Pro Football - Leonard "Green Shoes" Weaver Leads Seahawks to Second Victory in 7 Games

Football should be about fun and the Seattle Seahawks finally made it so by running the San Francisco 49ers off of their home field Sunday (10-26-08) behind the catch and run explosion of Leonard "Green Shoes" Weaver and the pass snatching ability of Josh Wilson, winning 34-13.

On a day when Seattle's defense not only showed up but played, Weaver turned two short receptions by back-up quarterback Seneca Wallace into 43 and 62-yard touchdowns.

Just watching Weaver stream down the sideline in shoes with a prominent lime green presence was worth the price of admission. Weaver, Seattle's 6-foot, 242-pound fullback, was high-stepping and high-styling in taking the rock to the house twice. Normally Weaver is the lead blocker for running backs Julius Jones and Mo Morris.

Weaver's green shoes are reminiscent of another more famous athlete from the mid-1970s, Billy "White Shoes" Johnson. Johnson, a 3-time, All-Pro selection as a kick return specialist, wore white shoes when everyone else wore black shoes.

Johnson had great speed, and long before showboating became an end-zone pastime in the NFL, he was one of the first players to launch scoring celebrations, initially by doing the then-famous soul dance, the "Funky Chicken".

Josh Wilson, the Seahawks' second-year defensive back and kickoff return specialist, picked up a fumble in last week's 20-10 loss at Tampa Bay and was scampering for an apparent 96-yard touchdown when some official whistled the play dead.

It came as no surprise Sunday when Wilson picked off a J. T. O'Sullivan pass and took off on a 75-yard inception return to put Seattle up 20-3 with 31 seconds left in the 1st half. Coach Mike Holmgren saw Wilson's theft as a tremendous momentum shift for his

Seahawks.

The Seahawk defense had sacked O'Sullivan 8 times in their first meeting this year in Seattle, but the 49ers walked away with a 33-30 overtime victory. This time they got to San Francisco's quarterbacks 5 times but forced starter O'Sullivan to fumble twice, and 6-foot-5, 272-pound defensive end Patrick Kerney picked up one of the fumbles and ran 50 yards, setting up a second field goal in the 1st quarter.

Seattle's missing defense earlier in the season showed up in J. T. O'Sullivan's backfield, putting so much pressure on O'Sullivan that new 49er coach Mike Singletary yanked him in favor of Shaun Hill. It didn't seem to matter because Seattle left San Francisco on top this time.

The Seahawks, now 2-5 on the year, are tied for 2nd place in the National Conference's weak West Division with the St. Louis Rams. The Arizona Cardinals are leading the division with a 4-3 mark.

Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley

Read my other detailed, knowledgeable, interesting articles on Seattle Seahawk football, including:
"Does Seattle Have Too Many Stars and Not Enough Football Players?"
"Seattle's Only Hope For Sports Success Is Now Hiding in a Dumper Somewhere"
"Will Seahawks' Woeful 0-2 Start Leave Them Out of the Chase For the Super Bowl Title?
"Seattle Seahawks' Opener in Buffalo Proves an Awful Study in Ineptitude"
"Here Come the Seahawks: Stumbling and Bumbling into Holmgren's Last Year"
"Can the Seahawks Find the Grit to Deliver Holmgren a 2nd Super Bowl Winning Team?"

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http://www.edbagleyblog.com

San Francisco 49ers Beat Seahawks, Improve to 2-0

How about those San Francisco 49ers? After a disappointing 2008 campaign that showed some promises of hope, it looks like this Niners team is ready to deliver on that hope in 2009.

Coach Mike Singletary seems to have masterminded what is quickly becoming one of the better defensive units in pro football today. Led by Patrick Willis, the 49ers defense has held its competition to just 26 total points in each of the team's first two games.

The more impressive of the two victories was San Francisco's week one win over the Arizona Cardinals, in Arizona of all places. A 20-16 win shut down the defending NFC champions, surprising many football fans around the country.

Efficient play from Frank Gore at running back, coupled with a great defensive presence thus far, has largely been responsible for this resurgence. Ironically, the team looks like it's better off without 1st round draft pick Michael Crabtree, the wide receiver so many expected to change the face of this franchise.

Crabtree refused to play after becoming unhappy with the contract that another rookie wide receiver had been offered with the Raiders, and it looked as if the state of the 49ers was in disarray entering the season.

After that win at Arizona and another impressive win in week 2 against the visiting Seattle Seahawks, things are looking up for the San Francisco 49ers, and they're surprisingly leading the NFC West division after two weeks of football.

Is this just one of those fluke starts that we see a few teams pull off each year, or are the San Francisco 49ers the real deal in 2009?

Enjoy an awesome San Francisco 49ers forum, at RootZoo Sports, home to the best sports forum online.

Can the Seahawks Find the Grit to Deliver Holmgren a 2nd Super Bowl Winning Team?

Mike Holmgren has spent his life teaching, currently as Head Coach of the Seattle Seahawks.

Holmgren started out coaching and teaching at his high school alma mater in San Francisco. Now, after 36 years of coaching in high school, college and the pros, he begins his last season with the Seattle Seahawks in quest of a second Super Bowl victory with a different team after winning Super Bowl XXXI (31) when his Green Bay Packers beat the New England Patriots, 35-21.

For Holmgren, already acknowledged as one of the very best coaches in National Football League history, it would be the icing on the cake as no coach has ever won the Super Bowl with 2 different teams.

Holmgren is part of a select group of only 5 coaches who have taken 2 teams to the Super Bowl and won once but not twice. The others are Bill Parcels, Dan Reeves, Don Shula and Dick Vermeil. Parcels and Shula are genuine legends in their own right.

It has been quite a ride for Mike Holmgren. His influence in the NFL is nothing short of awesome. He will be in the NFL Hall of Fame at some point in the future, the only question is will he be the first to coach 2 different teams to Super Bowl victories and world championships?

That triumph, should it happen in his final year as coach of the Seahawks, would be a long way from losing 22 straight games as a high school coach in San Francisco, a streak that almost led him to quit coaching. Thankfully, he continued on, not knowing the success he would eventually achieve.

Like touchdowns coming one after another when his West Coast Offense hits its stride, his legacy will include:

Molding future Hall of Fame quarterbacks Joe Montana, Steve Young and Bret Favre (pronounced Farve) during his tenures as a quarterback coach with the San Francisco 49ers and head coach of the Green Bay Packers.

In 6 years with San Francisco as the quarterbacks coach and then offensive coordinator, the 49ers went 71-23-1 (75%) in the regular season and reached postseason play 5 of 6 years, won Super Bowl XXIII (23) over the Cincinnati Bengals and Super Bowl XXIV (24) over the Denver Broncos. His offense was No. 1 in the NFL in 1989.

In 7 years as head coach of Green Bay, the Packers went 75-37 (67%) in the regular season, 9-5 (64%) in the postseason, had 2 Super Bowl appearances and won Super Bowl XXXI (31) over the New England Patriots. By winning at least 1 game in 5 consecutive postseasons, Holmgren joined John Madden as the only coaches to ever do so.

At his apex, he led Green Bay from 1995 to 1998 to an NFL-best 48-16 (75%) record, finished 1st in the NFC Central Division 3 times, and had a 7-3 playoff mark. He led the Packers to 6 consecutive postseasons, setting a franchise record with a team that had just 2 winning seasons in 19 years prior to his arrival.

In 9 years as head coach of Seattle, he took the Seahawks to postseason play in his first year, breaking a 10-year playoff drought. Since then he has won an AFC West Division title, an NFC Wildcard berth, won 4 consecutive NFC West Division championships (2004 through 2007), an NFC championship, and taken the Seahawks to their first-ever Super Bowl appearance in 2005.

In Seattle's stellar 2005 campaign, Holmgren's Seahawks were 13-3 (81%) in regular season play (a franchise record), won a team record 11 consecutive victories, and won their first playoff game since 1984. He molded Matt Hasselbeck into a Pro Bowl and Super Bowl quarterback, and coached Shaun Alexander to the NFL's Most Valuable Player award and an NFL-record 28 touchdowns in a single season.

Holmgren is just the 3rd coach in NFL history to lead his team to 7 straight postseason appearances (6 in Green Bay followed by 1 in Seattle), joining two all-time legends-Tom Landry and Chuck Noll.

In short, in 21 NFL seasons, Mike Holmgren has a 218-116-1 record (65%), has 12 double-digit win seasons, made 16 postseason runs, won 3 Super Bowls and competed in 2 other Super Bowls.

Gone from Seattle's 2005 Super Bowl team are two mainstays-MVP Shaun Alexander and Pro-Bowl guard Steve Hutchinson. New arrivals include wide receivers Deion Branch and Nate Burleson, defensive backs Deon Grant and Brian Russell, defensive end Patrick Kerney, and running backs Julius Jones and T. J. Duckett.

Seattle does not have a world-beater team. It has a few Pro-Bowl players-quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, tackle Walter Jones, defensive end Patrick Kerney, linebackers Lofa Tatupu and Julian Peterson, and cornerback Marcus Trufant-and some seasoned veterans.

Seattle will not be picked in pre-season polls to win the Super Bowl, and it begs the question: Is this a team that has the grit to deliver Mike Holmgren another Super Bowl victory and help him go down in history as the greatest NFL coach ever?

Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley

Read my other detailed, knowledgeable, outrageous articles on football, including:

"Famous Quotes by Vince Lombardi, Knute Rockne and Lou Holtz During Football's Annual Bowl Season"

"How to Predict When Teams Are Overrated and Due for an Unexpected Loss"

"The Sagarin Ratings: What They Are, How to Read Them and What to Do With Them"

and my 14 consecutive weekly wrap-up articles on the 2007 College Football Season as well as wrap-up articles on all 32 College Bowl Games. Be bold and audacious, read my stuff, exercise your eyeballs as well as your brain. And, yeah, don't forget the brewsky, tacos, sauce and chips. Find them all in my Sports link.

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Ed Bagley's Blog Publishes Original Articles with Analysis and Commentary on 5 Subjects: Sports, Movie Reviews, Lessons in Life, Jobs and Careers, and Internet Marketing. My intention is to inform, educate, delight and motivate you the reader.