Seahawks’ Stars straddle line between insanity, genius

In the last month, Seattle Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor started holding out for more money despite having three years left on his contract, defensive end Michael Bennett compared staying with the team to a wife staying with her husband because of the kids and quarterback Russell Wilson thinks nanobubble water prevented a concussion and healed a teammate’s knee. All three situations are absurd and border on the insane.

What exactly is in the water in Seattle besides nanobubbles? Whatever it is, these situations are not what they appear to be.

As weird as the last month has been for the Seahawks, it’s clear that they have a group of intelligent football players with their own thoughts and opinions. At times, they may say and do things that are outlandish, but in most cases they are anything but.

 

Chancellor

Chancellor knows the team has a renegotiation policy that they aren’t about to break just to make him happy. He’s certainly free to try, but the Seahawks would be setting an awful precedent for stars who just signed extensions like cornerback Richard Sherman, linebacker Bobby Wagner and Wilson. At best, the team may be willing to convert part of his base salary into a guarantee.

Either way, Chancellor will eventually report, step onto the field and be the same player he has been for years. That’s what the Seahawks want. Sure, Chancellor could hold it against the Seahawks when the time does come to renegotiate, but he’s going to find that most teams operate the same way.

The holdout simply maximizes what little leverage he has with the hope of getting more of his contract paid up front. Plus, Chancellor doesn’t really need the preseason to get ready to play. As we’ve seen, training camp and the preseason only increase the odds of injury, especially for a player that plays as violently as Chancellor.

 

Bennett

Bennett may not love the way the Seahawks do business, but he agreed to stay with the team. He’s still going to put heat on quarterbacks every Sunday, even if he doesn’t have a favorable view of the front office. Which, in the end, is all that the Seahawks really want him to do. At which time the two sides can’t find common ground, both sides will be ready to make a change.

For now, Bennett likes his environment and the Seahawks like his production. The rest is just rhetoric, but it was also rather refreshing honesty.

For the most part, Bennett’s comments were also correct. Quarterbacks that are mediocre do make a disproportionately large salary compared to other NFL players of the same ilk. They also are the first to complain about getting hit below the knee.

 

Wilson

As for Wilson, his tweet was clearly irresponsible and could land him and the company he was promoting in trouble with the Federal Trade Commission, but it wasn’t a totally outlandish claim. It’s anecdotal evidence, but it’s not an overtly fraudulent testimonial as you might expect.

The scientific merits of water with nanobubbles to prevent concussions hasn’t been studied, but Wilson believes it helped him. Right now, it can’t be proven one way or another.

However, nanobubbles are being studied for a variety of applications including hypoxia and drug delivery for cancer treatment. Nanobubble-infused water has been shown to increase the growth of plants, fish and mice by one study by Osaka University.

We also know that oxygen is vital for proper brain function and hyperbaric chambers have been shown to benefit in recovery from concussions. Wilson shouldn’t be so quick to make grand statements about a product he endorses and hasn’t been studied, but there could be something to his belief.

In the end, Wilson’s claims are also unlikely to cause harm. He isn’t saying other preventative measures shouldn’t be take to prevent concussions. In an article for Rolling Stone, Wilson’s agent Mark Rogers added, “Well, we’re not saying we have real medical proof.”

About Christopher Hansen

My path into sports media started with the founding of raidersblog.com while working concurrently in the financial sector. I covered the AFC West and the NFL as a lead writer for Bleacher Report for three years and have been featured on CNN and other major outlets. I received my journalism degree from Abilene Christian University and I'm a member of the Pro Football Writers of America. I enjoy spending time with my awesome family, home projects, craft beer, the outdoors and technology.

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