SEA-ADDERALL SEAHAWKS EARNING BAD NAME FROM NINERS, NFL

"PETE CARROLL: DO NOT LET THIS SEASON BECOME THE YEAR THAT ALMOST WAS… THIS SELFISHNESS MUST END NOW!" - 12th MAN

What's going on in the Seattle Seahawks locker room and how is Pete Carroll dealing with his football team dropping the ball,at least figuratively speaking? NFL news shows already discussing whetIallher Seahawks deserve *'s on their record even if they do happen to win a Super Bowl. Something must be done and it must be done NOW. It needs to be swift and severe because subtlety obviously isn't working.

Early in the off-season, the Seattle Seahawks were on everyone's minds and on their lips as perhaps the best football team in the NFL, at least on paper. The Seahawks defense was selected number one and their offence number four. Russell Wilson continues to make fans and believers all over the nation and the Legion of BOOM is still considered the most frightening defensive backfield in football. How quickly things can change in a few short days;

You've heard the term, "Where there is smoke there's fire?" Well, where there's a Seahawks player, there seems to be performance-enhancing drugs. Nobody knows exactly what the drugs are that the Seahawks are abusing, but most reliable sources report the drug "Adderall" a medication prescribed primarily for people suffering from a condition popularly known as ADHD or (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). Primarily young people have, however, been using the drug to gain mental clarity and energy for various reasons. Students have long been using Adderall to gain an edge in studying and also test taking. They find the mental clarity from the drug gives them the ability to process more information and in particular, later into the night when many students find it harder to study with little sleep. An amphetamine, it affects different people in different ways, for instance children with a hyperactivity disorder will find the drug calming, while people who don't have a medical need for the medication will get a stimulant effect. This is where at least seven Seattle Seahawks players come in and it is giving the professional football team from the Pacific Northwest a bad name.
Just this week, another Seahawks has been found to be abusing the drug Adderall and he becomes the seventh Seahawks player to fail a drug test, allegedly using the prescription stimulant medication, only nine of the Seahawks who failed the test for Adderall had doctor's prescriptions of their own.  Just last year, cornerbacks Brandon Browner and All-Pro Richard Sherman were charged with failing drug tests for the drug Adderall.  Brandon Browner accepted the charges, however Sherman appealed the test results and won his appeal and was publicly acquitted.  By rule in the NFL, players who fail drug tests for PED's are handed an automatic four-game suspension for first time offenders.  Ironically, players who fail recreational drug tests must fail multiple tests before the league office hands down fines and or suspensions.  Recreational drug abuse falls under the personal player conduct and players are levied different punishment.  Fortunately for the Seahawks football team, they played very well without him in the lineup and is four-game suspension for the end of the 2012 season didn't turn out to hurt the team.  In fact, in an ironic fashion, Pete Carroll found a very reliable backup corner in Jeremy Lane, but I think it's safe to say he would have rather found out a different way.  Browner returned to the team in the playoffs, but had some rust from the month away from the game and didn't play particularly well.  Regardless of his performance before, during or after his suspension, it didn't play too well with coach Carroll and created a distraction that no professional football team ever wants to deal with, especially approaching a playoff run.

Now, with Irvin's suspension, Pete Carroll is in a peculiar situation with the OTA's and the training camp nearing.  It was reported today that free-agent acquisition Cliff Avril is suffering from plantar fasciitis, a condition that can linger if not rested properly before taking the field again.  In a press conference Monday, Carroll said that Avril will likely rest the foot for another two more weeks before beginning to run on the injured foot again.  Chris Clemons, the Seahawks veteran Leo end (the same position Irvin plays) is recovering from ACL surgery from an injury he suffered during the wild-card playoff in Washington DC last season.  He is reportedly recovering ahead of schedule, but it's not known yet if he will be ready for the opening season road game vs. the Carolina Panthers.  Michael Bennett is expected to have shoulder surgery at the end of the upcoming season, but it's obvious he has an existing rotator cuff tear in his shoulder.  Seattle looked to be stacked on the defensive line just a week ago, now things are looking much more murky putting the Seahawks in a situation where they may have to consider signing another pass rushing defensive end to avoid an early season with a couple of losses going into one of the tougher schedules in the NFL.  John Abraham is still floating around the free-agent market, but it's unlikely that the Seahawks have enough cap room to afford the veteran defensive player who logged 10 sacks last year on a Falcons team that really didn't have any other standout pass rushers on the team.  He may have more in the tank than many teams are willing to consider.  Abraham is 35 years old and in a season where salary caps have strapped most teams and have left many quality veterans without teams to play for, it would be surprising to see anyone sign Abraham until after the beginning of the season, a case teams have significant injuries at the position.  Presently, Pete is trying to shuffle players around to see if any of the players presently on the roster can step in and play the Leo end while Irvin serves his four-game suspension and Clemons rehabs his surgically repaired knee.  Today, coach Carroll hinted that Malcolm Smith could be one of those players to shore up that Leo spot in the interim.  Especially considering Cliff Avril and his foot injury, things might get dicey at a position that most critics believed was one of the best defensive end loaded teams in the NFL.

So, why and the Seattle Seahawks the team with the alleged Adderall problem?  No one really knows, and to be perfectly honest, the NFL legally cannot release the substance that is being abused by players who fail drug tests and are ordered to serve suspensions.  Players who were on the roster and players currently on the roster who have tested positive allegedly for Adderall include; S Winston Guy, G John Moffitt, D Alan Barbre, CB Brandon Browner, RB Vai Tau, DE Bruce Irvin and Richard Sherman, but Sherman appealed his test results and was acquitted after it was found that the testing lab mishandled his urine specimen.  I think it's important to mention, Sherman was acquitted, this doesn't mean he's innocent.  However, in a country where you are supposedly innocent before being proven guilty, he was acquitted.  My opinion is "fancy lawyering", but that's simply m y biased opinion based on other information. Regardless of the guilt and acquittals, it is obviously a problem, not an NFL problem, this is a Seahawks problem and I believe there is a crisis need for the coaching staff and the leaders on that football team to take a stand and eradicate the use of any substances that are on becoming or outright illegal to be used by anyone associated with their football team.  Pete Carroll keeps a very loose and uplifting environment with his football team, playing music during practice and having a general chummy relationship with most of the players on the team, but perhaps it's time to invoke an age-old attitude of "Team Authoritarian" which is a lost art in the NFL with so many players making millions more than their coaches and therefore usually meaning more to the team's success than the coaches who run the football team.  The Seattle Seahawks are a very young football team in comparison to the other teams in the league, but they are adults and should be expected to behave as such.

 "Regardless of the guilt and acquittals, it (Adderall) is obviously a problem, not an NFL problem, this is a Seahawks problem…" -Brad Hobbs

One of the big concerns that not only Pete Carroll and his players should be concerned about, team owner Paul Allen could be hit with a substantial fine from the NFL league office for having multiple players violating the NFL's personal conduct policy.  It's uncertain if any more suspensions will be assigned, but there could be a significant fine in the millions levied to Mr. Allen because of the lack of discipline on his football team.  Pete Carroll insisted at his press conference after the teams first OTA that the Seahawks are not only complying with NFL policies to encourage players to follow the NFL rules, he goes over and above what the NFL requires.  Still, the message isn't getting through to several players and if I were any of them, right now I would be wondering if I was going to have a job with the Seattle Seahawks.  Pete Carroll has one moniker and he shares it whenever he has the chance, compete compete compete.  While some of these players are serving their suspensions, it's clearly possible that when they return, their starting job may not exist any longer.  Bruce Irvin had fairly good numbers in terms of sacks as a rookie (8.5) however it was obvious he was a liability on the field most of the time, particularly on running downs when he was unable to shed blockers or penetrate to make tackles behind the line of scrimmage.  Most notably, Irvin practically disappeared during the two playoff games the Seahawks played in Washington and Atlanta.  His name was conspicuously absent from the PA system and the television analysts who covered the playoff games.  During the two games, he had one tackle and one sack, though one of his sacks was on Robert Griffin III after he collapsed from his much talked about season ending knee injury.

Now, the Seahawks need to move forward and if there is one positive thing that can be found about Bruce Ivin's selfish act, is that it was reported before the teams training camp begins in July.  The Seattle football team is poised to challenge for perhaps its first Lombardi trophy in franchise history.  The last thing this team needs is distraction and these kinds of selfish acts by Browner, Moffitt, Guy, Irvin and perhaps Sherman and Marshawn Lynch (DUI) is something that they do not need and the thing that could take this very talented football team and prevent them from even making the playoffs.  We've seen teams with incredible talent on their rosters fall apart and completely miss the playoffs and disappoint their fan base.  The Philadelphia Eagles had what one of the team quarterbacks "Vince Young" called "The Dream Team" only to have the team implode going 8-8 and disappointing the Eagles fans and missing the playoffs with tremendous talent on the roster.  The Detroit Lions have suffered from a lack of discipline as several players had scrapes with the law, completely unacceptable behavior on the field and a complete and utter lack of respect for the coach and an obvious immaturity problem from the top to the bottom of the roster.  It's humiliating, it's a black mark on the city, the players, the coaches, the team owner and it's bad for the National Football League.  Fans are asking; "When is enough, enough?"  You can bet the people of Seattle are asking the same question right now and you can bet that the Seahawks 12th man is none too happy after watching the team with all the potential in the world, begin to crumble and if someone doesn't stop the bleeding, the Seattle Seahawks could follow in the footsteps of the Eagles, the Lions, the Cowboys and the Bengals.  All of these teams went into the season with great hopes and great athleticism, only to watch the entire team fall like a house of cards because a few people decided that they were better than the team.  It takes a great GM to find the talent, a great owner to pay the talent, a great coach to teach the talent and it takes an entire roster to win a Super Bowl.  It takes only one person to take it all away…

If I were the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, or perhaps any football team in America I think I would invite the entire organization into a building and ask anyone on the team; "If you are not here to give everything you have to your teammates and this organization, if you're not here to ready your mind and your body for your teammates and this organization, if you're not here to give every bit of yourself for your teammates and this organization, LEAVE THE ROOM RIGHT NOW.

Can't play with them
Can't coach them
Can't trust them
Can't rely on them
Can't win with them… They Must Go!

Pete Carroll and GM John Schneider have already proven that if you are not 100% with their program, you will disappear.  It doesn't matter if your starter or a backup, a first-round pick or an undrafted free agent, and it doesn't matter how much money they pay you.  If you can't help the team Win, you are GONE!

Just ask TJ Houshmandzadeh GONE
just ask Lendale White GONE
just ask Aaron Curry GONE

Pete Carroll believes in second chances, you can say he thrives on them.  However, selfishness doesn't win football games.

Many people are scratching their heads and asking "Why would a player like Bruce Irvin, with a good shot at the starting job of defensive end, take a substance that he knows is being tested for by the NFL?"  It's a fair question, some have suggested that Pete Carroll's famous mantra "Always Compete" starts to generate a feeling that no one is safe and his position and you could lose your place on a roster if another player on the roster performs better in Training camp then you do.  It sounds ridiculous, but we're talking about people that spend most of their time learning to be better athletes, not spending a great deal of time studying philosophy or their betterment educationally.  What I'm saying is that it's possible that Pete Carroll is creating a climate of fear on a team that preaches that "no one is safe" on the Seahawks roster, no one.  So, players like Irvin, who got pushed around quite a bit last year, could be fearful that he needs to step up his off-season workout and create an edge… Albeit an illegal edge in the NFL, at least.

Lastly, there are players right now who should be held to a higher standard and expected to lead.  It's time for; Russell Wilson, Kam Chancellor, Max Unger, Sidney Rice, Earl Thomas, KJ Wright, Michael Robinson and Red Bryant to start marshaling a plan to eradicate all negativity from this football team.  After an outstanding rookie season, Russell Wilson has the juice to command respect from every player, rookie or veteran.  It stops here and he has the innate leadership to start something very special in Seattle.  Right now, the Seahawks are becoming the outlaws, the team to hate and right now, they are a punchline on Jay Leno and David Letterman.  This is not how a playoff football team expected to contend for a championship should start the season.  Get with it and do it now… This city has waited far too long for a football championship and this is not the kind of behavior that inspires anyone, least of all Seahawks fans.