Northwest Brown Out

As the sun sets on the Seahawks chapter, and possibly on the entire career of one of our most exciting players, I think it's time we all take a moment and reflect on what Chad Brown has brought to this organization in the years he played in Seattle.

Signing Sharper, Dyson, Pathon and Richards today was all good news, but it was tempered just a bit by losing one of the true inspirational leaders in the clubhouse, on the field, and in the league.

Chad Brown came to this organization during a period of a lot of promise, and while he never tasted a championships in Seattle, or even savored playoff victory, he brought attitude, class, and professionalism to a team in desperate search of an identity.

While healthy, #94 was a motor that never stopped running. If the quarterback dropped back to pass, #94 was fighting through blocks to get to him. If the quarterback handed off for a run up the middle, #94 was shedding blockers until he could grab the guy with the ball. And if the quarterback tried to dump a pass off to a tight end coming across the middle, #94 and his shoulderpads were there to remind that would be pass receiver what a bad idea it would be to try to do that again.

It is sad that the NFL has become a slave to a new master called the Salary Cap, but this master controls both the players and the organizations, so it is equally revered and despised at times by all.

In an ideal world, Chad Brown would have been able to go out as a Seahawk, and on top of his game, like Elway did. Or at least on his own terms, like Emmett did. Or even being carried off the field for the last time, like a true warrior that he was, like Theisman did.

But instead, he needs to suffer the indignation of being cut, felled not at the hand of the opposition, not by being bested within the field of play, but taken out at the knees, by "friendly fire" if you will, cut by the dullest of blades, a casualty of the salary cap.

So, as we're tipping our mugs and glasses, toasting the likes of Sharper, Dyson, and Pathon, let's also take a moment to tip our hats to a champion without a championship, a true professional, and a future resident of Canton, Ohio, whose legs may not have brought him to the finish line in Seattle, because they were weakened for carrying the Seahawks solely on his back for so long.


So Mr. Brown. We say Good-bye. And thank you. And wish you the best of luck as you turn the next page in the book of your life.

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