Dan Patrick took some issue with Richard Sherman’s pointed comments about Russell Wilson earlier this week.
Sherman, the former Seahawks cornerback, said on Amazon’s pregame show Thursday night that Wilson’s success in Seattle was largely due to the Seahawks’ Legion of Boom defense, noting his struggles since leaving the franchise.
That came after Tony Gonzalez suggested that Wilson — who the Giants benched this week for Jaxson Dart — was playing his way out of the Hall of Fame.
That was, at best, an incredibly harsh assessment of Wilson’s career — and one that looked over his last few years with Seattle, when the defense was nowhere near its title-winning peak.
“This is revisionist history,” Patrick said. “The Legion of Boom went away when Russ was 27. You can point to the last three years. But how about we be fair to what he did in Seattle? Because that is what this is about. And once you are in, aren’t you in the Hall of Fame? Unless there is a scandal, it doesn’t feel like you are gonna play your way out.
“Now, have I brought up this question? Absolutely, to be fair to the topic, I have said, ‘Is he playing his way out of it?’ My job is to ask the question. Your opinion can be, ‘Of course not.’ But I think you have got to be careful about what Russ did in Seattle without the Legion of Boom. And because of Russ’s contract, you were able to keep players a little bit longer because of that rookie deal.”
Wilson went 30-18 in his final three seasons in Seattle.
Wilson, it’s worth recalling, was not always the most popular player amongst his teammates in Seattle, particularly Sherman.
A 2017 ESPN the Magazine story from Seth Wickersham, which detailed the downfall of the Legion of Boom Seahawks, memorably led with an anecdote in which Sherman screamed, “You f–king suck” at Wilson during practice.
I think you got to judge his career off when the Legion of Boom was there,” Sherman said Thursday.”You had a legendary defense, an all-time defense, and how much success he had and then without that legendary defense, the success he had.
“Without that legendary defense, he’s been 4-11, 7-8. 0-3 to start with the Giants. He was a winning football player in Seattle and people said, ‘Hey, winningest football player.’ All this good stuff, all these accolades.
“And now you get to go on your own and you get to prove, ‘Hey, I’m this great quarterback. I’m this guy that’s gonna be dominant.’ And it just hasn’t worked out that way.”
While no one will dispute that Wilson has struggled since leaving the Seahawks, Sherman appears to possibly have his own agenda here.