You Gotta Be Joshing Me!!!

Seahawks fans should be singing the praises of free agent acquisition Kelly Herndon today, and how is late game inteception set up our winning field goal.

Instead, everyone is caught up blaming everyone from Holmgren, to Brown, and even Kelly Herndon himself, due to our winning field goal doinking off the upright sending the game to overtime and an eventual loss.

Sure, Holmgren called two hyper-conservative runs choosing to rely on his usually accurate kicker, even though he missed a FG from around the same yardage earlier in the game. Of course, the same people calling for the coach's head are the ones who complained about him THROWING on 3rd and short against the Rams last year.

Sure, Brown missed the kick, even though he says he hit it pure and thought it was good. But before we jump on his case, remember that he hit a 53 yarder in the first half to get us on the board, and it was from the very same direction.

But to try to affix blame on Kelly Herndon for trying to turn the interception into more yardage is ridiculous. Sure I would have been happier if he ran straight ahead and picked up a couple extra yards, but in those situations, instinct kicks in, and he was just trying to make something happen.

Ultimately, with the way our defense was pushed around all day, we had no business having a chance to win that game, so we shouldn't be too upset about losing it, especially given the heart and courage our offense showed battling their way back into the contest.

But it's a shame that on a day when our defense does step up and make a big play at a critical point in the game, we're not able to extol the efforts of the guy who made the interception.

But that's why we have these Adopt-A-Seahawks pages on the 12 Seahawks Street blog, so that when your guy steps up and does something good, you can let the rest of the Seahawk faithful know about it, even if the rest of the sports media world chooses to ignore it.

Smoke and Mirrors!

I'm mainly posting this since it's so hard to find a picture of Kelly Herndon for this site, that I nearly wet myself when I saw this on Seahawks.com.

However, it's a good question to ask as our defense seems to be off to another top 10 start, and it remains to be seen if it will continue in the direction that Mr. Herndon is pointing, or if it's just a cruel illusion, like last year.

Frankly, I think that our defense is for real this year, and barring another epidemic of injuries to key personnel, we'll solidify our position in the upper quarter of league defenses.

The next three games will be critical to continue this aspiration, and to assure that our top 10 defense is not 'gone with the wind' by the end of the Rams game!

Owning Your Mistakes

The idea for these Adopt-A-Seahawks pages were to pick a player and then follow him throughout the Season, providing the other fans here at 12 Seahawks Street with insights and updates about your guy.

When I picked Kelly Herndon as my adopted Seahawk, I imagined writing Monday articles about his interceptions, jarring hits and stellar performance. Unfortulately, my guy did not have too good a day on Sunday, getting burned twice for completions of over 20 yards.

But in the interest of full disclosure, I'm going to post a recap of his efforts anyway. This seems to be in line with Kelly's character too, who is not afraid to own up to his mistakes in the game. From the game summary piece on the Seattle Times site:

"You know what's going on, you know the situation," Herndon said. "You just wish you would have made this move or jumped this route or something like that."

After watching the Monday Night Game, my guess is that Mr. Herndon will get his wish as soon as this Sunday, as the Falcons will probably test him every time he's in against their bigger and faster receivers.

It wasn't all bad for Kelly on Sunday either. He and Michael Boulware were the second leading tacklers for the Seahawks, registering 6 each, one behind Marcus Trufant.

He also had what many fans perceived as a boneheaded play on special teams, but in fact was a very heads-up maneuver. Late in the game the Jaguars punted and the ball was touched but not controlled by the Jags. Herndon picked up the loose ball and attempted to advance it, not getting very far.

Uninformed fans were shocked that he would take such a chance deep within our own territory. However, once the ball was touched by the punting team, the receiving team can attempt to advance it, and in the case it was fumbled or "muffed", the Seahawks would retain possession at the spot of the original touching.

I'm looking forward to him building on this kind of heady play, and getting more opportunities against Atlanta to showcase his coverage ability (like the acrobatic interception against the Vikings in preseason) and his hitting prowess, so next week's article contains more highlights than apologies!

And in this CORNER....

Mike Kahn has a nice piece on Seahawks.com titled Battle of the Backfield, on how Kelly Herndon and Andre Dyson are not only battling each other for a starting position on the team, but also encouraging each other to get better at the same time.

Herndon, 28, started all 16 games last season for the Denver Broncos and 11 of his 15 games during the 2003 season. He is listed as virtually the identical size as Dyson, but just plays with a much more physical approach.

“They both play to their strengths – they’re smart football players,” (defensive backs coach Teryl) Austin said. “Andre plays to his quickness and Kelly just plays a more physical game in the way he plays the position. It just shows there are different ways to get things done and they’re both effective, both tough guys, and both get after it.”

This is part of the reason why I decided to adopt Kelly Herndon, which is his physical play and his reputation as a hard hitter. Dyson has a great reputation too so this is a battle between better and best, which should only benefit the Seahawks.

“I don’t know how I’ll feel,” Herndon said. “It’s different after starting my whole career. We’re both competitors, we want to be on the field all the time. Depending on how the situation goes, one of us won’t be. But I’m not worried about it. It’s all about developing this defense and all of us jelling together. With seven new starters on defense, we all have a lot to learn about playing together.

And reading things like this last paragraph really helps put the defense in a whole different perspective over the kaos from last year. I hope this "all for one and one for all" spirit carries through the entire season!

From Preseason Game with Cheifs

Who is Kelly Herndon?

Click the picture or external link for a good interview from the Post-Intelligencer with Kelly Herndon.

However, if you want the Reader's Digest condensed version of who he is, and why I selected him as my Adopt-A-Seahawk, just read his answer to the final question "What Do You Bring to the Seahawks Defense" below:

"I bring a scrappy player with tenacity. A smart player, and a pure football player that is blessed with everything. I like to tackle, I'm going to hit you. That's my mentality: I'm bringing it. I can make plays because I feel I've got great hands. I'll try to intercept the ball and get the ball back for the offense. I just do whatever I can to help the team win."

Let's Get This Party Started Right!

Mike Sando, of the Tacoma News Tribune, reports Seattle Seahawks CB Kelly Herndon probably will start at left cornerback for the team's preseason game Monday night, Aug. 22.

Herndon is a logical choice to start this week because his primary competitor for the job, CB Andre Dyson (stinger), is resting an injury.

This is great. Not only will I be able to see the game, but I'll be able to keep tabs on my adopted Seahawk throughout! I don't want to rig the ballot, but I'm smelling a shoe-in for this week's "Moonlight Graham" award!!

Fighting Irish!

OK, while I'm not certain of Mr. Herndon's ethnic background, he is fighting for a starting role on the team, and anyone with a name like Kelly has to be considered Irish! (besides, the Seahawks did execute his offer sheet on St. Patrick's Day)

According to this article by Greg Bishop in the Seattle Times:

CHENEY — The biggest change for Kelly Herndon, in his first season with the Seahawks after three with the Broncos, has been training camp itself. In Denver, the veterans are allowed to go home and sleep in their own beds. Here, the beds are of the first-year-in-college variety.

What hasn't changed is Herndon being in the mix for a starting cornerback job. He never locked one down permanently in Denver, but still started 27 games the last two seasons.

And here Herndon is again — competing with former Tennessee cornerback Andre Dyson for a starting position opposite Marcus Trufant.

"That's all you can ask for," Herndon said. "A chance to compete."

With the experienced Herndon and Dyson joining a young but established defensive backfield, the Seahawks could be set there for years to come. Trufant and free safety Ken Hamlin are entering their third seasons, and second-year strong safety Michael Boulware rounds out the starting unit.

"It kind of reminds me of my brother's [Peter] team in Baltimore," Boulware said. "They got there, and they were kind of young like we are, made a lot of mistakes. Sooner or later they came around to be the No. 1 defense of all time. That's what I'm hoping will happen here."