates the "Grahammy" this week, but Kelly Herndon didn't do anything compelling, and Josh Scobey put us in an immediate hole by fumbling the opening kickoff.

My first thought was to give it to the refs. Not for stepping OUT of obscurity, but more for stepping back INTO obscurity and not becoming a factor in the outcome of the game. It was a fairly called game where they basically let both teams play, and got most of the calls right. There were several opportunities for marginal calls to go against the Seahawks, like they seemed to all last year, but they didn't. It was also good to see the Seahawks cure the rash of penalties they racked up in the off season, but come on, who wants to give an award to a REF??!!

My next thought was Shaun Alexander. REALLY!

How can you give an award for stepping out of obsurity to the Franchise running back? Well, I wasn't thinking so much about his running but more about his blocking. I've been hearing all off season about what a terrible blocker he is and never picks up the blitz. Well, now that I have DirecTV, I got to see for myself, and I thought he did a pretty good job of sticking his nose in there when he had to and keeping guys off Matt. But the word "obscurity" just does not go together well with a player making $6.3 million this season !

So this week's Moonlight Graham award goes to none other than Strength and Conditioning Coach Mike Clark, who is the handsome smiling guy above. Without really reviewing the game film, one of the biggest accomplishments on Sunday was that nobody got hurt, which has got to be in part due to the off season and training camp workout regime. Not only that, but our guys did not seem to be wilting in the 120-degree on field heat, which was key.

Our offense will undoubtedly bounce back from a 4 interception performance. Our defense showed glimses of hope and may play better once Rhodes returns. And I'm still waiting for something special out of our Special Teams. But the one thing that we can't do anything about is injuries, so I'm extremely thankful that everyone seemed to get out of Jacksonville with no major set-backs.

Now, I hope that we play well enough against Atlanta to actually consider some PLAYERS for this award next week!

[Wall of Fame!]

Preseason 2: Moonlight Graham Award

2005-08-28T13:23:00.000-07:00

This was a very difficult week to decide on a Moonlight Graham Award winner. First of all, I had to "watch" the game on NFL.com, but the 12SS Live Chat helped, even though hardly anyone there had the game on either.

Second of all, as the roster seems to be taking shape, there are not too many players toiling in obsurity any longer, as they're all doing whatever they can to fight for a job.

And Third of all, there were SO MANY good options to choose from.

To quote the piece on Seahawks.COM, Jerhemy Urban when "from Urban Blight to Urban Renewal" last night, making the cut down at the wide receiver position that much more difficult for the coaches. However, since he's already pocketed the "Morning After" award, and since I don't want to jinx him, he's not this week's MGA recipient.

Tracy White made a strong case not only for sticking around past cut day, but for the MGA too. Tied for the lead in tackles, good special teams play, and described as being "all over the field" by one of the chatters was good, but just not good enough.

I also thought of giving it to the entire coaching staff for the way they came out in the third quarter and marched the length of the field, or to Coach Holmgren specically, for actually WINNING a challenge that reversed a fumble by Matt. I even thought of giving the award to myself, since I pulled the trigger this morning on DirecTV and should be all set up by the Sept. 11th opener!

But this week's winner of the Moonlight Graham award is rcently signed RB/KR Josh Scobey, whose started his career with the Seahawks with two fumbles last week in training camp, but rose to the occasion at game time, returning each of his three opportunities over 20 yards, setting up great field position for the offense.

With the RB position pretty well locked up, and the battle at WR sure to take a return man slot, Mr. Scobey may not make it to the 53 man roster, but for one shining moment in pre-season, he provided the necessary spark to get the Seahawks back to their winning ways.

Congratulations, Josh. Some may say that winning a MGA in your first game as a Seahawk is "not too SHAGGY!" (Rooby, Rooby Roooo!)

[Wall of Fame!]

This week's Moonlight Graham Award

2005-08-24T13:26:00.000-07:00

Or should I rename it the "Day Late Graham" award, since it's late Wed. afternoon and I'm just getting around to bestowing it on someone!

Before you jump all over the selection committee though, BCS-style, you have to give me credit for having my priorities straight. I had a golf outing in New Jersey yesterday, which was 3 hours from Albany. I stayed home Monday to watch the game, left early Tuesday AM for Jersey, golfed, drank, ate, drank, and then we stopped for some cocktails! Crashed at my buddies house, got up at 4:00am to drive back to Albany for a 10:00am budget meeting with my boss. I'M TIRED!!!

But enough about me, cuz this award's not named "Red-Eyed Graham!"

Watching Jeremy Stevens catch everything, like some starry eyed Falcons fan after spending a night with Ron Mexico, my first though was that he'd be a shoe-in for my award. Then I realized that it's supposed to be for a player stepping up from obscurity, and figured that a former #1 pick would have a pretty hard time making the "obscurity" test, even if did have a disappointing rookie season.

So then my adopted Seahawk Kelly Herndon steps up and intercepts his first ball, so he was looking good for some Moonlight Iron. However, a stupid mistake on his part kept a drive alive on a bad pass interference call, so I had to temper my enthusiasm a bit. (you're always toughest on your own kids!)

Now anyone who was on the GameDay chat with me knows that in an attempt to "will" the Seahawks to victory, I started making "bold predictions", one of which was "The Seahawks will win this game on a defensive TD". Two plays later, Jamaal Brimmer introduced himself to Cowboys running back Marion Barber, dislodging the ball in the process, and Jordan Babineaux scooped it up and made a bee-line for the endzone, putting on some nifty moves on route to scoring what was believed to be a momentum changing touchdown!

Even though the TD was called back on an inconsequential block in the back by Omare Lowe (leading candidate for the "Sunset" award in recognition of the path is Seahawks career is heading), I got to give Babineaux his props for stepping up big-time and making the play.

I think this play will solidy his role on the team, and energized an otherwise lackluster performance by the Seahawks.

[Wall of Fame!]

albaNY Hawker "Moonlight Graham" Award

2005-08-15T13:27:00.000-07:00

I wasn't sure if I was going to do an award, since it's so hard for me to see the games, but after seeing Blue's effort on his award, I just knew I had to come up with something!

If anyone remembers, my first selection for the Adopt-a-Seahawk program was often hurt but momentarily dazzling fullback Chris Davis, who I nicknamed "Moonlight Graham", and then he was unceremoniously released by the Seahawks a few weeks later.

So, in memory of my dearly departed SIDs case - Seahawks Injury Dismissal - I am dedicating the albaNY Hawker "Moonlight Graham" Award, for the player who steps out of obscurity and does something special each week.

With the number of undrafted free agents, bargain basement ex-Buccaneer pickups, and fledgling rookies running around trying desperately to make the team, there should be no shortage of nominees for this award.

In reviewing the articles on the game, and great play-by-play provided by my 12 Seahawks Street co-contributors on the Super Flooble, this week's recipient of the albaNY Hawker "Moonlight Graham" award is rookie fullback Leonard Weaver, for his 40-yard thunderous TD run that put the exclamation point on the complete and total domination of the Saints in the first pre-season game.

Weaver was an easy choice, not only because he plays the same position as the inspiration for this award, but because he's a converted tight-end to boot!

Honorable mention goes to his roommate, Marquis Weeks, who also turned in an almost "Moonlight" worthy performance with a game high 59 yards on 8 carries, and of course, Seneca "AVIS" Wallace, who seems to be moving much closer to stardom and further away from obscurity.

I would also like to immediately bestow the "Old Timers" version of this award on Dan Doornink, who was a great Seahawks running back who went on to become a doctor. To paraphrase the famous Dr. Archibald "Moonlight" Graham line from the movie Field of Dreams, "playing football for only 5 minutes isn't a tragedy...had I only been able to be a doctor for 5 minutes, now THAT would have been a tragedy!"