Seahawks Super Bowl 'Disrespect' Due To 1 Key Player According To ESPN

The Seattle Seahawks are the defending Super Bowl champions entering the new NFL season, but based on the media coverage this offseason, you wouldn't know it.

With the Los Angeles Rams and their offseason moves of Myles Garrett, Jaylen Watson, and Trent McDuffie, for most, are the easy Super Bowl favorites. Even the San Francisco 49ers are getting some love now that they are healthy.

But what about the Seahawks? The team who actually won the Super Bowl? 

Well, a coordinator change, coupled with the losses of Kenneth Walker, Boye Mafe, Riq Woolen, and Coby Bryant, has led many to see the Seahawks as a lesser team, while their rivals have strengthened.

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But where has this disrespect come from? Mike Maconald and John Schneider have built a good roster, and right now, it is still one of the better units in football.

And for former quarterback and now analyst Tim Hasselbeck, who was on ESPN's GetUp, when asked whether the Seahawks are the true challenger to L.A., he offered an interesting answer and alluded to why Seattle isn't being talked about as a genuine contender.

"Probably so," Hasselbeck said. "When you look at Seattle, they are just so athletic and fast on the defensive side, they're going to be coached really well on that side of the ball. I think some of the disrespect in terms of how Seattle is viewed is some of the disbelief in Sam Darnold, which I think is really unfair to Darnold because he's been good multiple places.

"Seattle's going to be a really good football team, look, it'll be a battle between the Rams and Seahawks."

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Is it really because of Darnold? 

Or is it Darnold because of the coordinator change and the fact that Walker is no longer there, and a rookie is poised to start at running back in Week 1? In truth, it's likely both.

But Darnold ended any narratives surrounding him last season (or so I thought) as he led the Seahawks to the Super Bowl and didn't have a single turnover in the playoffs. 

It was also his second-straight regular season of posting 14 wins, yet there are still some who aren't truly sold on Darnold and his ability to lead this team back to the promised land.

Darnold had to deal with a lot of narratives last season, and now it appears, fresh off winning a Super Bowl, something Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, and Joe Burrow haven't, he's got to prove himself again.