Hope always springs eternal for Seahawks
By Brian Betz
As a longtime Seattle Seahawks fan, the off-season is always the most promising time of the year. That said, what a better way to ôkick offö the inevitable shattering of my hopes and dreams than with SaturdayÃs NFL draft. Or, as I prefer to call it, Mel KiperÃs Big Day.
Amidst the two-day, 16-hour spectacle that has become one of the most over-hyped events in professional sports today, there are always certain intricacies to look for.
Who will the Bengals waste a top-three pick on? Who will be the next Terrell Davis (196th overall selection)? Who will be the token player that slides 10 spots lower than predicted, making him and his pinstriped suit look silly in the draft room all by his lonesome?
With all that in mind, here are some pre-draft predictions that even Mel Kiper hasn't accounted for.
The Oakland Raiders will end up with the first overall pick. After owner Al Davis filed a lawsuit last week saying the Buccaneers shouldn't be allowed to wear their helmets against the Raiders because the two teams' logos are too similar, look for Davis to complain because his team's No. 31 and 32 picks are too close together.
Baltimore Ravens owner Art Modell will move the franchise to Anaheim (because nobody really wants Los Angeles to have a team).
Without a first round pick, Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder will inadvertently trade himself to acquire the rights to Rex Grossman. All Spurrier's doing of course.
Wide receiver Andre Johnson will call me to say I was an idiot for proclaiming three months ago that he should've hung around for another year at Miami (no call from Anquan Boldan, however).
And lastly, Iowa tight end Dallas Clark will end up a Dallas Cowboy (OK, that one was bad).
Whatever happens this weekend, I'll be looking forward to all this and of course the undying Seahawks question, "Is this going to be our year?" I'd like to think so, but in the meantime, I'll continue polishing my plastic-wrapped 1988 AFC Western Division Championship pennant.