Seahawks steel for rematch
KIRKLAND, Wash. – Steve Silver could use some serious therapy.
The Seattle resident is suffering from an acute form of stress that comes from witnessing a traumatic event. The symptoms are so crippling that he’s been unable to chase away the memories from 20 months ago.
Silver has SBDS – Super Bowl Depression Syndrome.
“Honestly, I’m still not over it,” the 26-year old said while waiting for autographs outside the Seattle Seahawks’ practice facility earlier this week.
He’s not alone. Countless fans from around the state are still coming to terms with the Seahawks’ 21-10 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XL. That defeat, which still ranks as the most talked-about game in Seattle’s franchise history, was in February 2006. This Sunday, the Seahawks will get their first chance to gain some measure of revenge.
When the Steelers (3-1) host Seattle (3-1) on Sunday afternoon, the fans might get a little bit of healing.
“I want to beat them, and I want to beat them bad,” said Marysville resident Mike Huston, president of the Snohomish County branch of the Sea Hawkers Booster Club.
Silver is also out for redemption, but not because he thinks it will make the Super Bowl loss any easier to take.
“I don’t necessarily look at it as revenge because this is a Week 5 game, and that was the Super Bowl,” he said. “It’s going to be a measuring stick. A lot of people still don’t think the Seahawks are Super Bowl caliber (this season). But it’s a veteran team that knows how to win.”
Two key figures in the Seahawks’ organization – running back Shaun Alexander and head coach Mike Holmgren – said earlier this week that they’re not out for revenge this weekend. But Alexander did offer that Seattle will “definitely” use that Super Bowl loss as motivation.
Holmgren downplayed any lingering effects of the most-watched loss in team history, pointing out that plenty of faces have changed since that meeting in the winter of 2006.
Case in point: Ten of the Seahawks‘22 starters from that game are no longer with the team. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh has a new head coach (Mike Tomlin, who replaced the retired Bill Cowher) and could take the field Sunday without three of the most visible faces from the last meeting (verbose linebacker Joey Porter is in Miami, running back Jerome Bettis is retired, and Super Bowl XL MVP Hines Ward missed Sunday’s loss to Arizona because of a knee injury).
But that doesn’t mean the game has lost any luster for the fans.
“Steeler Nation and their stupid yellow towels,” Marysville’s Huston said while recalling that 2006 afternoon when he watched the Seahawks and Steelers in person at Detroit’s Ford Field.
While Holmgren isn’t going to engage in any trash talk this week, he did admit that there are times when the Super Bowl loss still hits him like a punch to the gut.
“I’m human,” he said. “You think about it every once in a while. I think about the plays I called and what I could have done better, sure.”
But he’s moved on. For some Seattle fans, that’s easier said than done.
“There’s going to be no closure for me,” Silver said, “until I see the Seahawks lift the Lombardi trophy (after a Super Bowl victory).”
Notes
The Seahawks made two moves Tuesday to help bolster their special teams unit. Cornerback Kevin Hobbs was signed from the practice squad to take the place of running back Alvin Pearman, who was placed on injured reserve with a torn ACL. Seattle signed long snapper Jared Retkofsky to the practice squad, which comes, in part, from the recent performance of Derek Rackley. … The Seahawks signed tackle Kyle Williams to the practice squad. Williams, a rookie out of USC, went to training camp with the team and will provide a practice body while Ray Willis recovers from a sprained knee. Seattle released linebacker Cameron Jensen from the practice squad.