Intangibles matter

My favorite definition of the word "Intangible" comes from the Google (who also taught me that this word has Latin roots with a Mid Evil French origin--good on you, Google!) Third definition down, Google says Intangible can also mean "(of an asset or benefit) not constituting or represented by a physical object and of a value not precisely measurable."

Well said, Google. 

In 2012, the Gods of Football opened up the heavens and rained down upon the NFL a deluge of really promising Quarterbacks just when it was most needed.  Indi, staring down the barrel of an uncertain future with the man who’d MADE football in their city, was granted the gift of Andrew Luck—Manning 2.0 with a better set of wheels.  Washington, who’d been fighting the messy front office issues that led to them purchasing the human puddle, Albert Haynesworth, was granted Robert Griffin the Third, a charismatic combine darling who seemed perfectly suited to be the face of an organization PR Reboot.  Seattle, under the sort of new (and pretty unorthodox) management of Pete Carroll and John Schneider found themselves still looking for the unknown element that was going to meld the disparate parts of what they were attempting to create together into a unified whole.  The Gods gave them Russell Wilson. 

Schneider, at the time, had just paid a guaranteed $10 million for QB Matt Flynn...so most of us up here in the land of coffee and salmon were CERTAIN that Wilson would soak up a couple years in the system, we'd get what we paid for out of Flynn (breaking slightly better than even while we shaped the rest of the team...) and life would continue on as normal. 

We were so naive back then (or, at least...I was...)

By the end of August, Carroll had evaluated both QBs in open competition and handed the reigns over to Wilson with full confidence.  Joseph Fell called it "...the worst move in his tenure as Seattle's head coach."

I'm sorry, Joey, what was that? We couldn't hear you over our Super Bowl Parade...

To be honest (and fair) he was not the only one who felt that way.

But this week, Russell Wilson did something that showed me what Pete Carroll saw that summer, when he--unconventional by any standards--pulled the unconventional move of starting a rookie over a vet at arguably the most crucial position in the organization.

In a letter posed to the newly launched Player's Tribune, Wilson displays the unfiltered athlete's voice the platform promises.  Admitting to a past as a bully, Wilson looks the excuse of the violence in football square in the eyes and bats it aside, launching the WhynotYou foundation and calling on all of us to "Pass the Peace".

The NFL appointed a panel of well-educated and qualified women to re-vamp their Personal Conduct and then launched into the safe, pre-approved Pinktober...brilliant timing, really, since it either allows those women a month or so to work some kind of  magic or it allows the NFL a month to let things die down before quietly marginalizing the very women they hired.

Either way, Russell Wilson's call to arms for the cause means that this issue doesn't go away...the NFL's shield is still being held over the fire in an effort to get them to address this...the pressure will remain on until something REAL happens. Something substantial.

It takes a lot of things other than great stats to lead a franchise.  And it takes something exceptional, to be able to recognize those other, more elusive qualities in others. Courage. Honesty. Humility. Generosity. A strong moral compass...

As a mother, I want many, many things for my son.

Above everything else...I want the intangibles.