September 9, 2026 • 40 mins
IAN FURNESS< SOFTY & DICK FAIN join Chuck for a special Seahawks roundtable! Yes, that’s right we have assembled this group of bozos (Softy’s words, not mine!) to talk Hawks/Pats! The vibes are high- is there any city that does big events better than Seattle? Will Rams/Hawks talk take over this football season? Has the addition of Aaron Donald worried the guys even more? Could the Seahawks be even better this year than they were last year and why? There doesn’t seem to be any complacency or egos with this team- how does that compare to the 2014 team? :30- We are back with more roundtable! How concerning are the defensive issues and who will emerge from the unknown? Are the guys worried about the run game at all? :45- We wrap up the roundtable with final thoughts and predictions!
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Oh, what a special night we've got for you tonight.
Right here in Seattle, it is the start of the
National Football League season. The Seattle Seahawks, world champions, getting
set to take on the New England Patriots, who they
defeated in the Super Bowl a few months ago. The
2026 season is about to kick off, and when you
(00:41):
have a big event like this, you bring big people
to your show and you do special things. We are
going to have a roundtable here today, special edition roundtable
for you here on the radio program. And even though
we normally have Hugh, Juan, and Greg for our roundtable
every week, We had Greg on in his normal slot
(01:04):
at 7.05. We're going to have Hugh on at 9
o'clock with X's and O's, and I wanted all hands
in on this. They're going to be broadcasting for you
all day from Jimmy's on first, so I wanted to
get them on the show together here this morning so
we could celebrate some Seahawks football in the start of
the National Football League season.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
It is a roundtable with.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Ian Furness, Dick Fane, and David Softy Mahler as we
get things cranked.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Up here on this Wednesday.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Gentlemen, thank you so much. Happy opening day to all
of you. Great to see you. Thanks for joining us.
And I want to start with, Dick, I want you
to show some love for your favorite morning host who
no longer assembles you on a weekly basis for something
like this. And this is just a rare occasion that
we get together and do a roundtable.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
This is a lot better.
Speaker 5 (01:58):
I love it.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
I know Softie's on very frequently. I think you should
have him on more often.
Speaker 5 (02:05):
You think so? Every day.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
Earlier in the morning? Like 6 a.m.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Hour.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
6.30 maybe?
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Daily?
Speaker 3 (02:11):
That's a great idea. The Daily with Softie. I like it. Hey,
you know what? I'm just excited to be here.
Speaker 6 (02:18):
I cannot think of a better way to kick off
the Seahawks season than by talking to you bozos. I
went to bed last night and I told my wife,
you know, tomorrow's going to be fun, but man, am
I really excited to go on the air at eight
o'clock with Chuck Dick and Ian Furness. So thank you
guys for making my dreams come true on this Wednesday morning.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
You are welcome, buddy. Really appreciate it.
Speaker 5 (02:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
We're here for you. There's no question about that.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Why am I not seeing you on the Zoom call?
Are you in bed naked or something like that?
Speaker 3 (02:46):
You can't join us?
Speaker 6 (02:48):
That's 100% what's happening. I am buck naked in bed.
And if you'd like to see me, I can turn
the video on. But I don't think that's anything anybody
wants to look at.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
No, we don't want that. No, we'll just listen to you.
Let me give you a little preview here. All right,
there you go. What's up, boys? Okay, see you later.
Speaker 5 (03:02):
I'm out of here.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Bye.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
That's all you need.
Speaker 5 (03:04):
All you need.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
And that was not a banana, by the way. What
was on that other computer screen there?
Speaker 3 (03:09):
No, no. You had your peek. You had your peek.
That's it. That's all.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
Well, if that wasn't a company computer.
Speaker 6 (03:14):
Hey, listen. What happens in Des Moines stays in Des Moines, boys.
Especially at 8 o'clock on a Wednesday morning.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Of the NFL opener. How weird is this, by the way?
It's Wednesday. It's Wednesday.
Speaker 6 (03:26):
Apple Cup's on a Sunday. Chuck, the Seahawks start on
a Wednesday. The hell's going on around here?
Speaker 3 (03:30):
You know what? Football's here.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
That's what matters. And so, yeah, we're going to celebrate
Wednesday like nothing else. And I kind of want to
start there, Ian, like just the event that we're going
to experience tonight. I've been around a few cities. I
know you've been around a few cities. Is there anybody
that does this better, the big event, than Seattle, Washington?
I think we are spectacular at it here.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Well, I think there's a lot of things to play.
One of the things to play is where the stadium is. Like,
I think that's part of it. I mean, most, it
feels like almost every NFL stadium, you know, is outside
of the city. Cincinnati's downtown, maybe Cleveland, I guess is,
but really by and large, most of them are away
from the beaten path. The fact that we're right down
in Soto, there's going to be, I hear, I haven't
(04:13):
confirmed that there's a baseball game next door today at
one o'clock, how relevant that may be. Just, yeah, the
vibe's crazy. You know, I was at the Tuesday game
in L.A., the Tuesday night football game in 2021. That
was really strange. This one kind of feels the same way.
It's like, why is there a game today? But I
think once we all get down to Jimmy's on first
(04:35):
in the Soto area, we're not going to care about
any of that. It's about raising the banner for the
second time in franchise history and the vibe outside the stadium.
Speaker 5 (04:44):
It's going to be fun with the two games going on.
I can't wait.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Yeah, no question about it. Dick, how much of this
season is just going to be Rams versus Seahawks talk
for us here in Sports Talk Radio?
Speaker 4 (04:57):
Well, I think it depends on how these two teams start,
and I think the Rams start is going to be
a lot more difficult than I think the Seahawks if
you just look at the schedule, and especially with the travel.
I mean, what type of What type of advantage or
disadvantage is that travel going to play with the Rams?
We've already seen it hit the Niners. They got 10,000
miles away from the substation, and they're still getting hurt.
(05:19):
That's a very powerful substation.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
It weakened them. It weakened them.
Speaker 5 (05:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Once they got to Australia, it was over.
Speaker 5 (05:26):
It did.
Speaker 4 (05:27):
It did, but if the Rams and Hawks stay as
good as we all think they're going to be, then
I think that is going to be the major topic,
both locally and nationally. But just to kind of piggyback
what Ian was talking about with just the vibe of
the day, I mean, think about this. I mean, what
does everybody think nationally when they think Seattle? They think rain, right? Well,
how many fans on television watched U.S. Australia, U.S. Belgium,
(05:52):
the Apple Cup, and this game? A hundred million? Total,
and not one cloud is going to be seen in
all four games on the television. So I think that
is pretty cool, too.
Speaker 5 (06:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
Well, yeah, it should be an epic night.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Yeah, we'll take the weather for sure and take a
victory as well. So, Softy, I mean, are you good with–
because I know Mike McDonald, John Schneider, and I, the
three of us, we're good with all the Rams hype
right now. And we're happy just to fly under the radar.
(06:27):
and bite him again in the end. Is that where
you're at with all of this Rams hysteria this offseason?
Speaker 6 (06:33):
Yeah, well, first of all, just to piggyback on Dick's point,
I'm super excited about no clouds for the game tonight.
The Hawks are undefeated in openers when there is no
cloud cover over the stadium, by the way.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
I just looked that up, so that's a great, great.
Speaker 6 (06:44):
Thing to have in our favor tonight against the Patriots.
But yeah, I mean, guys, my biggest concern right now
is am I wearing pants or shorts to this game?
It's supposed to be, what, 75 degrees of kickoff. I've
been stressing the last... 12 hours, pants or shorts, shorts
or pants. I'm trying on different outfits. I feel like
a chick for crying out loud, man.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
What do I wear? I have no idea.
Speaker 6 (07:03):
So that's my biggest stress right now, to be honest
with you. But as far as the Rams, yeah, I mean, look,
I'm not buying the hysteria the way other people are.
I think it's very rare that a team gets pumped
up like this and then actually delivers something. Whether baseball, Chuck,
you are old enough to remember the SI Indians thing
(07:23):
back in the day when they went bananas about Cleveland
and they ended up just being terrible.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
The Lakers with Carl Malone and Kobe.
Speaker 6 (07:33):
And Shaq and Gary Payton, those guys fell short. So
the dream teams don't usually work out, to be honest
with you. And I just don't know if Aaron Donald
is going to move the needle that much. I mean, look,
he's 35 years old. He hasn't played in two years.
Who knows what this guy is all about, right? When
the drop comes in the NFL, that comes fast. There's
(07:53):
no slow roll over the side of the cliff in
the National Football League. So I think the Rams are
going to be very, very, very good. But I thought
the Rams would be very, very good before they got
Miles Garrett, before they got Aaron Donald. So nothing's really
changed for me in that regard. And guys, don't forget,
the Seahawks, Rams, and 49ers, there's a lot of people
that want to just, you know, Just throw the Rams out.
(08:14):
Just say they're not going to, or the Niners, just
throw the Niners out.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
They're not going to be a fagger.
Speaker 6 (08:18):
These teams won 38 games combined in the regular season
a year ago.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
38.
Speaker 6 (08:23):
And the Niners and Rams ended up tied for second
place in the NFC West. So I think it's going
to be a frigging dogfight all year long between these
three teams, guys. I kind of feel bad for the Cardinals,
by the way, because they're not even remotely close to
getting a ticket to the party.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Yep.
Speaker 5 (08:38):
Yeah, well, I mean, last year, remember, this is how
things have changed.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Weren't the Cardinals actually favored over Seattle last year, like
in terms of the preseason? Like they were supposed to
be the fourth best team in the NFC West. So
Softie's right.
Speaker 5 (08:50):
You never know. You can throw all these things out there.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
You know, the 49ers, I think, are a good test
case for what, if you're the Rams or the Seahawks
looking around.
Speaker 5 (08:57):
Softie mentioned it. It's a long season. A lot of
stuff can happen.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
I mean, Alfred Collins going down for the 49ers, that's
the second starting defensive lineman that's out for the year
for them.
Speaker 5 (09:06):
Both guys in the interior. And then Ricky Pearsall is
out for the season.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Substation jokes aside, if you're the Rams, the one thing
with the Rams, that super team, their depth is very,
very thin. Like they paid so much upper end talent.
Your depth is not good. And I mean, well, softy may.
Most people don't root for injuries to happen. But the
reality is by the time Seattle sees the Rams, you'll
(09:30):
be what? 14 games into the season, 13 games into
the season. I mean, a lot can happen between now
and then. All I know is we're going to feel
really dirty tomorrow night because the reality is we're probably
rooting for the 49ers. That's, that's a hard, dirty feeling
to have with the Seahawks sitting one on one, by
the way, soft.
Speaker 5 (09:46):
He's right.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
I just double checked some other notes. Uh, Seahawks are
also undefeated on a Wednesday night opener.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
Good, good, good, good, really good shape there. So it
should be fine.
Speaker 6 (09:58):
And Chuck, just real quick. Uh, and Dick, I think
you agree, just one point about the Rams. I'm kind
of rooting against them out of principle. Who the hell
decides to go to Australia two days before a football game, right? Because, guys,
you have this interesting dynamic here, right? You got seemingly
the 49ers relying on experts, sleep experts, doctors, travel experts, whatever,
(10:19):
on their side that told them it was a good
idea to get out there, what, a week or so
before the game. And then the Rams are talking to
their people saying, oh, our experts think it's a good
idea to go out there 48 hours before the game. So,
I hope the Rams get their ass kicked just based
on principle. Who the hell does that, for crying out loud?
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Well, the principle, the funny thing about what the Rams
are doing, too, I mean, this is probably going to
be our theme all year, talking about those knuckleheads, but
think about what they, you know, they're playing one of
their two biggest rivals. It was their choice who to
play down there. They were given the choice, and they said,
we want the 49ers there. We don't want the 49ers
in SoFi.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
Yeah, you know why?
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Because of fans. The second choice would have been Seattle.
That's how pathetic they are as a franchise. We're talking
about the atmosphere we're going to have here tonight because
once we get to Soto and everyone's down there getting
juiced up and raring to go, it's a different feeling. SoFi,
they're like, yeah, we don't want Seattle. We don't want the.
Speaker 5 (11:14):
49ers playing in LA. We'll go wherever the hell it is.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
They don't have a home field advantage anyway, but They
deserve whatever bad things happen to them, the Rams, this year.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
Well, let's talk about it.
Speaker 5 (11:25):
Go ahead, Dick. Yeah, go ahead, Chuck.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
No, go ahead.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
I was just going to say, I've been to Australia twice,
and you are so energized when you get there, but
that only lasts for about 12 hours, right? So it
almost seems like the Rams are, if they really wanted
to be energized, they should land about four hours before
the game because you're just so juiced you're in. You know,
(11:47):
it's daylight when you think it's supposed to be night,
and then the crash.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Toilets are going the other way.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
Yeah, I'm wondering if the crash comes, like, in the
second half of the football game.
Speaker 5 (11:56):
That'd be hilarious.
Speaker 4 (11:56):
It's really interesting to see.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
Great.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Well, Dick, tell me why the Seahawks could potentially be
even better than they were a year ago. And that's
not predicting back-to-back Super Bowls necessarily, but, I mean, it
took them a little while before we recognized, like.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Hey, they might win the Super Bowl this year. That's
how good they are.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Is there a chance that they're going to be better
this year from beginning to end of the year?
Speaker 3 (12:22):
And if so, why?
Speaker 4 (12:24):
I think they could be better in the first half
of the season than they've been in the first halves
of the last two seasons. Taking a look at that,
I mean, if you just take a midway point in
the season, Mike McDonald's, what, 10-8, 11-8? I've got the
stats in the first half of the two seasons he's coached.
And he's only lost two games in the back half.
I mean, he's been unbelievable. So what we might see
(12:46):
is we might see a Seahawks team that's elite quicker
than the one was last year that lost to the
Niners early and lost to.
Speaker 5 (12:55):
The Bucs early.
Speaker 4 (12:56):
Overall, I mean, I would be really surprised if they
were 17-3.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
I mean, that.
Speaker 4 (13:03):
Just doesn't happen. But you ask for reasons why. I
think number one would probably be continuity, right? Sam Darnold
with JSN. They had a full, you know, another training
camp together. Cooper Cup is healthier. Maybe he provides a
little bit of an extra, you know, an extra boost,
something he didn't provide last year. Maybe you get one
of those young receivers to pop and become a third option.
(13:23):
Maybe Rashid Shahid is the guy that we hoped we
were getting from New Orleans instead of the guy that
was really just a special teams guy for the Seahawks
last year. So that would be, maybe Jadarian Price is...
The offensive rookie of the year. I'm just looking at
the offense right now because I don't know how the
defense can be much better than it was last year,
but the offense, that's probably the side of the ball
(13:46):
that has the most to move up, and those are
some of the reasons why they could be better than
they were last year.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
I think they are going to be better because I
think that's been the plan all along. I think the
Rams were as aggressive this offseason because they know that
that the world champion Seahawks are going to be even
better this year, and so we have to get a
lot better than what we were a year ago. That's
my theory that I'll float out to you. Yeah.
Speaker 6 (14:11):
Well, I mean, look, they added four pretty damn good players,
and we'll see on Donald, obviously, but Miles Garrett, McDuffie,
Jalen Watson, right, I think, from Kansas City, Trent's old teammate.
So they added four pretty good players, but I just
really don't know how they can be better record-wise.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
I mean, they won 10 in a row to end
the year.
Speaker 6 (14:29):
I mean, Dick's talking about their– their first half start,
they did go seven and two in their first nine games.
I mean, they lost their first two games by like
a combined five points for God's sakes, the nine point
loss differential guys.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
And the three games a year ago was.
Speaker 6 (14:43):
The lowest combined loss differential, if you will, in franchise history,
meaning they literally never came that close to going undefeated
ever in in the history of the franchise. So I
think it's going to be damn near impossible to be
better record wise. Can they be more efficient in the
red zone offensively? You guys remember that was a problem,
you know, for, you know, a small portion of the
(15:04):
year where they weren't scoring touchdowns in the red zone.
That to me is something to keep an eye out on.
Can Sam Darnold avoid the barf bag eight quarters that
he had last year? against the Rams and the Cardinals
when he threw seven interceptions and had like two lost
fumbles over a two-game period. Everybody talks about Darnold's turnover problem,
but really if you take away those two games and
(15:26):
those eight days of football, he was actually pretty damn good.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
I mean, why they might be better?
Speaker 6 (15:31):
I think because they've got more guys back than any
Seahawks Super Bowl team in franchise history. You know, Dick
and I talked about this on the air the other day.
If you go back to like, 2010, there's only one team,
I think two teams actually, that have brought back more
from the previous team snap percentage-wise than the Seahawks, and
that's the 2020 Buccaneers and the 2019 Chiefs.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
I mean, they're at 87%. The 2013 Seahawks.
Speaker 6 (15:57):
We're at 77%, so they are as in good a
position as any Seahawks Super Bowl team, I think, to repeat. Remember,
they had Brenno Giacomini at right tackle against the Broncos,
and then he went to the Jets, and they had J.R.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Sweezy. So this is the.
Speaker 6 (16:12):
First time since 2004 into 2005 that they brought back
their entire offensive line, and that continuity has got to
mean something.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
Ian?
Speaker 5 (16:22):
Yeah, I think... Great point.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
The problem is that when they dropped down to 77%
the next year in 2014, what they lost, not just
on the offensive line, remember what they lost too. They
lost a ton of depth in the secondary. The Jerron Johnsons,
the Maxwell, all those guys, Maragos, all these guys that
were just, they lost that depth. It goes back to
(16:45):
what I talked about with the Rams. At some point,
you can't afford to keep everybody Seattle, by and large,
kept everybody, and they made some tough choices. Reek Wolin gone.
They took Jobe over him. A debate we could have forever,
but they hoped that some young guy would step up.
They obviously got rid of Moffay, paid Hall, and brought
in Dante Fowler. Is that going to be an upgrade? Maybe.
I think the only thing that would be a concern
(17:07):
about are they going to be better or as good,
not just the division, not just the schedule. I mean,
the schedule early is tough. Yeah, you get the Cardinals
soft landing next week, and then it gets pretty difficult.
I think the thing that concerns you is the health.
You know, like I would say, I would check, I
would answer, yeah, they're going to be as good and
could be even more efficient than ever. But now you're
without your starting safety in Alcada with a hamstring. That
(17:29):
doesn't heal usually within a day or two. Imanwuri's health
is still a question. Doubtful he's going to play tonight.
You know, you start going down the list. The cornerback
position's in flux. Now maybe Trevon Diggs can step up
and be good. Tyrese Knight fills that role of Imanwuri
or DeAnthony Bell, but he's going to have to probably
play in the second. There's a lot of questions about health-wise.
And then, are we ever going to see Torrey Horton? Like,
(17:51):
that's the other question. Like, are we ever going to
see this guy? Because Dick talked about the young receivers.
Kup looked a lot better this year in camp than
he did last year. So maybe Kup comes back. Arroyo
could be a factor. Barner continues to progress. But the
depth in the wide receiver position, it's a little bit
lacking right now. So, I mean, there are some question marks. And, man,
behind Jadarian Price, and we don't even know what he's
(18:12):
all about in the NFL, behind him until Charbonnet comes back,
it is really thin back there. Because I ain't I
don't know about you guys, but Emmanuel Wilson and George Helani,
they don't get me too fired up. And if I
was the opponent, probably not too afraid.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
I'll say this, though, about them. I mean, we all
watched hard knocks.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
What you worry about with a team that has won
a Super Bowl, especially a young team, any signs of
complacency or satisfaction? I didn't see any of that in
hard knocks. I don't think that this team is resting
on its laurels whatsoever.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
Or egos.
Speaker 5 (18:46):
Egos, too, right?
Speaker 6 (18:47):
I mean, just the drama and the egos in that
locker room, and there was a lot of them, and
we can't just ignore that. That was a big reason
why they won the first one in 2013, because they
were cocky and arrogant as hell, and they backed it
up like no other Seahawks team in franchise history. They
don't have that. You know, there's no I mean, look, guys,
you know, Dick and I talked about this. Hard Knocks
to me was kind of boring, honestly. I mean, there's
(19:08):
really not a lot of personalities that came out in
the Hard Knocks episode. It was, you know, Montori Foster's
mom and dad. It was Derek Hall's truck. It was
Sam Darnold's spin rate. Remember the episode with Sam Darnold's
spin rate? They took three minutes with that ball in
the air. It was I thought I was high watching
that thing. I'm like, what's going on here, man? But
there really was not a lot of personality that came
(19:29):
out of that show. You know, we saw some from
Mike McDonald, maybe a side of him that we never saw.
So my point is, is that the, I got to
get mine, the infighting, all that stuff, the, you know,
I'm better than this guy, blah, blah, blah, the holdouts,
things like that. It seems like this team, Ian, so
far has been kind of immune to all that.
Speaker 5 (19:47):
Well, the Super Bowl champion... 2013.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Team, their strength was also their biggest weakness. It's everything
you just said, Softy. It was the egos.
Speaker 5 (19:56):
It was the look.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
I always compared them to the– I'm the only old
guy here that can remember the 79 Sonics, but they
were very 79 Sonics-like. If you look at pictures from
the 79 Sonics parade– It's June, and they're all wearing
fur coats, top hats, and they're all in separate cars.
Paul Silas used to talk about the fights they had
in practice every day. That was the 2013 Seahawks game.
It broke up right after that, the 79 Sonics did,
(20:17):
and obviously the Seahawks kind of fell apart. All of us,
all five of us, is there five of us, four
of us, four of us on this call, we all
were at camp every day talking to guys every day,
and I think we all probably had the same thought.
Speaker 5 (20:29):
What we heard every day, from guys. We talked about this.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
It was like new season, new season, new season. It
was so different than the 2014 training camp when guys
were like, repeat, repeat, here we go. These guys hit
the clean slate. And I think when you say it
was boring softy, you know why? This team is a
reflection of their coach.
Speaker 5 (20:47):
I love it. Like he's a reflection of the reflection
of the coach.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
And honestly, that's probably a really good thing from what
we saw with Mike McDonald and, and they're focused. It's,
it's again, the biggest issue, the biggest issue, all the
things we're talking about, the biggest issue, is the division, period,
end of story. Because the only time they've been to
the Super Bowl, in the times they've been to the
Super Bowl, they won the division, won the conference, and
had a home field advantage. They've never done it otherwise,
(21:11):
and that's the hardest challenge you have this year is
winning the division with those other two teams.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
A special opener roundtable with our guys. David Softy, Mahler,
Ian Furness, Nick Fane with us for the entire 8
o'clock hour. More to discuss, including tonight's matchup, Sports Radio
93.3 KJRFM.
Speaker 3 (21:31):
Kind of pull a softie here.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
It's Chuck in the mornings. We had an idea here
on opening night of the football season to gather some
of the greatest minds in sports talk radio for a
round table.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
None of them can make it.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
So instead, we've got David Softy Mahler, Dick Fane, and
Ian Furness with us here.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
Did I do it the right way? It's fun, right?
Speaker 1 (21:53):
It's fun.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
It's fun. And it works every time.
Speaker 6 (21:56):
Best part about that is when you use it on
somebody else who just doesn't see it coming at all.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
And they're all pumped up.
Speaker 6 (22:02):
You know, we thought we'd reach out to one of
the premier football minds in America, you know, unbelievable radio talent.
And the guy sitting there, he's getting all ready to
be complimented.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
And then bang, you just hit him with the works
every time. Great comedy gold. No question about it. 60%
of the time, it works all the time.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
Well, when Softie's telling me he doesn't know what to
wear tonight to start our roundtable, I have a feeling
you're not too worried about.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
This football team this season. So you have no worries?
Speaker 2 (22:34):
I mean, you're just trying to figure out whether I'm
going to go halter top or sleeveless or, you know,
what are you going to do tonight instead of worrying
about any element of this football team this year?
Speaker 1 (22:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (22:43):
I'm not really worried about tonight's game. I mean, I
think overall I am worried about the running game for sure.
And Dick and I have talked about this many times.
I just really hope, guys, that we're not sitting here
in October and November asking ourselves, why the hell didn't
we just pay Kenny Walker?
Speaker 3 (22:57):
Right. I mean, come on, man.
Speaker 6 (22:58):
The guy was unbelievable in the last month and a
half of 2025. You know, if you look at his numbers, Chuck,
that he was putting up and you kind of, you know,
project those out over a 16, 17 game season, he
was doing things that like only Christian McCaffrey does.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
I mean, running and catching.
Speaker 4 (23:14):
Right.
Speaker 6 (23:15):
So he was a star and that was Charbonnet banged up.
I think there's no doubt there's got to be a
reason for concern for now. about this running game. You know,
as Dick said, Jadarian Price could end up being the
rookie of the year, or he could be Rashad Penny
and banged up by week two and out for a month.
Speaker 3 (23:30):
I mean, who knows what this guy is going to
be all about?
Speaker 6 (23:32):
I mean, between him, Emmanuel Wilson, George Helani, Ian mentioned
the depth at running back. There's just nothing there that
makes you feel like, hey, We're going to run the
ball great today, right? Like it felt like that towards
the end of the year that you were going to
run the ball really, really well. And there's nothing right
now that says the Hawks can do that. That might
change by the way, in about nine hours from now
when price makes his debut with the Seahawks, but that's
(23:55):
a concern. The secondary is a slight concern as well.
I am less concerned about the secondary guys than I
am about the running game because of one thing, Mike
McDonald and his scheme.
Speaker 3 (24:05):
I've thought Mike McDonald since he got here was.
Speaker 6 (24:08):
The star and, His scheme is the star, and like
Dick and I talked about yesterday, watch tonight, right? There's
going to be some random dude that nobody's ever heard of,
just like before we got to know Drake Thomas and
Ty Okada. Somebody tonight will be making plays that we've
never heard of, and we'll go home saying, that guy, McDonald,
he did it again.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
Dick?
Speaker 4 (24:29):
The defense does concern me early in the season, particularly
without Nicky Manwari. We still remember... what Mike McDonald was
going through the week of the Superbowl when he thought
he wasn't going to have his special toy for the Superbowl.
And he was absolutely panicked. I think he said he
woke up 70 times in one night. He doesn't have
them today. Um, I, so I, I think Drake may
(24:50):
is going to try to exploit that. I think at
times he will be able to exploit that. There's just
not a lot of continuity in the backend right now
because you got to get, you know what, Rodney Thomas.
I mean, that's, that's a concern for me.
Speaker 3 (25:02):
Um, the running game.
Speaker 4 (25:04):
Is a concern, uh, just because we haven't seen Jadarian
Price at all. I mean, if we would have seen
him a little bit, I mean, what can you get
out of watching him at camp? I don't know. I mean,
he seems to have some explosiveness. I am not one
that was a proponent of re-signing Ken Walker, and I
will be stunned. I think Ken Walker will have a
(25:25):
good season while he's in there for Kansas City. You know,
Ken Walker's backups in Kansas City are named Emmett Johnson
and Brashard Smith. They are going to run Ken Walker
into the absolute ground, and he couldn't stay healthy in
Seattle when he had a legitimate backup running back. How
is he going to be able to stay healthy in
Kansas City when he doesn't have a legitimate running back backup?
Speaker 2 (25:46):
If it doesn't go, I mean, last year, Ian, they
just kept running, running, running, and running. We're going to
run it, whether we're effective or not. And for a
lot of the season, they weren't all that effective running
the football, particularly Ken Walker. and yet they did get
it going by year's end. But there are a lot
of critics still of Sam Darnold. He can't convince them
that he is a top quarterback. If they can't get
(26:09):
it going again this year, Ian, is your feeling that
they will just continue to try to run that ball
like they did a year ago? Or would it be
time to see if Sam Darnold can take his game
to the next level and just throw the ball far
more frequently than he.
Speaker 5 (26:24):
Did a year ago? Well, I think there's a couple
things in play.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
One is the fact it's a first-time play caller in
Brian Fleury. And there's a great unknown there. When Kubiak
came here last year, there was a track record. He
had done it before. Fleury's done it now in three
preseason games, which, what does that mean?
Speaker 5 (26:41):
Not a lot, right?
Speaker 1 (26:41):
So that's the great unknown. There's a couple things in
play here. I'm going to go back to Walker for
just a second, Chuck, if I can. Sometimes the worst
offseason moves are the ones that you don't make. And
I think we'll see. I hope that's not the case
with this. I always felt like Ken Walker was misused here.
They never really used him as a bell cow, and
(27:02):
part of it was health, sure. But really, by and large,
they always had this want to split carries. With Charbonnet,
after they drafted him the following year after he was picked,
it never quite made sense to me. Then we saw
when he was a lead back when Charbonnet went down,
how dynamic he could be. I hope that this isn't.
It's different because it's emotion as opposed to talent. you
(27:24):
can make an argument that not bringing back Gino Suarez
last year has hurt that clubhouse. Maybe his skills were declining,
but what they need is a little bit more something.
Softy yells about it all the time.
Speaker 5 (27:37):
There's no juice. There's no leadership. Walker is a guy
you let him go. You made that decision.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
You replaced him with a first-round pick, but time will
tell if Jadarian Price can stay healthy. As far as
Darnold's concerned, anybody that wants to criticize him, all he's
got to do is Just go into his safe in
his house and pull out.
Speaker 5 (27:53):
A $ 55, 000.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Super Bowl ring and maybe put it on his middle
finger and show it to the rest of the country.
And also say that, hey, last year, not only did
we win this, we had the highest scoring offense in
Seahawks football history. And by the way, I was throwing
to a guy that was the NFC Offensive Player of
the Year.
Speaker 3 (28:13):
Right.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
Like it's, it's, I know that we look at the
defense all the time. That offense was no joke last year.
And at some point you started kind of, we're nitpicking
a little bit. The flurry thing is the only thing.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
It's just an unknown. Not that it's a bad thing.
There's an unknown.
Speaker 5 (28:29):
It's third and four and you have to have a
first down.
Speaker 3 (28:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (28:32):
Like he hasn't done that before.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
Right.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
And the, and the head coach is a defensive coach.
So it's not like he can lean on a guy that's,
you know, like that.
Speaker 3 (28:40):
Nope.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
That's the unknown, and that's the concern, and maybe it
won't be a concern, and hopefully Fleury is well-prepared for this,
but it's an unknown with him being a play caller, guys.
Speaker 5 (28:50):
He just hasn't done it.
Speaker 6 (28:51):
Yeah, no question. I mean, until you find out, right, Chuck,
for sure. I mean, you know, Kubiak at least had
done it before. He had been with Darnold in San Francisco.
There was some kind of a relationship there between the
two of them. So I know Fleury was with Darnold
in San Francisco, but he was the tight ends guy,
not really working with a quarterback. So I'm curious to
see how this works out as well, like Ian. But,
you know, guys, the whole thing with Sam Darnold, look,
(29:12):
the dude is 31-7 his last 38 games, if you
include the playoffs.
Speaker 5 (29:16):
I mean.
Speaker 6 (29:17):
get out of here, right? Like the guy is just
winning everything. And that is contagious, right? That breeds confidence.
You guys know that. For those of us that like
to play golf, the better you play, the better you play, right?
The worse you play, the worse you play, right? So
he's got that confident train going right now. And the
thing about Walker for me, just going back to Dick's
point a little bit, I don't have any doubt that
(29:37):
Kansas City is going to use him a lot. And
that might not be a good thing for Kenny Walker
in Kansas City. That's not, though, how he would have
been used here. The question is, how would he have
benefited the Seahawks?
Speaker 4 (29:47):
Right.
Speaker 6 (29:47):
How would he have been used here? in Seattle. And
once Charbonnet is healthy in week five, you could have
duplicated and replicated what you had a year ago with
those two guys, which in the final month of the
half worked very well. So I don't have any doubt
that there could be a problem with how many snaps
he takes in Kansas City. What you're losing is what
you would have done with him if he had stayed
(30:09):
here in Seattle.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
So I just.
Speaker 6 (30:11):
Think there's Chuck I'm not sure if I'd call them
concerns as much as I would just curiosities and the
offensive coordinator is one of them as Dick pointed out
the secondary is another the running back is another I
mean all those things right like last year outside of
Julian Love and Torrey Horton knock on wood this team
was pretty damn healthy a year ago and we're already
(30:32):
starting off with some injuries to guys like Eamon Worry
and Torrey Horton and I mean.
Speaker 3 (30:36):
Look that's that's the big thing right it's a It's
an obvious.
Speaker 6 (30:39):
Cliche point that a lot of people make, but one
of the biggest reasons why the Seahawks were able to
pull this off is because their big guns for the
most part were healthy the entire single or excuse me,
the entire year. So let's hope they can duplicate that again. Uh,
we're going to do predictions in the last segment, but
I do want to.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
Just, I know we got to do it. I'm obligated.
Speaker 2 (30:59):
Uh, but I just do want to just quickly just
like Mike McDonald, um, the greatest gift to Seattle sports
ever Dick I.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
Mean is that what is that what we have in
this head coach.
Speaker 4 (31:11):
I mean they they hit the jackpot and and NFL
coaches don't move around right I mean if you have
a great NFL coach you pay him and he stays
and he stays for 10 15 20 years until you
you know decide to move on like they finally did
in Baltimore with hardball I mean that's it's just a
And that's what's so exciting is that, you know, Softie
(31:33):
and I were talking about this last week about, you know,
how long these two guys, John Schneider and Mike McDonald,
could stay together. And, you know, John Schneider, I would think,
would be the first one of the two to leave
since he's been here so long. But why wouldn't John
Schneider be here another 10 years? I mean, my God,
he's in his 50s. I mean, he's not an old man.
Why wouldn't he stay here another decade?
Speaker 3 (31:52):
Thank you for saying that. You know?
Speaker 5 (31:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (31:56):
And if he's here another 10 years, Mike McDonald could
be here another 10 years past that. I mean, Pete
Carroll was here, what, for 14 seasons? And he was
way older than Mike McDonald is. So it wouldn't surprise
me at all if we're still, you know, talking about
the John Schneider, Mike McDonald era well into the next decade.
Speaker 6 (32:17):
The only question I have about that, and again, it
falls into the curiosity category, is for those first, what,
17 years, right, of Schneider's career, he was working with
an Allen. Now he's working with a Coastal. How will
things be different with this ownership group, right? I mean,
there's no need to panic on either side of that coin, Chuck,
at all. But again, we just don't know. We don't
(32:37):
know what this thing will feel like, what it'll look
like for John. If he does go another 10 years,
we're talking about a 27, 30-year run. That's a Paul Brown,
George Hallis type of thing that this guy will go
on forever. But I do it, you know, in an
era when a lot of people move around. So maybe
he gets bumped up, you know, like Jerry, you know,
Jerry DePoto went from GM to president of baseball ops.
(33:00):
Maybe you wake up in a couple of years from
now and John Schneider is the president of the Seahawks
and he's a part owner and somebody else is the
general manager. I just think as long as you've got
him as a part of the pyramid, this team should
continue to win games.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
Chuck, real quick, you mentioned that, you know, is he
the greatest gift? I don't think we should gloss over
Pete Carroll. And I'd even go back further and say, Mike,
what happened with Paul Allen's ownership, as Softie mentioned, is
that raised the level and that raised the bar and
it raised the expectations for this organization back in the
late 90s, early 2000s. And under the Allen leadership and ownership,
(33:37):
all bets were off.
Speaker 5 (33:38):
What does it take? And that goes back to what
Softie said.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
They're going to spend to the salary cap because every
NFL team does. The question isn't are they going to
spend new ownership. But listen, at the end of the day,
did you go and said, we're going to get Mike Holmgren,
and we're going to pay him what he needs. We're
going to get Pete Carroll, weird, out of the box hire,
and bring him in and pay him what he needs.
Schneider's had multiple opportunities to leave, go back to his
(34:03):
hometown of Green Bay.
Speaker 5 (34:05):
Has not.
Speaker 1 (34:05):
He stayed because Paul Allen paid him and gave him
the juice. The Coastalists now bring it. You come in.
You inherit all that stuff. Keep paying Schneider. Let him
do his thing. The thing that you have to love
about this organization, and I assume it'll stay the same
under the Coleslaws until proven otherwise, is that the expectations
and the bar and what they expect from themselves internally, externally, business,
(34:28):
and football side, they are top shelf. And not every team,
especially in this town, can say that. And I think
that's why if you're a Seahawks fan, you've got to
be thrilled. And Dick's right.
Speaker 5 (34:37):
This isn't college football.
Speaker 1 (34:39):
The Dallas Cowboys aren't going to come and poach Mike
McDonald with five games left to go in the season,
and he's going to mail in the rest of the
year Yeah, like I've seen in Pullman a few times.
That's not going to happen. So I think if you're
a Seahawks fan, you've got to be thrilled with what's coming.
We'll find out today. Softie's going to wear shorts and
a T-shirt and go see the Coastalist today, introduce himself
at 11 o'clock.
Speaker 6 (34:57):
I'm going to go rent a suit, by the way,
before I go to my press conference. I want to
appear to be something other than the bum that I am,
so that'll last for.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
About a month.
Speaker 5 (35:06):
I can't wait to see that.
Speaker 3 (35:07):
All right. For them to announce today, 10 years, $ 300
million for McDonald's. Let's do it. Let's just do it.
Let's just sign it right now.
Speaker 6 (35:14):
All right.
Speaker 3 (35:14):
10 years, $ 100 million for us. How's that sound? That
sounds great, too.
Speaker 5 (35:18):
All right.
Speaker 3 (35:18):
One more segment with our guys, Sports Radio 93.3 KJRFM.
All right, we've got our fellas here.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
We've got Dave Sobny, Mahler, Dick Fane, and Ian Furness
with you. A special opening night roundtable here on the
Seahawks as they start the season tonight at home against
the New England Patriots kickoff at 520. So let's just
give a minute each here to wrap up our hour. Dick,
your expectation, not predictions. I won't make you make specific predictions.
(35:47):
Your expectation for tonight, your expectation for this season.
Speaker 4 (35:52):
I think tonight we'll be stressed at times. I don't
think it will be like the Super Bowl where there
was not one point in that game where I didn't
think they were going to win the game. I think
that we'll have some times where you know, maybe New
England's ahead or maybe it's tied with New England having
the ball in the second half. I think it's going
to be a close game. I think the point spread's right.
(36:13):
I think the over-under's right. I did see the point
spread come down to three, though, so I would like
the Hawks a little bit more at three than I
did at three and a half or four, which I
saw earlier in the week. And then, you know, so
I think like a 24-20 today for the Hawks sounds
about right. And then, For the season, I think similar
to last year, I don't think they get to 14 wins.
(36:34):
I think the Hawks and the Rams are separated by
the absolute blade of a knife. I've got them both
winning 13 games. So depending on tiebreaker, and that tiebreaker
is going to be huge, guys, because as we know,
when the Seahawks are the one seed, they go to
the Super Bowl. When the Seahawks are not the one seed,
they don't go to the Super Bowl. And I think
(36:55):
that same thing will happen this year. And if the
Hawks can get that one seat, I think they'll go.
I mean, just for the sake, you didn't, you know,
I don't have to make a prediction since you did.
You said I didn't have to.
Speaker 3 (37:05):
I don't have to. You can.
Speaker 4 (37:07):
I'll just say, I think the Rams and the Seahawks
finished with the same record in the, in the, in
the AFC West. And it comes down to a tiebreaker,
both at 13 and four. I think it's going to be,
I think it's going to be that close between those
two teams. I think they have separated themselves from the
rest of the NFC. as by far the two best
teams in the NFC. I think it's much closer in
the AFC. I've got the Bills in Houston, the two
(37:28):
teams facing off this week in the AFC championship game.
Speaker 3 (37:31):
So that'll be.
Speaker 5 (37:32):
Kind of cool.
Speaker 4 (37:33):
And it'll be interesting to see if once again, the
Super Bowl participant starts the season with a loss. Seahawks
lost last year. Patriots lost to the Raiders in week
one last year and made the Super Bowl. So everybody
that wants to panic if a team loses game number
one of the season, just remember, Super Bowl participants were
both 0-1 last year.
Speaker 5 (37:54):
Ian, give me a minute.
Speaker 1 (37:58):
What's odd is I don't feel real bad or real
stressed about tonight. Maybe it's just because it's Wednesday and
we're just trying to get our bearings. We just had
an Apple Cup three days ago on a Sunday and
now it's an NFL opener. I just don't think the
Patriots added A.J. Brown and Romeo Dobbs. Dobbs is a
nothing burger.
Speaker 5 (38:16):
A.J.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
Brown, he might be pouting on the sideline by the
middle of the second quarter, so Outside of that, they
didn't make many changes. Can Will Campbell block? Probably not, still.
Not against his team, not against Mike McDonald. I'm not
stressed about tonight. I think as far as the season's concerned,
I could see a 12-5 season. That's not disappointing.
Speaker 5 (38:36):
It's 12-5.
Speaker 1 (38:36):
With this schedule, the number one schedule, all the things
you have to absorb, And I think it comes down
to what Dick just said, tiebreakers.
Speaker 5 (38:43):
Who you lose to. Who are those five losses to
and when and where.
Speaker 1 (38:46):
You don't see the best team you're going to see
until the end of the season anyway in the Rams,
and a lot can happen. But I think bare minimum,
it's a playoff team again. And then we'll take our
chances once you get to the postseason.
Speaker 3 (38:57):
So after you wrap us up.
Speaker 6 (38:59):
Yeah, I just think if you could give me some
odds on the Seahawks losing as many games as they
lost last year by week eight, I might take it
if the odds were long enough. I mean, look at this, guys.
New England tonight, obviously. Arizona down there week two. That's
going to be a win in front of 40,000 Seahawks fans.
But then at Washington, the Chargers, the Niners, Denver, Kansas City, Chicago.
I mean, that is a murderer's row, at least on
(39:20):
paper right now.
Speaker 3 (39:21):
So do I expect three losses? No.
Speaker 6 (39:24):
If you gave me five to one odds on them
losing three games, I might put a hundred bucks on
it just for giggles. And I think Dick's right. It's
going to come down to the tiebreaker between the Hawks
and Rams. I got the Hawks going 12 and five
this year playing in the NFC championship against the Rams.
with 30,000 Seahawks fans at SoFi Stadium and the NFC Championship,
the cheapest buy-in ever for an NFC Championship game, by
(39:45):
the way, in L.A., and the Hawks get it done
and get back to the Super Bowl, but lose this
time to Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. That's my
official prediction, and I hate predictions. Let's hope none of
that comes true.
Speaker 1 (39:58):
Those tickets are available, by the way, at VenueKings.com for
the NFC Championship game.
Speaker 3 (40:02):
Use the code SOFTY and check out for a discount.
Speaker 1 (40:04):
But I've got sources telling me they're going to play
that game in New Zealand. The Rams are going to
want to play that game in New Zealand.
Speaker 5 (40:10):
And not play it in LA.
Speaker 6 (40:10):
By the way, they'll leave the morning of the game
if the game is in New Zealand.
Speaker 3 (40:14):
We'll leave two weeks earlier. They'll leave the morning of
the game.
Speaker 5 (40:17):
So for the record, Dick, 13-4.
Speaker 4 (40:19):
Yep.
Speaker 5 (40:19):
Softie and Ian are 12-5.
Speaker 3 (40:20):
Correct.
Speaker 5 (40:20):
Chuck, 15-2.
Speaker 3 (40:25):
Good man. Atta boy.
Speaker 2 (40:27):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (40:28):
Atta boy. This Mr. Sunshine.
Speaker 5 (40:29):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (40:30):
All right, man.
Speaker 5 (40:31):
See ya. Have a great year.
Speaker 3 (40:33):
All right. There they are.
Speaker 2 (40:34):
Ian Furness, David Softy Mahler, Nick Fane joining us here
for a special edition of the Roundtable.
Speaker 3 (40:40):
It is here.
Speaker 2 (40:40):
Football season. Hugh Millen joins us next. We got to
hear from you today on Sports Radio 93.3 KJRFM.
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Oh, what a special night we've got for you tonight.
Right here in Seattle, it is the start of the
National Football League season. The Seattle Seahawks, world champions, getting
set to take on the New England Patriots, who they
defeated in the Super Bowl a few months ago. The
2026 season is about to kick off, and when you
(00:41):
have a big event like this, you bring big people
to your show and you do special things. We are
going to have a roundtable here today, special edition roundtable
for you here on the radio program. And even though
we normally have Hugh, Juan, and Greg for our roundtable
every week, We had Greg on in his normal slot
(01:04):
at 7.05. We're going to have Hugh on at 9
o'clock with X's and O's, and I wanted all hands
in on this. They're going to be broadcasting for you
all day from Jimmy's on first, so I wanted to
get them on the show together here this morning so
we could celebrate some Seahawks football in the start of
the National Football League season.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
It is a roundtable with.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Ian Furness, Dick Fane, and David Softy Mahler as we
get things cranked.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
Up here on this Wednesday.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Gentlemen, thank you so much. Happy opening day to all
of you. Great to see you. Thanks for joining us.
And I want to start with, Dick, I want you
to show some love for your favorite morning host who
no longer assembles you on a weekly basis for something
like this. And this is just a rare occasion that
we get together and do a roundtable.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
This is a lot better.
Speaker 5 (01:58):
I love it.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
I know Softie's on very frequently. I think you should
have him on more often.
Speaker 5 (02:05):
You think so? Every day.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
Earlier in the morning? Like 6 a.m.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Hour.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
6.30 maybe?
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Daily?
Speaker 3 (02:11):
That's a great idea. The Daily with Softie. I like it. Hey,
you know what? I'm just excited to be here.
Speaker 6 (02:18):
I cannot think of a better way to kick off
the Seahawks season than by talking to you bozos. I
went to bed last night and I told my wife,
you know, tomorrow's going to be fun, but man, am
I really excited to go on the air at eight
o'clock with Chuck Dick and Ian Furness. So thank you
guys for making my dreams come true on this Wednesday morning.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
You are welcome, buddy. Really appreciate it.
Speaker 5 (02:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
We're here for you. There's no question about that.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Why am I not seeing you on the Zoom call?
Are you in bed naked or something like that?
Speaker 3 (02:46):
You can't join us?
Speaker 6 (02:48):
That's 100% what's happening. I am buck naked in bed.
And if you'd like to see me, I can turn
the video on. But I don't think that's anything anybody
wants to look at.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
No, we don't want that. No, we'll just listen to you.
Let me give you a little preview here. All right,
there you go. What's up, boys? Okay, see you later.
Speaker 5 (03:02):
I'm out of here.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Bye.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
That's all you need.
Speaker 5 (03:04):
All you need.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
And that was not a banana, by the way. What
was on that other computer screen there?
Speaker 3 (03:09):
No, no. You had your peek. You had your peek.
That's it. That's all.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
Well, if that wasn't a company computer.
Speaker 6 (03:14):
Hey, listen. What happens in Des Moines stays in Des Moines, boys.
Especially at 8 o'clock on a Wednesday morning.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Of the NFL opener. How weird is this, by the way?
It's Wednesday. It's Wednesday.
Speaker 6 (03:26):
Apple Cup's on a Sunday. Chuck, the Seahawks start on
a Wednesday. The hell's going on around here?
Speaker 3 (03:30):
You know what? Football's here.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
That's what matters. And so, yeah, we're going to celebrate
Wednesday like nothing else. And I kind of want to
start there, Ian, like just the event that we're going
to experience tonight. I've been around a few cities. I
know you've been around a few cities. Is there anybody
that does this better, the big event, than Seattle, Washington?
I think we are spectacular at it here.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Well, I think there's a lot of things to play.
One of the things to play is where the stadium is. Like,
I think that's part of it. I mean, most, it
feels like almost every NFL stadium, you know, is outside
of the city. Cincinnati's downtown, maybe Cleveland, I guess is,
but really by and large, most of them are away
from the beaten path. The fact that we're right down
in Soto, there's going to be, I hear, I haven't
(04:13):
confirmed that there's a baseball game next door today at
one o'clock, how relevant that may be. Just, yeah, the
vibe's crazy. You know, I was at the Tuesday game
in L.A., the Tuesday night football game in 2021. That
was really strange. This one kind of feels the same way.
It's like, why is there a game today? But I
think once we all get down to Jimmy's on first
(04:35):
in the Soto area, we're not going to care about
any of that. It's about raising the banner for the
second time in franchise history and the vibe outside the stadium.
Speaker 5 (04:44):
It's going to be fun with the two games going on.
I can't wait.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Yeah, no question about it. Dick, how much of this
season is just going to be Rams versus Seahawks talk
for us here in Sports Talk Radio?
Speaker 4 (04:57):
Well, I think it depends on how these two teams start,
and I think the Rams start is going to be
a lot more difficult than I think the Seahawks if
you just look at the schedule, and especially with the travel.
I mean, what type of What type of advantage or
disadvantage is that travel going to play with the Rams?
We've already seen it hit the Niners. They got 10,000
miles away from the substation, and they're still getting hurt.
(05:19):
That's a very powerful substation.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
It weakened them. It weakened them.
Speaker 5 (05:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Once they got to Australia, it was over.
Speaker 5 (05:26):
It did.
Speaker 4 (05:27):
It did, but if the Rams and Hawks stay as
good as we all think they're going to be, then
I think that is going to be the major topic,
both locally and nationally. But just to kind of piggyback
what Ian was talking about with just the vibe of
the day, I mean, think about this. I mean, what
does everybody think nationally when they think Seattle? They think rain, right? Well,
how many fans on television watched U.S. Australia, U.S. Belgium,
(05:52):
the Apple Cup, and this game? A hundred million? Total,
and not one cloud is going to be seen in
all four games on the television. So I think that
is pretty cool, too.
Speaker 5 (06:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
Well, yeah, it should be an epic night.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Yeah, we'll take the weather for sure and take a
victory as well. So, Softy, I mean, are you good with–
because I know Mike McDonald, John Schneider, and I, the
three of us, we're good with all the Rams hype
right now. And we're happy just to fly under the radar.
(06:27):
and bite him again in the end. Is that where
you're at with all of this Rams hysteria this offseason?
Speaker 6 (06:33):
Yeah, well, first of all, just to piggyback on Dick's point,
I'm super excited about no clouds for the game tonight.
The Hawks are undefeated in openers when there is no
cloud cover over the stadium, by the way.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
I just looked that up, so that's a great, great.
Speaker 6 (06:44):
Thing to have in our favor tonight against the Patriots.
But yeah, I mean, guys, my biggest concern right now
is am I wearing pants or shorts to this game?
It's supposed to be, what, 75 degrees of kickoff. I've
been stressing the last... 12 hours, pants or shorts, shorts
or pants. I'm trying on different outfits. I feel like
a chick for crying out loud, man.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
What do I wear? I have no idea.
Speaker 6 (07:03):
So that's my biggest stress right now, to be honest
with you. But as far as the Rams, yeah, I mean, look,
I'm not buying the hysteria the way other people are.
I think it's very rare that a team gets pumped
up like this and then actually delivers something. Whether baseball, Chuck,
you are old enough to remember the SI Indians thing
(07:23):
back in the day when they went bananas about Cleveland
and they ended up just being terrible.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
The Lakers with Carl Malone and Kobe.
Speaker 6 (07:33):
And Shaq and Gary Payton, those guys fell short. So
the dream teams don't usually work out, to be honest
with you. And I just don't know if Aaron Donald
is going to move the needle that much. I mean, look,
he's 35 years old. He hasn't played in two years.
Who knows what this guy is all about, right? When
the drop comes in the NFL, that comes fast. There's
(07:53):
no slow roll over the side of the cliff in
the National Football League. So I think the Rams are
going to be very, very, very good. But I thought
the Rams would be very, very good before they got
Miles Garrett, before they got Aaron Donald. So nothing's really
changed for me in that regard. And guys, don't forget,
the Seahawks, Rams, and 49ers, there's a lot of people
that want to just, you know, Just throw the Rams out.
(08:14):
Just say they're not going to, or the Niners, just
throw the Niners out.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
They're not going to be a fagger.
Speaker 6 (08:18):
These teams won 38 games combined in the regular season
a year ago.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
38.
Speaker 6 (08:23):
And the Niners and Rams ended up tied for second
place in the NFC West. So I think it's going
to be a frigging dogfight all year long between these
three teams, guys. I kind of feel bad for the Cardinals,
by the way, because they're not even remotely close to
getting a ticket to the party.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Yep.
Speaker 5 (08:38):
Yeah, well, I mean, last year, remember, this is how
things have changed.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Weren't the Cardinals actually favored over Seattle last year, like
in terms of the preseason? Like they were supposed to
be the fourth best team in the NFC West. So
Softie's right.
Speaker 5 (08:50):
You never know. You can throw all these things out there.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
You know, the 49ers, I think, are a good test
case for what, if you're the Rams or the Seahawks
looking around.
Speaker 5 (08:57):
Softie mentioned it. It's a long season. A lot of
stuff can happen.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
I mean, Alfred Collins going down for the 49ers, that's
the second starting defensive lineman that's out for the year
for them.
Speaker 5 (09:06):
Both guys in the interior. And then Ricky Pearsall is
out for the season.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Substation jokes aside, if you're the Rams, the one thing
with the Rams, that super team, their depth is very,
very thin. Like they paid so much upper end talent.
Your depth is not good. And I mean, well, softy may.
Most people don't root for injuries to happen. But the
reality is by the time Seattle sees the Rams, you'll
(09:30):
be what? 14 games into the season, 13 games into
the season. I mean, a lot can happen between now
and then. All I know is we're going to feel
really dirty tomorrow night because the reality is we're probably
rooting for the 49ers. That's, that's a hard, dirty feeling
to have with the Seahawks sitting one on one, by
the way, soft.
Speaker 5 (09:46):
He's right.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
I just double checked some other notes. Uh, Seahawks are
also undefeated on a Wednesday night opener.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
Good, good, good, good, really good shape there. So it
should be fine.
Speaker 6 (09:58):
And Chuck, just real quick. Uh, and Dick, I think
you agree, just one point about the Rams. I'm kind
of rooting against them out of principle. Who the hell
decides to go to Australia two days before a football game, right? Because, guys,
you have this interesting dynamic here, right? You got seemingly
the 49ers relying on experts, sleep experts, doctors, travel experts, whatever,
(10:19):
on their side that told them it was a good
idea to get out there, what, a week or so
before the game. And then the Rams are talking to
their people saying, oh, our experts think it's a good
idea to go out there 48 hours before the game. So,
I hope the Rams get their ass kicked just based
on principle. Who the hell does that, for crying out loud?
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Well, the principle, the funny thing about what the Rams
are doing, too, I mean, this is probably going to
be our theme all year, talking about those knuckleheads, but
think about what they, you know, they're playing one of
their two biggest rivals. It was their choice who to
play down there. They were given the choice, and they said,
we want the 49ers there. We don't want the 49ers
in SoFi.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
Yeah, you know why?
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Because of fans. The second choice would have been Seattle.
That's how pathetic they are as a franchise. We're talking
about the atmosphere we're going to have here tonight because
once we get to Soto and everyone's down there getting
juiced up and raring to go, it's a different feeling. SoFi,
they're like, yeah, we don't want Seattle. We don't want the.
Speaker 5 (11:14):
49ers playing in LA. We'll go wherever the hell it is.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
They don't have a home field advantage anyway, but They
deserve whatever bad things happen to them, the Rams, this year.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
Well, let's talk about it.
Speaker 5 (11:25):
Go ahead, Dick. Yeah, go ahead, Chuck.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
No, go ahead.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
I was just going to say, I've been to Australia twice,
and you are so energized when you get there, but
that only lasts for about 12 hours, right? So it
almost seems like the Rams are, if they really wanted
to be energized, they should land about four hours before
the game because you're just so juiced you're in. You know,
(11:47):
it's daylight when you think it's supposed to be night,
and then the crash.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Toilets are going the other way.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
Yeah, I'm wondering if the crash comes, like, in the
second half of the football game.
Speaker 5 (11:56):
That'd be hilarious.
Speaker 4 (11:56):
It's really interesting to see.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
Great.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Well, Dick, tell me why the Seahawks could potentially be
even better than they were a year ago. And that's
not predicting back-to-back Super Bowls necessarily, but, I mean, it
took them a little while before we recognized, like.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
Hey, they might win the Super Bowl this year. That's
how good they are.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Is there a chance that they're going to be better
this year from beginning to end of the year?
Speaker 3 (12:22):
And if so, why?
Speaker 4 (12:24):
I think they could be better in the first half
of the season than they've been in the first halves
of the last two seasons. Taking a look at that,
I mean, if you just take a midway point in
the season, Mike McDonald's, what, 10-8, 11-8? I've got the
stats in the first half of the two seasons he's coached.
And he's only lost two games in the back half.
I mean, he's been unbelievable. So what we might see
(12:46):
is we might see a Seahawks team that's elite quicker
than the one was last year that lost to the
Niners early and lost to.
Speaker 5 (12:55):
The Bucs early.
Speaker 4 (12:56):
Overall, I mean, I would be really surprised if they
were 17-3.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
I mean, that.
Speaker 4 (13:03):
Just doesn't happen. But you ask for reasons why. I
think number one would probably be continuity, right? Sam Darnold
with JSN. They had a full, you know, another training
camp together. Cooper Cup is healthier. Maybe he provides a
little bit of an extra, you know, an extra boost,
something he didn't provide last year. Maybe you get one
of those young receivers to pop and become a third option.
(13:23):
Maybe Rashid Shahid is the guy that we hoped we
were getting from New Orleans instead of the guy that
was really just a special teams guy for the Seahawks
last year. So that would be, maybe Jadarian Price is...
The offensive rookie of the year. I'm just looking at
the offense right now because I don't know how the
defense can be much better than it was last year,
but the offense, that's probably the side of the ball
(13:46):
that has the most to move up, and those are
some of the reasons why they could be better than
they were last year.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
I think they are going to be better because I
think that's been the plan all along. I think the
Rams were as aggressive this offseason because they know that
that the world champion Seahawks are going to be even
better this year, and so we have to get a
lot better than what we were a year ago. That's
my theory that I'll float out to you. Yeah.
Speaker 6 (14:11):
Well, I mean, look, they added four pretty damn good players,
and we'll see on Donald, obviously, but Miles Garrett, McDuffie,
Jalen Watson, right, I think, from Kansas City, Trent's old teammate.
So they added four pretty good players, but I just
really don't know how they can be better record-wise.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
I mean, they won 10 in a row to end
the year.
Speaker 6 (14:29):
I mean, Dick's talking about their– their first half start,
they did go seven and two in their first nine games.
I mean, they lost their first two games by like
a combined five points for God's sakes, the nine point
loss differential guys.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
And the three games a year ago was.
Speaker 6 (14:43):
The lowest combined loss differential, if you will, in franchise history,
meaning they literally never came that close to going undefeated
ever in in the history of the franchise. So I
think it's going to be damn near impossible to be
better record wise. Can they be more efficient in the
red zone offensively? You guys remember that was a problem,
you know, for, you know, a small portion of the
(15:04):
year where they weren't scoring touchdowns in the red zone.
That to me is something to keep an eye out on.
Can Sam Darnold avoid the barf bag eight quarters that
he had last year? against the Rams and the Cardinals
when he threw seven interceptions and had like two lost
fumbles over a two-game period. Everybody talks about Darnold's turnover problem,
but really if you take away those two games and
(15:26):
those eight days of football, he was actually pretty damn good.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
I mean, why they might be better?
Speaker 6 (15:31):
I think because they've got more guys back than any
Seahawks Super Bowl team in franchise history. You know, Dick
and I talked about this on the air the other day.
If you go back to like, 2010, there's only one team,
I think two teams actually, that have brought back more
from the previous team snap percentage-wise than the Seahawks, and
that's the 2020 Buccaneers and the 2019 Chiefs.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
I mean, they're at 87%. The 2013 Seahawks.
Speaker 6 (15:57):
We're at 77%, so they are as in good a
position as any Seahawks Super Bowl team, I think, to repeat. Remember,
they had Brenno Giacomini at right tackle against the Broncos,
and then he went to the Jets, and they had J.R.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Sweezy. So this is the.
Speaker 6 (16:12):
First time since 2004 into 2005 that they brought back
their entire offensive line, and that continuity has got to
mean something.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
Ian?
Speaker 5 (16:22):
Yeah, I think... Great point.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
The problem is that when they dropped down to 77%
the next year in 2014, what they lost, not just
on the offensive line, remember what they lost too. They
lost a ton of depth in the secondary. The Jerron Johnsons,
the Maxwell, all those guys, Maragos, all these guys that
were just, they lost that depth. It goes back to
(16:45):
what I talked about with the Rams. At some point,
you can't afford to keep everybody Seattle, by and large,
kept everybody, and they made some tough choices. Reek Wolin gone.
They took Jobe over him. A debate we could have forever,
but they hoped that some young guy would step up.
They obviously got rid of Moffay, paid Hall, and brought
in Dante Fowler. Is that going to be an upgrade? Maybe.
I think the only thing that would be a concern
(17:07):
about are they going to be better or as good,
not just the division, not just the schedule. I mean,
the schedule early is tough. Yeah, you get the Cardinals
soft landing next week, and then it gets pretty difficult.
I think the thing that concerns you is the health.
You know, like I would say, I would check, I
would answer, yeah, they're going to be as good and
could be even more efficient than ever. But now you're
without your starting safety in Alcada with a hamstring. That
(17:29):
doesn't heal usually within a day or two. Imanwuri's health
is still a question. Doubtful he's going to play tonight.
You know, you start going down the list. The cornerback
position's in flux. Now maybe Trevon Diggs can step up
and be good. Tyrese Knight fills that role of Imanwuri
or DeAnthony Bell, but he's going to have to probably
play in the second. There's a lot of questions about health-wise.
And then, are we ever going to see Torrey Horton? Like,
(17:51):
that's the other question. Like, are we ever going to
see this guy? Because Dick talked about the young receivers.
Kup looked a lot better this year in camp than
he did last year. So maybe Kup comes back. Arroyo
could be a factor. Barner continues to progress. But the
depth in the wide receiver position, it's a little bit
lacking right now. So, I mean, there are some question marks. And, man,
behind Jadarian Price, and we don't even know what he's
(18:12):
all about in the NFL, behind him until Charbonnet comes back,
it is really thin back there. Because I ain't I
don't know about you guys, but Emmanuel Wilson and George Helani,
they don't get me too fired up. And if I
was the opponent, probably not too afraid.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
I'll say this, though, about them. I mean, we all
watched hard knocks.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
What you worry about with a team that has won
a Super Bowl, especially a young team, any signs of
complacency or satisfaction? I didn't see any of that in
hard knocks. I don't think that this team is resting
on its laurels whatsoever.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
Or egos.
Speaker 5 (18:46):
Egos, too, right?
Speaker 6 (18:47):
I mean, just the drama and the egos in that
locker room, and there was a lot of them, and
we can't just ignore that. That was a big reason
why they won the first one in 2013, because they
were cocky and arrogant as hell, and they backed it
up like no other Seahawks team in franchise history. They
don't have that. You know, there's no I mean, look, guys,
you know, Dick and I talked about this. Hard Knocks
to me was kind of boring, honestly. I mean, there's
(19:08):
really not a lot of personalities that came out in
the Hard Knocks episode. It was, you know, Montori Foster's
mom and dad. It was Derek Hall's truck. It was
Sam Darnold's spin rate. Remember the episode with Sam Darnold's
spin rate? They took three minutes with that ball in
the air. It was I thought I was high watching
that thing. I'm like, what's going on here, man? But
there really was not a lot of personality that came
(19:29):
out of that show. You know, we saw some from
Mike McDonald, maybe a side of him that we never saw.
So my point is, is that the, I got to
get mine, the infighting, all that stuff, the, you know,
I'm better than this guy, blah, blah, blah, the holdouts,
things like that. It seems like this team, Ian, so
far has been kind of immune to all that.
Speaker 5 (19:47):
Well, the Super Bowl champion... 2013.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Team, their strength was also their biggest weakness. It's everything
you just said, Softy. It was the egos.
Speaker 5 (19:56):
It was the look.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
I always compared them to the– I'm the only old
guy here that can remember the 79 Sonics, but they
were very 79 Sonics-like. If you look at pictures from
the 79 Sonics parade– It's June, and they're all wearing
fur coats, top hats, and they're all in separate cars.
Paul Silas used to talk about the fights they had
in practice every day. That was the 2013 Seahawks game.
It broke up right after that, the 79 Sonics did,
(20:17):
and obviously the Seahawks kind of fell apart. All of us,
all five of us, is there five of us, four
of us, four of us on this call, we all
were at camp every day talking to guys every day,
and I think we all probably had the same thought.
Speaker 5 (20:29):
What we heard every day, from guys. We talked about this.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
It was like new season, new season, new season. It
was so different than the 2014 training camp when guys
were like, repeat, repeat, here we go. These guys hit
the clean slate. And I think when you say it
was boring softy, you know why? This team is a
reflection of their coach.
Speaker 5 (20:47):
I love it. Like he's a reflection of the reflection
of the coach.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
And honestly, that's probably a really good thing from what
we saw with Mike McDonald and, and they're focused. It's,
it's again, the biggest issue, the biggest issue, all the
things we're talking about, the biggest issue, is the division, period,
end of story. Because the only time they've been to
the Super Bowl, in the times they've been to the
Super Bowl, they won the division, won the conference, and
had a home field advantage. They've never done it otherwise,
(21:11):
and that's the hardest challenge you have this year is
winning the division with those other two teams.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
A special opener roundtable with our guys. David Softy, Mahler,
Ian Furness, Nick Fane with us for the entire 8
o'clock hour. More to discuss, including tonight's matchup, Sports Radio
93.3 KJRFM.
Speaker 3 (21:31):
Kind of pull a softie here.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
It's Chuck in the mornings. We had an idea here
on opening night of the football season to gather some
of the greatest minds in sports talk radio for a
round table.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
None of them can make it.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
So instead, we've got David Softy Mahler, Dick Fane, and
Ian Furness with us here.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
Did I do it the right way? It's fun, right?
Speaker 1 (21:53):
It's fun.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
It's fun. And it works every time.
Speaker 6 (21:56):
Best part about that is when you use it on
somebody else who just doesn't see it coming at all.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
And they're all pumped up.
Speaker 6 (22:02):
You know, we thought we'd reach out to one of
the premier football minds in America, you know, unbelievable radio talent.
And the guy sitting there, he's getting all ready to
be complimented.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
And then bang, you just hit him with the works
every time. Great comedy gold. No question about it. 60%
of the time, it works all the time.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
Well, when Softie's telling me he doesn't know what to
wear tonight to start our roundtable, I have a feeling
you're not too worried about.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
This football team this season. So you have no worries?
Speaker 2 (22:34):
I mean, you're just trying to figure out whether I'm
going to go halter top or sleeveless or, you know,
what are you going to do tonight instead of worrying
about any element of this football team this year?
Speaker 1 (22:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (22:43):
I'm not really worried about tonight's game. I mean, I
think overall I am worried about the running game for sure.
And Dick and I have talked about this many times.
I just really hope, guys, that we're not sitting here
in October and November asking ourselves, why the hell didn't
we just pay Kenny Walker?
Speaker 3 (22:57):
Right. I mean, come on, man.
Speaker 6 (22:58):
The guy was unbelievable in the last month and a
half of 2025. You know, if you look at his numbers, Chuck,
that he was putting up and you kind of, you know,
project those out over a 16, 17 game season, he
was doing things that like only Christian McCaffrey does.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
I mean, running and catching.
Speaker 4 (23:14):
Right.
Speaker 6 (23:15):
So he was a star and that was Charbonnet banged up.
I think there's no doubt there's got to be a
reason for concern for now. about this running game. You know,
as Dick said, Jadarian Price could end up being the
rookie of the year, or he could be Rashad Penny
and banged up by week two and out for a month.
Speaker 3 (23:30):
I mean, who knows what this guy is going to
be all about?
Speaker 6 (23:32):
I mean, between him, Emmanuel Wilson, George Helani, Ian mentioned
the depth at running back. There's just nothing there that
makes you feel like, hey, We're going to run the
ball great today, right? Like it felt like that towards
the end of the year that you were going to
run the ball really, really well. And there's nothing right
now that says the Hawks can do that. That might
change by the way, in about nine hours from now
when price makes his debut with the Seahawks, but that's
(23:55):
a concern. The secondary is a slight concern as well.
I am less concerned about the secondary guys than I
am about the running game because of one thing, Mike
McDonald and his scheme.
Speaker 3 (24:05):
I've thought Mike McDonald since he got here was.
Speaker 6 (24:08):
The star and, His scheme is the star, and like
Dick and I talked about yesterday, watch tonight, right? There's
going to be some random dude that nobody's ever heard of,
just like before we got to know Drake Thomas and
Ty Okada. Somebody tonight will be making plays that we've
never heard of, and we'll go home saying, that guy, McDonald,
he did it again.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
Dick?
Speaker 4 (24:29):
The defense does concern me early in the season, particularly
without Nicky Manwari. We still remember... what Mike McDonald was
going through the week of the Superbowl when he thought
he wasn't going to have his special toy for the Superbowl.
And he was absolutely panicked. I think he said he
woke up 70 times in one night. He doesn't have
them today. Um, I, so I, I think Drake may
(24:50):
is going to try to exploit that. I think at
times he will be able to exploit that. There's just
not a lot of continuity in the backend right now
because you got to get, you know what, Rodney Thomas.
I mean, that's, that's a concern for me.
Speaker 3 (25:02):
Um, the running game.
Speaker 4 (25:04):
Is a concern, uh, just because we haven't seen Jadarian
Price at all. I mean, if we would have seen
him a little bit, I mean, what can you get
out of watching him at camp? I don't know. I mean,
he seems to have some explosiveness. I am not one
that was a proponent of re-signing Ken Walker, and I
will be stunned. I think Ken Walker will have a
(25:25):
good season while he's in there for Kansas City. You know,
Ken Walker's backups in Kansas City are named Emmett Johnson
and Brashard Smith. They are going to run Ken Walker
into the absolute ground, and he couldn't stay healthy in
Seattle when he had a legitimate backup running back. How
is he going to be able to stay healthy in
Kansas City when he doesn't have a legitimate running back backup?
Speaker 2 (25:46):
If it doesn't go, I mean, last year, Ian, they
just kept running, running, running, and running. We're going to
run it, whether we're effective or not. And for a
lot of the season, they weren't all that effective running
the football, particularly Ken Walker. and yet they did get
it going by year's end. But there are a lot
of critics still of Sam Darnold. He can't convince them
that he is a top quarterback. If they can't get
(26:09):
it going again this year, Ian, is your feeling that
they will just continue to try to run that ball
like they did a year ago? Or would it be
time to see if Sam Darnold can take his game
to the next level and just throw the ball far
more frequently than he.
Speaker 5 (26:24):
Did a year ago? Well, I think there's a couple
things in play.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
One is the fact it's a first-time play caller in
Brian Fleury. And there's a great unknown there. When Kubiak
came here last year, there was a track record. He
had done it before. Fleury's done it now in three
preseason games, which, what does that mean?
Speaker 5 (26:41):
Not a lot, right?
Speaker 1 (26:41):
So that's the great unknown. There's a couple things in
play here. I'm going to go back to Walker for
just a second, Chuck, if I can. Sometimes the worst
offseason moves are the ones that you don't make. And
I think we'll see. I hope that's not the case
with this. I always felt like Ken Walker was misused here.
They never really used him as a bell cow, and
(27:02):
part of it was health, sure. But really, by and large,
they always had this want to split carries. With Charbonnet,
after they drafted him the following year after he was picked,
it never quite made sense to me. Then we saw
when he was a lead back when Charbonnet went down,
how dynamic he could be. I hope that this isn't.
It's different because it's emotion as opposed to talent. you
(27:24):
can make an argument that not bringing back Gino Suarez
last year has hurt that clubhouse. Maybe his skills were declining,
but what they need is a little bit more something.
Softy yells about it all the time.
Speaker 5 (27:37):
There's no juice. There's no leadership. Walker is a guy
you let him go. You made that decision.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
You replaced him with a first-round pick, but time will
tell if Jadarian Price can stay healthy. As far as
Darnold's concerned, anybody that wants to criticize him, all he's
got to do is Just go into his safe in
his house and pull out.
Speaker 5 (27:53):
A $ 55, 000.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Super Bowl ring and maybe put it on his middle
finger and show it to the rest of the country.
And also say that, hey, last year, not only did
we win this, we had the highest scoring offense in
Seahawks football history. And by the way, I was throwing
to a guy that was the NFC Offensive Player of
the Year.
Speaker 3 (28:13):
Right.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
Like it's, it's, I know that we look at the
defense all the time. That offense was no joke last year.
And at some point you started kind of, we're nitpicking
a little bit. The flurry thing is the only thing.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
It's just an unknown. Not that it's a bad thing.
There's an unknown.
Speaker 5 (28:29):
It's third and four and you have to have a
first down.
Speaker 3 (28:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (28:32):
Like he hasn't done that before.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
Right.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
And the, and the head coach is a defensive coach.
So it's not like he can lean on a guy that's,
you know, like that.
Speaker 3 (28:40):
Nope.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
That's the unknown, and that's the concern, and maybe it
won't be a concern, and hopefully Fleury is well-prepared for this,
but it's an unknown with him being a play caller, guys.
Speaker 5 (28:50):
He just hasn't done it.
Speaker 6 (28:51):
Yeah, no question. I mean, until you find out, right, Chuck,
for sure. I mean, you know, Kubiak at least had
done it before. He had been with Darnold in San Francisco.
There was some kind of a relationship there between the
two of them. So I know Fleury was with Darnold
in San Francisco, but he was the tight ends guy,
not really working with a quarterback. So I'm curious to
see how this works out as well, like Ian. But,
you know, guys, the whole thing with Sam Darnold, look,
(29:12):
the dude is 31-7 his last 38 games, if you
include the playoffs.
Speaker 5 (29:16):
I mean.
Speaker 6 (29:17):
get out of here, right? Like the guy is just
winning everything. And that is contagious, right? That breeds confidence.
You guys know that. For those of us that like
to play golf, the better you play, the better you play, right?
The worse you play, the worse you play, right? So
he's got that confident train going right now. And the
thing about Walker for me, just going back to Dick's
point a little bit, I don't have any doubt that
(29:37):
Kansas City is going to use him a lot. And
that might not be a good thing for Kenny Walker
in Kansas City. That's not, though, how he would have
been used here. The question is, how would he have
benefited the Seahawks?
Speaker 4 (29:47):
Right.
Speaker 6 (29:47):
How would he have been used here? in Seattle. And
once Charbonnet is healthy in week five, you could have
duplicated and replicated what you had a year ago with
those two guys, which in the final month of the
half worked very well. So I don't have any doubt
that there could be a problem with how many snaps
he takes in Kansas City. What you're losing is what
you would have done with him if he had stayed
(30:09):
here in Seattle.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
So I just.
Speaker 6 (30:11):
Think there's Chuck I'm not sure if I'd call them
concerns as much as I would just curiosities and the
offensive coordinator is one of them as Dick pointed out
the secondary is another the running back is another I
mean all those things right like last year outside of
Julian Love and Torrey Horton knock on wood this team
was pretty damn healthy a year ago and we're already
(30:32):
starting off with some injuries to guys like Eamon Worry
and Torrey Horton and I mean.
Speaker 3 (30:36):
Look that's that's the big thing right it's a It's
an obvious.
Speaker 6 (30:39):
Cliche point that a lot of people make, but one
of the biggest reasons why the Seahawks were able to
pull this off is because their big guns for the
most part were healthy the entire single or excuse me,
the entire year. So let's hope they can duplicate that again. Uh,
we're going to do predictions in the last segment, but
I do want to.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
Just, I know we got to do it. I'm obligated.
Speaker 2 (30:59):
Uh, but I just do want to just quickly just
like Mike McDonald, um, the greatest gift to Seattle sports
ever Dick I.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
Mean is that what is that what we have in
this head coach.
Speaker 4 (31:11):
I mean they they hit the jackpot and and NFL
coaches don't move around right I mean if you have
a great NFL coach you pay him and he stays
and he stays for 10 15 20 years until you
you know decide to move on like they finally did
in Baltimore with hardball I mean that's it's just a
And that's what's so exciting is that, you know, Softie
(31:33):
and I were talking about this last week about, you know,
how long these two guys, John Schneider and Mike McDonald,
could stay together. And, you know, John Schneider, I would think,
would be the first one of the two to leave
since he's been here so long. But why wouldn't John
Schneider be here another 10 years? I mean, my God,
he's in his 50s. I mean, he's not an old man.
Why wouldn't he stay here another decade?
Speaker 3 (31:52):
Thank you for saying that. You know?
Speaker 5 (31:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (31:56):
And if he's here another 10 years, Mike McDonald could
be here another 10 years past that. I mean, Pete
Carroll was here, what, for 14 seasons? And he was
way older than Mike McDonald is. So it wouldn't surprise
me at all if we're still, you know, talking about
the John Schneider, Mike McDonald era well into the next decade.
Speaker 6 (32:17):
The only question I have about that, and again, it
falls into the curiosity category, is for those first, what,
17 years, right, of Schneider's career, he was working with
an Allen. Now he's working with a Coastal. How will
things be different with this ownership group, right? I mean,
there's no need to panic on either side of that coin, Chuck,
at all. But again, we just don't know. We don't
(32:37):
know what this thing will feel like, what it'll look
like for John. If he does go another 10 years,
we're talking about a 27, 30-year run. That's a Paul Brown,
George Hallis type of thing that this guy will go
on forever. But I do it, you know, in an
era when a lot of people move around. So maybe
he gets bumped up, you know, like Jerry, you know,
Jerry DePoto went from GM to president of baseball ops.
(33:00):
Maybe you wake up in a couple of years from
now and John Schneider is the president of the Seahawks
and he's a part owner and somebody else is the
general manager. I just think as long as you've got
him as a part of the pyramid, this team should
continue to win games.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
Chuck, real quick, you mentioned that, you know, is he
the greatest gift? I don't think we should gloss over
Pete Carroll. And I'd even go back further and say, Mike,
what happened with Paul Allen's ownership, as Softie mentioned, is
that raised the level and that raised the bar and
it raised the expectations for this organization back in the
late 90s, early 2000s. And under the Allen leadership and ownership,
(33:37):
all bets were off.
Speaker 5 (33:38):
What does it take? And that goes back to what
Softie said.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
They're going to spend to the salary cap because every
NFL team does. The question isn't are they going to
spend new ownership. But listen, at the end of the day,
did you go and said, we're going to get Mike Holmgren,
and we're going to pay him what he needs. We're
going to get Pete Carroll, weird, out of the box hire,
and bring him in and pay him what he needs.
Schneider's had multiple opportunities to leave, go back to his
(34:03):
hometown of Green Bay.
Speaker 5 (34:05):
Has not.
Speaker 1 (34:05):
He stayed because Paul Allen paid him and gave him
the juice. The Coastalists now bring it. You come in.
You inherit all that stuff. Keep paying Schneider. Let him
do his thing. The thing that you have to love
about this organization, and I assume it'll stay the same
under the Coleslaws until proven otherwise, is that the expectations
and the bar and what they expect from themselves internally, externally, business,
(34:28):
and football side, they are top shelf. And not every team,
especially in this town, can say that. And I think
that's why if you're a Seahawks fan, you've got to
be thrilled. And Dick's right.
Speaker 5 (34:37):
This isn't college football.
Speaker 1 (34:39):
The Dallas Cowboys aren't going to come and poach Mike
McDonald with five games left to go in the season,
and he's going to mail in the rest of the
year Yeah, like I've seen in Pullman a few times.
That's not going to happen. So I think if you're
a Seahawks fan, you've got to be thrilled with what's coming.
We'll find out today. Softie's going to wear shorts and
a T-shirt and go see the Coastalist today, introduce himself
at 11 o'clock.
Speaker 6 (34:57):
I'm going to go rent a suit, by the way,
before I go to my press conference. I want to
appear to be something other than the bum that I am,
so that'll last for.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
About a month.
Speaker 5 (35:06):
I can't wait to see that.
Speaker 3 (35:07):
All right. For them to announce today, 10 years, $ 300
million for McDonald's. Let's do it. Let's just do it.
Let's just sign it right now.
Speaker 6 (35:14):
All right.
Speaker 3 (35:14):
10 years, $ 100 million for us. How's that sound? That
sounds great, too.
Speaker 5 (35:18):
All right.
Speaker 3 (35:18):
One more segment with our guys, Sports Radio 93.3 KJRFM.
All right, we've got our fellas here.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
We've got Dave Sobny, Mahler, Dick Fane, and Ian Furness
with you. A special opening night roundtable here on the
Seahawks as they start the season tonight at home against
the New England Patriots kickoff at 520. So let's just
give a minute each here to wrap up our hour. Dick,
your expectation, not predictions. I won't make you make specific predictions.
(35:47):
Your expectation for tonight, your expectation for this season.
Speaker 4 (35:52):
I think tonight we'll be stressed at times. I don't
think it will be like the Super Bowl where there
was not one point in that game where I didn't
think they were going to win the game. I think
that we'll have some times where you know, maybe New
England's ahead or maybe it's tied with New England having
the ball in the second half. I think it's going
to be a close game. I think the point spread's right.
(36:13):
I think the over-under's right. I did see the point
spread come down to three, though, so I would like
the Hawks a little bit more at three than I
did at three and a half or four, which I
saw earlier in the week. And then, you know, so
I think like a 24-20 today for the Hawks sounds
about right. And then, For the season, I think similar
to last year, I don't think they get to 14 wins.
(36:34):
I think the Hawks and the Rams are separated by
the absolute blade of a knife. I've got them both
winning 13 games. So depending on tiebreaker, and that tiebreaker
is going to be huge, guys, because as we know,
when the Seahawks are the one seed, they go to
the Super Bowl. When the Seahawks are not the one seed,
they don't go to the Super Bowl. And I think
(36:55):
that same thing will happen this year. And if the
Hawks can get that one seat, I think they'll go.
I mean, just for the sake, you didn't, you know,
I don't have to make a prediction since you did.
You said I didn't have to.
Speaker 3 (37:05):
I don't have to. You can.
Speaker 4 (37:07):
I'll just say, I think the Rams and the Seahawks
finished with the same record in the, in the, in
the AFC West. And it comes down to a tiebreaker,
both at 13 and four. I think it's going to be,
I think it's going to be that close between those
two teams. I think they have separated themselves from the
rest of the NFC. as by far the two best
teams in the NFC. I think it's much closer in
the AFC. I've got the Bills in Houston, the two
(37:28):
teams facing off this week in the AFC championship game.
Speaker 3 (37:31):
So that'll be.
Speaker 5 (37:32):
Kind of cool.
Speaker 4 (37:33):
And it'll be interesting to see if once again, the
Super Bowl participant starts the season with a loss. Seahawks
lost last year. Patriots lost to the Raiders in week
one last year and made the Super Bowl. So everybody
that wants to panic if a team loses game number
one of the season, just remember, Super Bowl participants were
both 0-1 last year.
Speaker 5 (37:54):
Ian, give me a minute.
Speaker 1 (37:58):
What's odd is I don't feel real bad or real
stressed about tonight. Maybe it's just because it's Wednesday and
we're just trying to get our bearings. We just had
an Apple Cup three days ago on a Sunday and
now it's an NFL opener. I just don't think the
Patriots added A.J. Brown and Romeo Dobbs. Dobbs is a
nothing burger.
Speaker 5 (38:16):
A.J.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
Brown, he might be pouting on the sideline by the
middle of the second quarter, so Outside of that, they
didn't make many changes. Can Will Campbell block? Probably not, still.
Not against his team, not against Mike McDonald. I'm not
stressed about tonight. I think as far as the season's concerned,
I could see a 12-5 season. That's not disappointing.
Speaker 5 (38:36):
It's 12-5.
Speaker 1 (38:36):
With this schedule, the number one schedule, all the things
you have to absorb, And I think it comes down
to what Dick just said, tiebreakers.
Speaker 5 (38:43):
Who you lose to. Who are those five losses to
and when and where.
Speaker 1 (38:46):
You don't see the best team you're going to see
until the end of the season anyway in the Rams,
and a lot can happen. But I think bare minimum,
it's a playoff team again. And then we'll take our
chances once you get to the postseason.
Speaker 3 (38:57):
So after you wrap us up.
Speaker 6 (38:59):
Yeah, I just think if you could give me some
odds on the Seahawks losing as many games as they
lost last year by week eight, I might take it
if the odds were long enough. I mean, look at this, guys.
New England tonight, obviously. Arizona down there week two. That's
going to be a win in front of 40,000 Seahawks fans.
But then at Washington, the Chargers, the Niners, Denver, Kansas City, Chicago.
I mean, that is a murderer's row, at least on
(39:20):
paper right now.
Speaker 3 (39:21):
So do I expect three losses? No.
Speaker 6 (39:24):
If you gave me five to one odds on them
losing three games, I might put a hundred bucks on
it just for giggles. And I think Dick's right. It's
going to come down to the tiebreaker between the Hawks
and Rams. I got the Hawks going 12 and five
this year playing in the NFC championship against the Rams.
with 30,000 Seahawks fans at SoFi Stadium and the NFC Championship,
the cheapest buy-in ever for an NFC Championship game, by
(39:45):
the way, in L.A., and the Hawks get it done
and get back to the Super Bowl, but lose this
time to Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. That's my
official prediction, and I hate predictions. Let's hope none of
that comes true.
Speaker 1 (39:58):
Those tickets are available, by the way, at VenueKings.com for
the NFC Championship game.
Speaker 3 (40:02):
Use the code SOFTY and check out for a discount.
Speaker 1 (40:04):
But I've got sources telling me they're going to play
that game in New Zealand. The Rams are going to
want to play that game in New Zealand.
Speaker 5 (40:10):
And not play it in LA.
Speaker 6 (40:10):
By the way, they'll leave the morning of the game
if the game is in New Zealand.
Speaker 3 (40:14):
We'll leave two weeks earlier. They'll leave the morning of
the game.
Speaker 5 (40:17):
So for the record, Dick, 13-4.
Speaker 4 (40:19):
Yep.
Speaker 5 (40:19):
Softie and Ian are 12-5.
Speaker 3 (40:20):
Correct.
Speaker 5 (40:20):
Chuck, 15-2.
Speaker 3 (40:25):
Good man. Atta boy.
Speaker 2 (40:27):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (40:28):
Atta boy. This Mr. Sunshine.
Speaker 5 (40:29):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (40:30):
All right, man.
Speaker 5 (40:31):
See ya. Have a great year.
Speaker 3 (40:33):
All right. There they are.
Speaker 2 (40:34):
Ian Furness, David Softy Mahler, Nick Fane joining us here
for a special edition of the Roundtable.
Speaker 3 (40:40):
It is here.
Speaker 2 (40:40):
Football season. Hugh Millen joins us next. We got to
hear from you today on Sports Radio 93.3 KJRFM.
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