Meeting on Missed Curfew and Fines

Tom Ashworth, Matt Hasselbeck, Shaun Alexander, Nate Burleson, D.D. Lewis, Leonard Weaver, Chris Gray, and Mack Strong all met with Mike Holmgren after practice on Tuesday. All of them except Chris Gray and Mack Strong missed curfew on Sunday night. The subject matter of the meeting was initially a mystery, but Jose Romero was on the same flight (which was delayed), and he surmised correctly the reason for the meeting. Strong and Gray are the union reps and they were at the meeting, presumably because the players that missed curfew could face fines.

Some people have expressed that it is unreasonable to fine these guys for something that was out of their control. The problem with that thinking is that it was not out of their hands. It is perfectly reasonable to fine the players. They were allowed to stay back and spend some extra time with their families. They booked a flight close enough to curfew that it became a problem when it got delayed. Those guys could have booked an earlier flight or just travelled back with the team. It was a risk to cut things so close. Its akin to a high school kid missing curfew because he ran into some unexpected traffic as he was coming home right at his curfew. Sorry, still grounded.

Holmgren cannot send the message that these guys can get away with that. Especially with a couple of superstars in the group. It sets a bad precedent and then people are coming up with valid excuses all the time. It is also about the attitude that the team needs to get re-focused which appears necessary after the game against Dallas.

John Clayton wrote an article on how the Seahawks are looking to avoid a Super Bowl letdown. Clayton discusses some of Holmgren's comments at camp..."Holmgren told the team that to return to the Super Bowl and win, even stars such as MVP Shaun Alexander, quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and All-Pro left tackle Walter Jones had to play better." The story also has some related video of a recent interview with Holmgren at camp.