Will Seahawks be ready for media?
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson speaks at an NFL football news conference in Renton, Wash. (Jan. 23, 2014) Credit: AP
RENTON, Wash. -- Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin was asked if he will be nervous when he takes the field Feb. 2 for the Super Bowl.
"Probably not,'' he said from the stage at the Seahawks' training center, speaking to the assembled reporters. "I'm more nervous up here with you all than I am out there.''
While the Seahawks install their game plan for the game against the Broncos, they are bracing for what will be the biggest media crush of their lives. Not only is this the Super Bowl, but it's in America's media capital. Those sleepy news conferences in the bucolic Northwest in which players are fed doughnuts from reporters are about to become a thing of the past.
"I really don't know what to expect,'' safety Kam Chancellor said. "I know there are going to be tons of media and tons of people out there. The fans are going to be out there.''
While the Seahawks have no active players with Super Bowl experience -- they're the first team to compete in the game with that distinction since the 1990 Bills -- at least one of them was in New Orleans last year for the game between the Ravens and 49ers.
Quarterback Russell Wilson said Wednesday that he wanted to "get a feel'' for the game and the atmosphere just in case he and the Seahawks played in the next one. "And sure enough,'' he said, "we are.''
But that might not be enough to prepare the Seahawks for what they are in for.
"There are going to be distractions,'' Baldwin said. "This is the biggest game of our lives, the Super Bowl, but at the same time, going back to it, we have to stay away from those distractions. Don't think about, just allow ourselves to enjoy the moment and play the game of football that we've been playing since we were 6 years old.''
Thomas: NY's not safeEarl Thomas has a funny video on his website in which he offers citizens of Seattle "Free Safety Advice,'' such as looking both ways before crossing the street, changing passwords for email accounts and not talking to strangers. The joke, of course, is that Thomas is an All-Pro free safety for the Seahawks.
But when it comes to the Super Bowl, Seattle's most famous crossing guard took a shot at the Big Apple as fans prepare to flock there for the big game.
"The safety advice,'' he said, "stay here in Seattle.''
Hawk talkThomas was the first draft pick Pete Carroll made with the Seahawks in 2010. Fellow safety Chancellor was taken later in the same draft. Together they have become the foundation of the defense. "We came in as competitors, young and probably dumb,'' Thomas said, "but at the same time, we understood that we could make a change, and it's definitely paying off for us.'' . . . Chancellor said the Seahawks do not have formal tip drills for the secondary, but at least once a week, a play comes along in practice in which Richard Sherman will bat a pass toward another defender the way he did against the Giants in December and against the 49ers in the NFC title game. Said Chancellor: "We always say when you run to the ball, good things happen.''
