Seattle Seahawks: Has the team actually ‘lost their way?’

Over the last year the Seattle Seahawks have chosen to part ways with many of the players that once won them the Super Bowl. All of the changes and decisions have not sat well with one of those players: Richard Sherman.

Former Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman generated headlines last week when he claimed the team has “lost their way.”

In an interview with Sports Illustrated’s Robert Klemko for the Monday Morning Quarterback column. The former First Team All-Pro did not hold back in bashing the decisions made by his old team.

Here’s just the start of what he had to say:

"“They’ve lost their way. It’s as simple as that. They’ve just lost their way. When you make too many mistakes over a long period of time, you kind of dig yourself a hole. And then when you backtrack, you gotta make a bunch of rash decisions to try and fill the hole and hope that it holds up.”"

Sherman isn’t entirely wrong, but he’s not right either. The Seahawks are no longer following the same rules and trajectory they once were. I look at the situation a little more optimistically than Sherman. Rather than losing their way I think the Seahawks have just opted to change their ways to readjust to the new situation they’ve found themselves in.

Then again, Sherman was the voice of the best defense in football, the Legion of Boom, for years. He’d know better than anybody else if the team was moving in a bad direction.

Before commenting about the team losing its’ way, Sherman has some other scathing comments. He believes the Seahawks should have won more than one Super Bowl during their run. Now that’s an opinion with no shortage of support.

"“It’s just unfortunate. It’s really unfortunate,” Sherman says. “I think it’ll all come out when they do the 30 for 30. Mistakes and poor judgment on things ruined what could have been a really special deal. You don’t have much left right now.”"

The team should have won back to back Super Bowls, but head coach Pete Carroll‘s decision to throw the ball on the goal line instead of run with Marshawn Lynch gave the win to the New England Patriots.

You’ve probably seen the footage of Sherman’s face contorting in agony as he watched the play unfold from the sideline. A lot of the strife between players like Sherman and Carroll can be traced back to that moment. Arguably, the pain caused by that one poor decision set the team permanently off track and kept them from becoming a dynasty like some people thought they would.

The divide that opened between Carroll and some of his top players seems to be the cause of all the animosity, tension, and harsh criticisms that have been flying around the Seahawks lately. Perhaps that’s why players like Sherman, Lynch, Michael Bennett, Cliff Avril, and potentially Earl Thomas have either left or been forced out of Seattle. Either way, the hard feelings don’t seem like they’ll be softening up anytime soon.

Sherman ended the interview on a more optimistic and reminiscent tone, “‘Ah, well, I kind of want to move in a different direction, too.’ So it happens like that. All great things must come to an end, I guess”.

With the Seahawks golden age coming to an end, this surly won’t be the last time Sherman comments on the team. He is still in their division after all. While he thinks the team is lost and headed in the wrong direction, only time will tell whether the Seahawks are right or wrong.