So much to add here...
I've been a Seahawk fan for a long time. Likely longer than some folks posting here have been alive. I remember watching Zorn to Largent in 1976. I remember Dave Krieg and Curt Warner upsetting Marino in Miami in 1983. I remember Rick Mirer setting rookie passing records in 1993 the year after Seattle posted perhaps the worst NFL offensive numbers in the history of the league. I remember going 20+ years without a playoff win. I remember a lot. Over so many years you develop some perspective on things.
What happened? They're experiencing the natural ebb and flow of an NFL franchise. They built a great team with some of the best drafts in NFL history and a few key free agents and trades. From 2010 to 2012 the Seattle football franchise amassed talent like no other franchise has. Ever. I double dog dare anyone to find me a three year period like they had in acquiring talent via the draft, and I don't just mean starters and future gold jackets. They even crushed it with extreme depth across the board. Ahem.... Okung, Sweezy, Moffitt, Carpenter, Giacomini, Wilson, Tate, Baldwin, Kearse, Turbin, Willson, Avril, Bennett, Wright, Wagner, Irvin, Chancellor, Thomas, Sherman, Browner, Maxwell, Thurmond, Lane. All brought in via draft or signed as free agents. Several as undrafted free agents including both starting WRs in the super bowl. Seriously. John Schneider never sniffed an award for GM of the year. That's just wrong.
The won games. They got famous. They set some amazing standards. Leading the NFL in scoring defense for four straight years is something special. It was nearly five, but they got torched in the final two weeks and finished 3rd in year five. They got paid (yes, all of them with the exception of Bruce Irvin. He got paid by the Raiders). Some of them became me first. Yes, I mean you Earl. It happens. I think its the natural evolution of things.
As a Seattle fan I'm glad they had the run. It was fun. I'm sure it will happen again given enough time. If not, I'm okay with the memories. There's a lot of false narratives that float around this team. I guess that's expected with success and the spot light. What happens next?
We'll see.