sports

 

 

West Coast expansion team flop first year

What is a Seahawk?

Davie Wong
Sports Reporter

The hopes were never high
for the new expansion league
teams. While the Seattle Se-
ahawks inaugural season was
slightly better than the Tampa
Bay Buccaneers, it was only so
by a bit. What more is expected
from a team that got to pick 39
of the worst players in the NFL
to start a team?

Their man under-center was
Jim Zorn. He threw for slightly
under 2,600 yards with 12 touch-
downs; but those aren’t his most
impressive stats. Throughout
the 14 games in which he played,
Zorn threw 27 interceptions.

It didn’t help that the Seattle
passing game was easier to read
than a child’s book. Any defen-
sive coordinators that could un-
derstand football knew how to
stop Zorn. They just had to take
away the pass to receiver Steve
Largent.

By the end of the season,
these two had amassed 54 com-
pletions for a total of 705 yards.
Even when defensive backs
swarmed Largent, it seems that
Zorn still threw to him. While
Zorn was still considered a
“threat” in the air, along with
Largent, he had few alternatives.

Even though Sherman Smith
had played a mobile style of
game while in college, he still
primarily played quarterback
when the Seahawks drafted him

in the second round. The fact
that he had never played a down
of professional football as a run-
ning back is astounding as that
is exactly what the Seahawks
wanted him to do. The transition
was not an easy one—that was
especially evident this season as
he only rushed for 537 yards.

Defensively, the Seahawks
were a little better. Steve Nie-
haus, the Seahawks’ first round
pick, won NFC Defensive Rookie
of the Year, picking up nine and
a half sacks throughout his sea-
son. Linebackers Mike Curtis
and Ed Bradley, along with free
safety Dave Brown combined for
a total of 319 tackles. The mix of
veterancy and youth may end up
working out for the Seahawks,
but they need more.

They need a coach who can
coach both sides of the game.
Sure Jack Patera has worked with
and is partially responsible for
several successful defensive lines
in his time, but this year, his
lack of offensive knowledge was
blatant.

Oddly enough however, the
fan support for the team have
been unwavering. For the awful
start that they’ve had, fans of
the Seahawks have flocked out
in the thousands to see the team
play. The atmosphere at the
Kingdome when the Seahawks
play is contagious. It’s as if the
fans don’t realize that the Sea-
hawks don’t win. They just keep
cheering.

Rugby team
upsets Pocomo

Trying times at Hume Park

Gert Van Niekerk
Contributor

The Douglas College first
rugby team scored somewhat
of an upset at Hume Park on
Saturday, defeating pre-season
favourites Pocomo by a score
of 14-10. Both teams played an
excellent calibre of rugby in
an exciting match that went
right down to the wire. With 10
minutes left in the game and
the score tied at 10-10 Burt Kirby
dived over to score what seemed a
sure touchdown for Douglas, but
the referee ruled Kirby had lost
control of the ball and called the
play back.

The Douglas team, obviously
rattled by this decision, were
then pushed back to their own
one yard line where they made
a determined stand to keep out
Pocomo, Auzzie Collin Phipps
saved the situation when he made
a rugged 25-yard dash, kicked

ahead, and then crushed the
Pocomo fullback as he caught the
ball.

With time running out,
Mark Andrews fielded a “sliced”
kick by the Pocomo standoff and
went tearing in for his second
touchdown to put Douglas ahead
for good. Jamie Booth kicked two
excellent field goals for Douglas.

The Douglas second team
were less fortunate going down
12-0 to Pocomo seconds. Pocomo
scored all 12 of their points in the
first 15 minutes of the game and
then defended tenaciously to shut
out the Douglas assault.

With half the schedule now
complete, the first team is in joint
second place in the eight-team
league while the second team is in
third place in the 10-team league.

This article was originally
published on December 6, 1976
in Volume 2 Issue 2 of the Other
Press

 

 

 

 

 

Image via history. seahawks.com

Illsuration by T.H. Robinson