Post by Funkytown on Aug 8, 2021 12:06:04 GMT -6
Just some stuff about Hutch here:
‘You have to be nasty’: Steve Hutchinson’s Hall of Fame career built on athleticism, smarts and a mean streak by Michael-Shawn Dugar
Some fun stuff here:
Link:
theathletic.com/2728165/2021/08/06/you-have-to-be-nasty-steve-hutchinsons-hall-of-fame-career-built-on-athleticism-smarts-and-a-mean-streak/
Didn't know this:
Despite a contentious exit in 2006, Hutchinson recently returned to the Seahawks in a scouting role. He handles pre-draft evaluations and scouts offensive prospects during all-star games and the scouting combine.
‘You have to be nasty’: Steve Hutchinson’s Hall of Fame career built on athleticism, smarts and a mean streak by Michael-Shawn Dugar
In 2006, while serving as the Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator, Gil Haskell remembers having a production meeting with NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” crew ahead of a prime-time, regular-season game. During that session, Haskell recalls being asked about the impact of not having left guard Steve Hutchinson, who left in free agency that offseason.
Haskell directed his response toward color analyst John Madden, the former Raiders coach.
“I said, ‘Well, I’ll tell you what. Coach Madden, (imagine) if Al Davis walked into your room right now and said we can’t afford (Gene) Upshaw, we’re going to let him go for free,’” Haskell said in an interview with The Athletic. “What do you think about that?”
Haskell was, of course, referring to longtime Raiders guard Gene Upshaw, who alongside left tackle Art Shell formed one of the best offensive line duos in NFL history. Their top competition for that title is Seattle’s legendary pairing of Hutchinson and left tackle Walter Jones. Upshaw, Shell and Jones are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
And now Hutchinson will join them.
A member of the NFL 2000s All-Decade team, Hutchinson in his third year of eligibility was elected to the Hall of Fame in February 2020. He’ll be enshrined Saturday night in Canton, Ohio, after a one-year ceremony delay due to COVID-19. He joins Jones, safety Kenny Easley, defensive tackle Cortez Kennedy and offensive lineman Kevin Mawae as Hall of Fame players who were drafted by the Seahawks.
Hutchinson’s 12-year career was almost evenly split between the Seahawks (2001-05) and Vikings (2006-11), with a final stop in Tennessee (2012) before he retired. But if Hutchinson had a say in the matter, his Hall of Fame bust would list him as a Seahawk – even though his time with the team ended in a controversial manner.
How Hutchinson played the game underscored the reason Haskell, then-coach Mike Holmgren and the rest of the Seahawks staff were so frustrated during the 2006 offseason. And why then-Minnesota coach Brad Childress and his staff were excited to snag him.
Haskell directed his response toward color analyst John Madden, the former Raiders coach.
“I said, ‘Well, I’ll tell you what. Coach Madden, (imagine) if Al Davis walked into your room right now and said we can’t afford (Gene) Upshaw, we’re going to let him go for free,’” Haskell said in an interview with The Athletic. “What do you think about that?”
Haskell was, of course, referring to longtime Raiders guard Gene Upshaw, who alongside left tackle Art Shell formed one of the best offensive line duos in NFL history. Their top competition for that title is Seattle’s legendary pairing of Hutchinson and left tackle Walter Jones. Upshaw, Shell and Jones are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
And now Hutchinson will join them.
A member of the NFL 2000s All-Decade team, Hutchinson in his third year of eligibility was elected to the Hall of Fame in February 2020. He’ll be enshrined Saturday night in Canton, Ohio, after a one-year ceremony delay due to COVID-19. He joins Jones, safety Kenny Easley, defensive tackle Cortez Kennedy and offensive lineman Kevin Mawae as Hall of Fame players who were drafted by the Seahawks.
Hutchinson’s 12-year career was almost evenly split between the Seahawks (2001-05) and Vikings (2006-11), with a final stop in Tennessee (2012) before he retired. But if Hutchinson had a say in the matter, his Hall of Fame bust would list him as a Seahawk – even though his time with the team ended in a controversial manner.
How Hutchinson played the game underscored the reason Haskell, then-coach Mike Holmgren and the rest of the Seahawks staff were so frustrated during the 2006 offseason. And why then-Minnesota coach Brad Childress and his staff were excited to snag him.
Some fun stuff here:
Hutchinson was beloved and respected wherever he played for numerous reasons. At 6-foot-4, 313 pounds, Hutchinson was strong as an ox. He had a solid base and played with great balance. And he loved run blocking, a facet of the game most associated with toughness.
“Every time he would come off the field, he would scream at me, run the f*cking ball,” Childress said. “I told him at one time: ‘Hutch, bro, you got to mix it up a little bit. You got to give me something besides run the f*cking ball every time you come off the field. Give me nothing or change it up, something like that.’”
Hutchinson was a two-time team captain while at Michigan, where he was also an All-American. He continued to be someone teammates looked up to in the pros. “He was the leader of the offensive line,” Haskell said, “he was the vocal leader, he was a physical leader, and he was a very, very intelligent guy who during the course of a game could get the guys together with the coach and say, ‘Let’s do it this way.’ And they’d do it.
“Nobody f*cked with him. He’d say, ‘Hey, we’re running the ball, get back to the run.’ And we did.”
But, more than anything, Hutchinson was nasty. Any defensive lineman due to face him on Sunday was in for a fight. On any given play he might launch his elbow into the defender’s back as he stepped out of a pile, then knock that same defender down on the next snap.
“He’s going to try to kill you every down – and a lot of the time he did,” Childress said.
Tom Condon, Hutchinson’s longtime agent, remembers seeing Hutchinson play at Michigan and watching him get the best of an All-American defensive lineman while showing off his unique style of play.
“Hutch had a fabulous day,” Condon said, chuckling. “The defensive tackle would start to get up and he would put his hand on his facemask and push him back down onto the ground. When the game was over, I said, ‘Hutch, you did everything you could to get yourself kicked out of there.’”
During Hutchinson’s time with the Vikings, Childress and then-Chiefs coach Herm Edwards scheduled a joint training camp practice. Childress was wary of the idea because their previous joint practice turned violent. But he went along with it anyway.
“We’re in nine-on-seven and Hutch at the very last second is blocking the sh*t out of this guy and right as the whistle blows clocks him right in the head,” Childress said. “I go, ‘Whoa, get back here, get back here.’”
Hutch was ready for a fight.
“He goes, ‘That motherf*cker, I’m going to whip his ass,’” Childress said. “Hutch has got the guy on him again and we run an iso up his side and he grabs the guy underneath the shoulder pads, takes him and drive blocks him. The pile ends up going that way and he takes him and grabs him and pushes him right over the top of the pile and lands face down on him.”
But Hutchinson wasn’t just a badass, he was legitimately one of the best offensive players in the league. Hutchinson started all 16 regular-season games as a rookie, then in Week 4 of his second season suffered a broken leg that knocked him out for the rest of the year. From there, Hutchinson made three straight Pro Bowls and two of three All-Pro teams, helping Seattle reach its first Super Bowl in the 2005 season. Holmgren, who has more than two decades of NFL experience, said he believes Hutchinson is the best guard he’s ever seen.
Hutchinson’s run with the Seahawks ended following the team’s 21-10 loss to the Steelers in Super Bowl XL. Hutchinson, 28 years old at the time, was due to be a free agent and expected to be given the franchise tag. Instead, Seattle, led by general manager Tim Ruskell, used the transition tag, which gave the All-Pro lineman the ability to negotiate with other teams and the Seahawks the ability to match.
Condon and Hutchinson were in search of a long-term commitment from Seattle, and after not making much progress toward that goal in negotiations, they were upset when Seattle chose the cheaper of the two tag options. To slight the Seahawks, Condon wanted to line up the best possible offer for his client and make it difficult for Seattle to match it, so he negotiated a seven-year, $49 million deal with the Vikings. The contract included a provision – known as the “poison pill” – that guaranteed the full amount of the offer sheet in the event he wasn’t the highest-paid offensive lineman on the team. This clause wasn’t a problem for Minnesota, but it was a major holdup for Seattle, which already had Jones on a seven-year, $52.5 million deal. Such provisions are no longer permitted under the new collective bargaining agreement.
“It wasn’t going to be difficult to match,” Condon said, “it was going to be impossible to match.”
It was well known at the time that losing Hutchinson would be a big blow for Seattle, but the exact impact was up for debate. One local columnist theorized that while Seattle might take a step back at left guard, it perhaps would be better off long term by investing in other critical positions. He also figured the Seahawks had serviceable replacements with either Floyd “Pork Chop” Womack or Chris Spencer. MVP running back Shaun Alexander said during 2006 training camp that Womack was a great player and predicted the offense wouldn’t miss a beat without Hutchinson. Holmgren, too, was confident in Womack – if he could stay on the field. The 2001 fourth-round pick had struggled with injuries to that point.
Behind the scenes, the staff was irate.
“When I heard it, I walked in the room and I slammed the door as hard as I could,” Haskell said. “They said, ‘What’s the matter?’ I said, ‘We just lost Hutch.’ They said, ‘Well, we’ll get somebody else.’ I said, ‘F*ck you, we’ll get somebody else. Nobody is as good as him.’”
Seattle’s left guard rotation the next three years featured Womack, Spencer and Rob Sims. None of them really held the spot for longer than a full season. Seattle’s offense took a dip in 2006 before bouncing back the next year, but the unit faltered in 2008 and Holmgren’s staff was fired.
“We made it work with those guys, but you lost a Hall of Fame guy for free,” Haskell said, emphasizing that he and Holmgren were under the impression Hutchinson was going to be franchise tagged and re-signed. “You gave him away for free.”
Hutchinson proceeded to make four straight Pro Bowls and three consecutive All-Pro teams from 2007-09, placing a spotlight on an often-overlooked position.
“Everybody was talking about the left tackle is supposed to be the guy to take care of the great pass rusher and the right tackle is the hard-working tough guy. The center is the bright guy making all the calls, and the guards, you’re trying to fill a couple big, tough guys at guard,” Condon said. “Steve changed things.”
“Every time he would come off the field, he would scream at me, run the f*cking ball,” Childress said. “I told him at one time: ‘Hutch, bro, you got to mix it up a little bit. You got to give me something besides run the f*cking ball every time you come off the field. Give me nothing or change it up, something like that.’”
Hutchinson was a two-time team captain while at Michigan, where he was also an All-American. He continued to be someone teammates looked up to in the pros. “He was the leader of the offensive line,” Haskell said, “he was the vocal leader, he was a physical leader, and he was a very, very intelligent guy who during the course of a game could get the guys together with the coach and say, ‘Let’s do it this way.’ And they’d do it.
“Nobody f*cked with him. He’d say, ‘Hey, we’re running the ball, get back to the run.’ And we did.”
But, more than anything, Hutchinson was nasty. Any defensive lineman due to face him on Sunday was in for a fight. On any given play he might launch his elbow into the defender’s back as he stepped out of a pile, then knock that same defender down on the next snap.
“He’s going to try to kill you every down – and a lot of the time he did,” Childress said.
Tom Condon, Hutchinson’s longtime agent, remembers seeing Hutchinson play at Michigan and watching him get the best of an All-American defensive lineman while showing off his unique style of play.
“Hutch had a fabulous day,” Condon said, chuckling. “The defensive tackle would start to get up and he would put his hand on his facemask and push him back down onto the ground. When the game was over, I said, ‘Hutch, you did everything you could to get yourself kicked out of there.’”
During Hutchinson’s time with the Vikings, Childress and then-Chiefs coach Herm Edwards scheduled a joint training camp practice. Childress was wary of the idea because their previous joint practice turned violent. But he went along with it anyway.
“We’re in nine-on-seven and Hutch at the very last second is blocking the sh*t out of this guy and right as the whistle blows clocks him right in the head,” Childress said. “I go, ‘Whoa, get back here, get back here.’”
Hutch was ready for a fight.
“He goes, ‘That motherf*cker, I’m going to whip his ass,’” Childress said. “Hutch has got the guy on him again and we run an iso up his side and he grabs the guy underneath the shoulder pads, takes him and drive blocks him. The pile ends up going that way and he takes him and grabs him and pushes him right over the top of the pile and lands face down on him.”
But Hutchinson wasn’t just a badass, he was legitimately one of the best offensive players in the league. Hutchinson started all 16 regular-season games as a rookie, then in Week 4 of his second season suffered a broken leg that knocked him out for the rest of the year. From there, Hutchinson made three straight Pro Bowls and two of three All-Pro teams, helping Seattle reach its first Super Bowl in the 2005 season. Holmgren, who has more than two decades of NFL experience, said he believes Hutchinson is the best guard he’s ever seen.
Hutchinson’s run with the Seahawks ended following the team’s 21-10 loss to the Steelers in Super Bowl XL. Hutchinson, 28 years old at the time, was due to be a free agent and expected to be given the franchise tag. Instead, Seattle, led by general manager Tim Ruskell, used the transition tag, which gave the All-Pro lineman the ability to negotiate with other teams and the Seahawks the ability to match.
Condon and Hutchinson were in search of a long-term commitment from Seattle, and after not making much progress toward that goal in negotiations, they were upset when Seattle chose the cheaper of the two tag options. To slight the Seahawks, Condon wanted to line up the best possible offer for his client and make it difficult for Seattle to match it, so he negotiated a seven-year, $49 million deal with the Vikings. The contract included a provision – known as the “poison pill” – that guaranteed the full amount of the offer sheet in the event he wasn’t the highest-paid offensive lineman on the team. This clause wasn’t a problem for Minnesota, but it was a major holdup for Seattle, which already had Jones on a seven-year, $52.5 million deal. Such provisions are no longer permitted under the new collective bargaining agreement.
“It wasn’t going to be difficult to match,” Condon said, “it was going to be impossible to match.”
It was well known at the time that losing Hutchinson would be a big blow for Seattle, but the exact impact was up for debate. One local columnist theorized that while Seattle might take a step back at left guard, it perhaps would be better off long term by investing in other critical positions. He also figured the Seahawks had serviceable replacements with either Floyd “Pork Chop” Womack or Chris Spencer. MVP running back Shaun Alexander said during 2006 training camp that Womack was a great player and predicted the offense wouldn’t miss a beat without Hutchinson. Holmgren, too, was confident in Womack – if he could stay on the field. The 2001 fourth-round pick had struggled with injuries to that point.
Behind the scenes, the staff was irate.
“When I heard it, I walked in the room and I slammed the door as hard as I could,” Haskell said. “They said, ‘What’s the matter?’ I said, ‘We just lost Hutch.’ They said, ‘Well, we’ll get somebody else.’ I said, ‘F*ck you, we’ll get somebody else. Nobody is as good as him.’”
Seattle’s left guard rotation the next three years featured Womack, Spencer and Rob Sims. None of them really held the spot for longer than a full season. Seattle’s offense took a dip in 2006 before bouncing back the next year, but the unit faltered in 2008 and Holmgren’s staff was fired.
“We made it work with those guys, but you lost a Hall of Fame guy for free,” Haskell said, emphasizing that he and Holmgren were under the impression Hutchinson was going to be franchise tagged and re-signed. “You gave him away for free.”
Hutchinson proceeded to make four straight Pro Bowls and three consecutive All-Pro teams from 2007-09, placing a spotlight on an often-overlooked position.
“Everybody was talking about the left tackle is supposed to be the guy to take care of the great pass rusher and the right tackle is the hard-working tough guy. The center is the bright guy making all the calls, and the guards, you’re trying to fill a couple big, tough guys at guard,” Condon said. “Steve changed things.”
theathletic.com/2728165/2021/08/06/you-have-to-be-nasty-steve-hutchinsons-hall-of-fame-career-built-on-athleticism-smarts-and-a-mean-streak/
Didn't know this:
Despite a contentious exit in 2006, Hutchinson recently returned to the Seahawks in a scouting role. He handles pre-draft evaluations and scouts offensive prospects during all-star games and the scouting combine.
... and neither is this Chris guy.