J.R. Sweezy
Seahawks rookie guard J.R. Sweezy (64) had his hands full on Sunday while making his first career start. (AP)

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During my rookie year with the Seahawks in 1987, fellow linebacker Keith Butler was one of the best mentors I could have asked for. Butler is now in his 10th season as the Steelers' linebackers coach and has one of the best football minds I've ever been around. But back then he was a seasoned and intimidating looking veteran who I figured wouldn't give me the time of day.

Instead, "Butts" turned out to be a wealth of knowledge and I soaked up everything he said like a sponge.

Butts was only 30 years old then but to this 22-year-old rookie he might as well have been 90. He had a scraggly red beard that was peppered with gray hair, half of his body was surgically repaired and his two front teeth had been knocked out and replaced with two crooked, aluminum replacements that looked like a bottle cap. Other than calling me "boy" (his way of keeping me in my place), Butts was very good to me and one of the smartest people I've ever met.

My favorite words of wisdom from Butts: "Boy, if you haven't been knocked on your butt in this league, you haven't been playing very long."

I could hear those words in Butts' thick Tennessee accent on Sunday as I watched J.R. Sweezy and Russell Wilson struggle through their first NFL starts. Being knocked on your butt can be in a literal sense, as Wilson found out, or in a figurative sense, as Sweezy learned. It means being physically, mentally and emotionally abused.

For Wilson, it was being chased and hit and body slammed so often that I was sore just watching it. For Sweezy, it was the mental challenge of blocking one of the most bizarre and unique defensive fronts in the NFL. It's hard to keep track of your assignments when the guy you're supposed to block is always in a different place and never wearing the same jersey number.

It's tough enough making the adjustment from college to pro without the added complication that both Wilson and Sweezy faced in Arizona. Starting as a rookie in the first game of the season on the road at quarterback, the hardest position to master, is perhaps the most difficult challenge an NFL player can face. That is, unless you're a rookie offensive guard who was playing defensive tackle last year at this time ... in college.

So welcome to the NFL, rooks. Just as Butts passed down his wisdom to me, I will pass it on to any rookie who will listen. Everybody gets their butt kicked.

I remember a string of bad games during my first year that landed me on the bench in the middle of a game in Cleveland. I sat on the sidelines and thought, "What happened? I thought I was good. Do I suck?"

This is part of the physical, psychological and emotional assault an NFL season has on your psyche. Sweezy may be thinking these very things since coach Pete Carroll announced Wednesday that John Moffitt will replace him in the starting lineup on Sunday against the Cowboys. The key is to get back to work, learn from your mistakes and move on.

The good news is that once Monday films are over, your focus is solely on the next opponent and not the previous one. The bad news is that you are faced with a whole different set of problems. There will be no Darnell Dockett or Paris Lenon this week. But there will be DeMarcus Ware, who was the second-fastest player to 100 sacks in NFL history, and tackling machine Sean Lee, who had 12 stops and a forced fumble in Week 1.

You can dwell on the past, or look ahead and stay positive. Any good coach knows that.

Keith Butler and Pete Carroll certainly do.

Follow Dave Wyman, 710Sports.com contributor

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Comments (11)


  • Add A Comment

  • Zagnut wrote...
    Dave, your commentary reinforces my belief.
    September 13, 2012 7:56 am
    Wilson should be holding a clipboard and learning the game this year. He should only be playing in mop-up scenarios or if Flynn is injured. The QB position, more than any other on the field, is best served with some time as an apprentice. I believe strongly Carroll has mismanaged the QB position this year (just like he did last year and just like he did when acquiring Charlie and just like he did in New York and just like he did in New England).
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Newton wrote...
    Lugnut?
    September 13, 2012 10:47 am
    Seahawks vs Titans the First play of the game. Try not to forget that great victory for the Seahawks. Where Matt Hasselbeck played a Key role. By throwing the ball to his old team mates wasn't that Fun!.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Zagnut wrote...
    Newton, you win the award. Congratulations.
    September 13, 2012 3:33 pm
    You are, without question, the one poster who posts regularly on Seahawk stories who brings the least to the table. In golf it would be the "I should have gone bowling" trophy. Here I'll call it the "I should have stuck to the comic pages" trophy. Congrats!!!!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Derrol_o wrote...
    Zag
    September 13, 2012 9:58 pm
    I can think of at least a half dozen plays where Wilson dodged pressure with his feet and got out of trouble, at least enough to get out of the box and throw the ball away. Flynn would have been face down in the grass in all those plays. Given the facts, the numbers, the money, players and draft picks saved, I fail to see exactly how Carroll "mismanaged" the QB situation last year.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • clevesside wrote...
    The professional insight.....
    September 13, 2012 8:23 am
    ....makes for a great post-game career. A tip of the helmet, sir. And to the rookies on the OL, lets hope they hold their ground. Thats about all they can do, period, even if it takes all remaining games to find out. At least it makes for entertaining viewing, if nothing else.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • sfk360 wrote...
    Voice of reason
    September 13, 2012 9:17 am
    Nice column Dave, love the insight you bring to this page.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • JoeChuck wrote...
    Patience
    September 13, 2012 9:55 am
    Can't we wait until Sunday before judgements are made? I would hate for my bosses to fire me after 1 day on the job.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Zagnut wrote...
    JoeChuck, if I were you, I'd hate it if my boss put me in a position where I was likely to fail because I hadn't been prepared properly.
    September 13, 2012 3:38 pm
    It's not FIRING Wilson, it's putting him in the proper position to succeed when the time is right. I'm not going to hire someone from college and put them in a position too high on the latter where they don't belong - no matter how much I love them. I'll let them get to that spot on the latter in good time.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Newton wrote...
    Wineman?. Out of Control.
    September 13, 2012 10:28 am
    Seahawks did not get thier butts Kicked. Thats Pure B/S. They where doing some kicking on them Cards pretty darn good in my book. Why do you avoid the most basic question!. "The" "Seahawks" could not punch it in from the goal line when it was first and goal. Just like Last Year. Darrel Bevell is the problem not Russell Wilson who played great. Come on Crusty.?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • C"mon Man wrote...
    Three tiers
    September 13, 2012 8:24 pm
    Contender,on the rise and rebuild. Seattle is rebuild.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Derrol_o wrote...
    3 tiers
    September 13, 2012 10:01 pm
    Hawks are actually on the rise, in a continuing rebuild that started 2 years ago and on the threshold of contention.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }

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