With “Deflategate” slowly tailing off into the distance, the Seattle Seahawks’ comments regarding deflated footballs and other off-field matters have become abridged and rightfully so. Each passing moment for the Seattle Seahawks seems to be a calculated step toward the team becoming uniformly focused on their opponent.
Despite being asked to discuss an array of topics during Tuesday’s Media Day event, a number of Seahawks’ players scoffed at questions that didn’t quite pertain to the game. While the Seahawks are ostensibly a relaxed group, their demeanor and responses to the media have gradually become more businesslike.
Seahawks’ defensive end Michael Bennett was flamboyant as ever during his time with the media. He discussed everything from his cowboy hat, to living in a house full of women with his wife and three daughters. Conversely, when asked about the Patriots, the manner in which he replied suddenly became more measured. When Bennett was asked about the Patriots’ postseason success, he said,
“… They have a great owner, a great coach, a great quarterback, just a great team. That’s a great organization. Any player in the NFL would love to play for that team and that coach. I mean they’re winning. If you want to win, you go to the Patriots, and they’ve done a great job of winning. …”
Perhaps Bennett was laying it on a little thick in his praise for the Patriots. However, other players echoed the same sentiments when discussing the Patriots. Seahawks’ safety Earl Thomas gave his description of 
Tom Brady to the media. “He’s a general in every regard,” Thomas said. “He runs it. He plays with a chip on his shoulder. He’s not the ‘goody two-shoes’ that you all think he is. He’s a warrior in a way.”
Bobby Wagner seemed to be at his wit’s end discussing Rob Gronkowski on Monday, but appeared to have greater tolerance for the topic during Media Day. When asked about Gronkowski, Wagner said,
“It’s going to be pretty difficult. He’s a big guy, hard to take down. But at the same time, he has a little juke to him. I like that about him. I look forward to these types of matchups. To consider yourself one of the best, you have to handle guys like that. I look forward to playing him.”
Like his teammate Earl Thomas, Wagner also praised the Patriots’ quarterback. Wagner said,
“He [Tom Brady] is going to look you off in your pass coverage. He’s going to do a lot of things that try to toy with you; they’re going to do different formations. But at the same time, you have to be ready for it, do your job, be disciplines. …”
The Seahawks are slowly but surely trading in their affable quote-generating personas to make us aware that they mean business. They are here for one reason only – to bring another Lombardi trophy to the city of Seattle.
