Scouting Report
2 - Seattle Seahawks With the fiery Ricky Watters on board and the
low-key Dennis Erickson turning feisty himself,
a long streak of nonwinning seasons could end
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Galloway, who has averaged
30.6 yards on his 26 career touchdown receptions, knows how
to stretch a
defense.
(John W. McDonough)
| Four days
into his first training camp with the Seahawks, running back
Ricky Watters, the league leader in outbursts during much
of his NFL career, boiled over. Watters, one of the prizes
of the '98 free-agent market, had been getting roughed up
by defenders during
what he thought was a noncontact drill, and after one
particularly physical
sequence he snapped, "Come on, we've gotta take care
of each other! Don't be buttin' me like
that."
The situation grew increasingly tense until coach Dennis
Erickson entered the fray. Normally more mild mannered than
Tom Snyder, Erickson barked, "Ricky, shut the
f--- up. It's not gonna be like that
here."
The exchange between star player and coach, and the
one-on-one meeting that followed, was telling, not as a
source of conflict but as a measure of how far both men
have come. Erickson was derided by some players as a lax leader who ran too loose a
ship
in his first three years. However, after surviving a '97
season during which rumors of his demise ran rampant, he
seems more at ease. Players say practices this summer have
been crisper and better
organized than in the past, and Erickson's admonishment
of Watters was a strong statement. "Everyone was sort
of stunned, in a pleasant way," says one Seahawks
veteran. "We've never seen Dennis take on a player
like
that."
Watters emerged from his meeting with Erickson feeling
better about their relationship. "He basically told me
that if I have a problem to come to him in private,"
Watters says. "That was really cool because people
always say that there's an open-door
policy, but the door's not really open. He made it clear that
we have that kind of relationship, and that he respects me
both as a player and a person. I feel the same way about
him."
Erickson said something else that resonated with Watters, a
five-time Pro Bowl selection: He appealed to the eight-year
veteran's sense of leadership. The notion of Watters in
that role seems bizarre given his history of strained
intrasquad relations
(during his second season with the 49ers, teammates decorated
a team picture by pasting cutouts of Watters's face on
those of the entire squad) and his fixation on personal
goals (while with the Eagles from 1995 to '97, he
frequently gestured to offensive
coordinator Jon Gruden, demanding the
ball).
Erickson, however, believes Watters and two other veteran
free-agent signees, former Broncos guard Brian Habib and
former Lions center Kevin Glover, will not only invigorate
the running game but will also help instill a winning
attitude in a franchise
that has had seven
consecutive nonwinning seasons. In the case of Watters, the work ethic he acquired in
San Francisco has already been
eye-opening to many of his new
teammates.
"They saw me running out plays to the end zone in
practice, and they were like, What is he doing?"
Watters says. "But it's something you have to do if
you want to take it to the next level, because otherwise
you get conditioned to stopping when you get
contact. It's a mentality I got from some great players, and
hopefully it'll rub off on our young guys. What's really
cool is I've had guys like [second-year cornerback] Shawn
Springs come up and ask me things, and I've never even
played defensive back.
But guys have seen what I've done in this league and the way
I
work."
| Schedule |
| Sept. | 6 | at Philadelphia |
| 13 | ARIZONA |
| 20 | WASHINGTON |
| 27 | at Pittsburgh |
| Oct. | 4 | at Kansas City |
| 11 | DENVER |
| 18 | OPEN DATE |
| 25 | at San Diego |
| Nov. | 1 | OAKLAND |
| 8 | KANSAS CITY |
| 15 | at Oakland |
| 22 | at Dallas |
| 29 | TENNESSEE |
| Dec. | 6 | at N.Y. Jets |
| 13 | SAN DIEGO |
| 20 | INDIANAPOLIS |
| 27 | at Denver |
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Thanks to strong drafts and fruitful free-agent crops in
each of the past two seasons, the Seahawks are solid at
most positions. Their defense has plenty of playmakers,
including Springs and pass-rushing linebacker Chad Brown.
The passing offense is
keyed by ageless wonder Warren Moon, a holdout at week's end,
and wideout Joey Galloway, a burner who last season caught
12 touchdown passes, six on receptions of 30 or more yards.
But while the Seahawks led the league in passing offense
and ranked third
overall, they were 24th in points produced after reaching the
20-yard
line.
Erickson blames an overreliance on the passing game and a
lack of continuity at halfback, where Chris Warren, Lamar
Smith and Steve Broussard were shuttled in and out. The
coach wanted one back to carry the load, and in March he
signed Watters to a
four-year,
$13 million deal. If things go according to plan, Watters will
touch the ball 20 to 25 times a
game.
"When I looked into signing Ricky, I saw that every
time he played he went
100 miles an hour," Erickson says. "Then I checked
into his practice habits, and he went hard in practice,
too. The only 'bad' thing about Ricky is he wants to get
the ball more, and he's gonna get the ball
here."
—Michael Silver
By the Numbers | Inside Slant | Lineup
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