Transcript
Tristan Amundson: Folks, welcome in to the world's only Seahawks podcast. This is Miles. Steering the ship solo today. I'm coming to you on Saturday. August 29th.
Tristan Amundson: The last time Tristan and I turned on these microphones, it was August 20th. And in a way, very little. Is happening. certainly nothing's happening on the the scoreboard and the standings where everything actually counts But it does seem like just about every day since then there has been News of some significance.
Tristan Amundson: Coming out of the Seahawks. And it's incredible. To me, I've just been thinking it's incredible how much happens. underneath the roof of the facility at one time.
Tristan Amundson: I'm going to talk about a few newsworthy things that happened, but... that's That's just touching on a very few members of this entire roster, this entire team. Certainly not getting into the nitty gritty of evaluating how every player went in the preseason and and things like that, the conversations.
Tristan Amundson: that are actually happening in the building. these days. This is just the tip of the iceberg, and it's it's a there's hope there's just a lot going on. so We recorded on August 20th, and it was either later that day.
Tristan Amundson: or the next day, you know that the team is down. In Nashville, Tennessee. doing joint practices with the Titans and... You can't really get Super great news out of a day like that. The best news you can hear is that the day went well.
Tristan Amundson: and you can get some pretty Brad news. out of a day like that and that's what the seahawks that's what we got Out of the Seahawks, the news that Jake Bobo. injured for the entire season, later confirmed to be.
Tristan Amundson: A torn ACL. And to me, I just was thinking. the The Seahawks have to make sure they're... that they're playing. good teams when they do these joint practices and these preseason games. I really.
Tristan Amundson: attributed this injury to the... The Titans being bad. At football. I think this preseason game showed that the Titans are bad at football. There was also that face mask penalty.
Tristan Amundson: that a Titans defender had in the middle of the game on Jakardia Wright. Just a terrible face mask penalty. The helmet. Twisted around. a Totally 180 twisted around. so i was just thinking all sorts of thoughts about you know, the Titans not being a good football team. and and being dangerous in that way because of it just not making uh Not knowing how to keep everybody healthy on the other side here here in this August preseason. It made me think.
Tristan Amundson: I can't remember. I think it was... the 2024 season. In the preseason, we had Uchenna Nwosu get injured and have... His year really cut short by.
Tristan Amundson: I'm pretty sure it was the Cleveland Browns at home. There was just there was just kind of this weird. slightly dirty play on Nwosu. early in the preseason game. and Anyway, so here we go again.
Tristan Amundson: Jake Boba out for the season. Fortunately, he will be back for the team. This spring, it was a bit of an unusual situation. Jake Bobo, the very rare restricted free agent in the NFL.
Tristan Amundson: It was the Jacksonville Jaguars who offered him a two -year deal. worth $5 .5 million, dollars which the Seahawks then matched. I did think it was pretty cool to see.
Tristan Amundson: with this Jaguars contract that, yeah. Other teams in the NFL do value what Jake Bobo does. Not a lot happening on the stat sheet, but it wasn't just... ah a myth invention in the mines.
Tristan Amundson: of the Of the Seahawks fans that ah what Jake Bobo was doing. was very valuable so anyway Two -year, $5 .5 million dollar deal. We know that he will be back for.
Tristan Amundson: 2027. And that takes us to August 22nd when this preseason game was actually played. in nashville and And for the umpteenth consecutive year.
Tristan Amundson: It does look like the Titans are in pretty big trouble. So we were coming off the first preseason game, a pretty lifeless performance for the Seahawks. losing to the Dallas Cowboys without...
Tristan Amundson: causing much noise on either side of the ball. I think you could feel watching this game that the team had a very productive and focused week of practice. That's what I was thinking. I think practice had a bit more urgency to it.
Tristan Amundson: You could feel that. The first half saw... on Seahawks ah offense, the second string. if not third, some of the third string players led by Drew Locke. going up against a lot of the Titans defensive starters.
Tristan Amundson: Not the most name recognized group in the NFL, but. Jeffrey Simmons, their star defensive lineman, was was out there for a lot of the first half, and we still saw two. Really fantastic house calls. One for Elijah Arroyo in the passing game. One for Jakardia Wright in the running game.
Tristan Amundson: And the Seahawks just had total control of this game, even though they weren't trying to. uh they weren't gonna try to push it with with their first stringers so Eventually, the Titans win this 19 -16. That was all coming in. The Seahawks didn't score any points in the second half win.
Tristan Amundson: The play time was mostly from guys you wouldn't expect to make on the roster. so There was the, when they. came out of halftime and you heard the halftime comments from robert sala they were kind of positive, which really shocked me that... that he was feeling positively about how the game was going, and maybe he took even more positive takeaways because...
Tristan Amundson: On the scoreboard, it does end up as a Titans victory, but... Man, that that is a victory in name only. I really do feel like like the Seahawks control the portions of this game that...
Tristan Amundson: really mattered. Do want to call out that this was a very... this This felt like another preseason game for the referees. It it was really a slog. there were a ton of flags There were a handful of calls that favored the Seahawks that I that i didn't feel were very fair. There was ah a deep Drew Locke interception that got called back. I didn't think that was exactly a fair call. Probably should have gone down as an interception.
Tristan Amundson: And there's also an unsportsmanlike penalty. That was called on one of the Titans' secondary players. He made a play and just gave ah a big two thumbs down. And got slapped with 15 yards. and I don't know. That doesn't feel excessive to me. I think thumbs down is is pretty tame out there.
Tristan Amundson: I've almost forgotten the most devastating part of this game, which was pretty early on. Rookie second round pick, Bud Clark. Safety, it it was a really a nothing moment on the field. It kind of looked like he was just the play was kind of over and that he was just kind of hopping out of the way to avoid.
Tristan Amundson: like landing on the pile of people. ends up breaking his ankle in that moment. So I definitely can't say it was like, it's not in the same file as the Jake Bobo.
Tristan Amundson: or cheon neosu injuries It was really just. ah A total freak moment. it It only came out in the last few days that this isn't the the eight -game IR for Bud Clark. but This will be his entire rookie season lost due to just this crazy, weird.
Tristan Amundson: Nothing moment. um we Anyway, we do see that on Hard Knocks, which which is what happens next. in the world of the Seahawks, August 25th. Hard Knocks number four comes out.
Tristan Amundson: I thought this was the high point of the series so far. I would imagine. I haven't seen them all. I would imagine this is the best episode of Hard Knocks that's been on. in quite some time because just Stuff was happening.
Tristan Amundson: They set us up from the very first scene with this great conversation between Jake Bobo and wide receiver coach Frisman Jackson, who is... ah the ah but One of the breakout stars of Hard Knocks. and That was just devastating. you You knew that was a setup. A few minutes later, they're also setting us up by showing Bud Clark.
Tristan Amundson: playing with his son after. one of the practices at the Seahawks facility. Just devastating work by HBO to set everything up in just a couple days.
Tristan Amundson: ah just You know, they just had a couple days after these injuries happened. to weave those storylines in starting early in the episode was... I would call it emotionally devastating.
Tristan Amundson: There was so much happening in this episode that I forgot. We actually, early on, we do see. We are we are in the overhead cameras in the coach's office. With Coach Mack and the entire leadership council as everybody kind of.
Tristan Amundson: breaks down that that game one against the Cowboys and how it didn't go well. It was really interesting to see who was in there. The Leadership Council is a pretty significant percentage of the roster, all things considered. It's about...
Tristan Amundson: 20 % of the 53 -man roster, but... It was really cool to see that it was just an open and honest conversation, and it was just it was just Coach with everybody in there, and they just kind of.
Tristan Amundson: Sit down and hash it out that that was pretty cool Later on, we get a great segment. I really appreciated this where... Coach Max leading the meeting and hands it off to...
Tristan Amundson: one of the nutritionists who Gives the ah the the itinerary rundown for how their day of travel to Tennessee is going to go. and and the checkpoints throughout the day that that all the players should be hitting with.
Tristan Amundson: with refueling themselves i mean it's something you don't really think about but Yeah, really makes sense. you You should have those. I mean, it's I thought it was just a fascinating look at at how planned out everything was.
Tristan Amundson: It makes a lot of sense, and I think that's it. that's a positive thing that happens when you get. So many people in the building. working on the coaching and like performance staff side. I thought that was a pretty cool segment.
Tristan Amundson: We also have... Mr. and Mrs. Foster. Traveling. to see montori play again uh they really carry uh a lot of the show there with a lot of great energy That was really fun to see.
Tristan Amundson: Earlier on, we also get... um I thought some really cool moments where you you see how Sam Darnold kind of gets on people in practice. He does it in a very gentle and way compared to most NFL quarterbacks, I think.
Tristan Amundson: And I thought a very productive way. It was. you don't i think it's pretty rare that that side of him comes out but Um, That was pretty cool. and then Just what a roller coaster when we go.
Tristan Amundson: back to the locker room with bud clark as that preseason game's going and Man, there was just a lot happening for him. i just couldn' have but He's juggling you know his FaceTime back with his family. He's juggling the you know the pain of what's going on with his ankle.
Tristan Amundson: Obviously he's got this HBO camera in his face. There's like two other people in there and one of them is a gigantic. HBO camera so he has to know that like Man, this is a tough moment, and and this is going to be making the cut you know on national TV here as I go through this crazy injury.
Tristan Amundson: Just a rollercoaster of emotions. It was really cool that you saw Julian Love as everybody came back in. Really give him some... Some love and support and just knowing. Uh, Yeah, it's interesting to see, you know, it's devastating to hear this news when a really long -term injury comes out. And it's kind of interesting with both the Bobo and Clark injuries.
Tristan Amundson: You see that the guys... And that's just how it is in the NFL. The guys have to. They have to move on pretty quickly. Like within a couple minutes, it's you kind of got to get ready to move on.
Tristan Amundson: um Even though they definitely care for like. you know, the guys who had gotten hurt. that That's just how the NFL is. This happens this happens a lot, and you've got to move on.
Tristan Amundson: There is a crown jewel moment, though, that i that i I thought happened in this episode, and it's when Coach Mack addresses the team about the passing of OJ Brigance. um And. And it was it was a very emotional moment in the meeting. uh you felt it you felt you felt how Difficult this was for Coach Mack that he lost a friend.
Tristan Amundson: You know, it was it was it was a very, it was heavy. it It was really heavy. And it was great that you see. You saw Leonard Williams. ah you know,
Tristan Amundson: Mention his appreciation later I hadn't heard of O .J. Brigance. This got me very curious about his life, hearing about this. and I got to tell you, there's some videos on YouTube that are...
Tristan Amundson: That are really incredible. I really recommend everybody watch. There's a... a segment that cbs sunday morning did about his life about 10 years ago And just this week, the Baltimore Ravens released.
Tristan Amundson: um A video in memoriam that. these are These are both very emotional. And O .J. Bergantz, it lived. Um... a pretty unique life, a very memorable life.
Tristan Amundson: Um... So it started out with his playing career. He was a linebacker who played five years in the Canadian League. And then follow that up with seven years in the NFL.
Tristan Amundson: throughout the 90s and early aughts. As his career is kind of winding down, he gets on better and better teams. He actually wins the Super Bowl. in 2000 with the Baltimore Ravens. That was his only year as a Ravens player.
Tristan Amundson: And a fun fact there, he makes the tackle. On the opening and kickoff, as the Ravens would proceed to blow out the New York Giants and win their first Super Bowl. Even though the Ravens don't re -sign him, very next year he gets back to the Super Bowl in 2001 with the St. Louis Rams.
Tristan Amundson: ends up losing in Tom Brady's first career Super Bowl victory, but... Back to back years in the Super Bowl with different teams towards the end of his career. As he retires, he gets hired as the Ravens Director of Player Development in 2004.
Tristan Amundson: And... As far as I could tell, it was really... um a role that involved a lot of mentorship. And. Um, Then OJ Berganz was diagnosed with ALS in the year 2007.
Tristan Amundson: So this is a disease he lived with for about 20 years and You know, you can... there's um As he starts his work with the Ravens, you know it looks like he's ready to...
Tristan Amundson: to get back out there on an NFL field again. and the ALS disease as it... you know, attacked his nervous system Eventually in a few years, for for the last probably 15 years of his life, he was in in a wheelchair with...
Tristan Amundson: you know, a computer and device that kind of spoke for him. he he would a he would be able to... to kind of type with it using his, ah his eyes, this, this.
Tristan Amundson: The computer would track his pupils as he kind of typed with his eyes and was able to... Speak to people in that way. But from 2004 up until his passing just just last week, O .J. Brigance was the Ravens director of player development.
Tristan Amundson: And there's just an unbelievable amount of times where he is. in a locker room getting a game ball, or I think it was a big tradition for the Ravens to to all sing him happy birthday every year when it was his birthday.
Tristan Amundson: And he was at practice and at the facility every day. And obviously we know that Coach Mack was there. For about 10 years so obviously it seemed like everybody it seemed like everybody in the place just had a close relationship with OJ as as he kind of stayed behind the scenes. And it did seem like Coach Mack was one of those guys. so I really appreciated that that Coach Max shared that with us. and and shared that with the team and um
Tristan Amundson: ah Great to remember OJ Brigance. Uh, what? Just, uh... A quiet... But. But complete ah Just such a respected figure in football and and such a unique life and You know, he out. your you He really outlived.
Tristan Amundson: how long he was expected to live with ALS. by about 15 years. and theres There was just an unbelievable amount of mental strength there. And I really appreciated learning about it and I'm sure as you watch these videos um I can't help but get emotional. It was...
Tristan Amundson: Just really great to learn about.
Tristan Amundson: This is Switching Gears. just to as we get back to the Seahawks. but Moving on. To on. August 26th. This was the day that was scheduled for Vinod Khosla, the new owner of the team.
Tristan Amundson: to be voted in by the other owners which happened unanimously And we get a brief press conference. And... Um,
Tristan Amundson: I thought it was going well. It was a pretty short press conference, but thanks for going well. He really talked about being in learning mode. As the new owner of the team, with which I appreciated.
Tristan Amundson: I think you could you could sense that he knew that... ah It was a great. you know As Seahawks fans, you you kind of want... You don't want a lot of messing with the formula here. This is one of the few football teams where the formula is in place and you kind of want the owner to...
Tristan Amundson: Hands off, no need. you know this This thing is pointed in the exact right direction. Don't need a... a heavy hand on the steering wheel right here So the press conference was going well. Until.
Tristan Amundson: You know, he mentions the Pittsburgh Steelers. And it's okay that we we don't we don't expect that ah Mr. Koslow was a seaha diehard Seahawks fan the entire time.
Tristan Amundson: Obviously, before this, he was a 3 % owner of the San Francisco 49ers. You know, that this happens. ah ah But he really did emphasize.
Tristan Amundson: Um, and And in the rhythm of the press conference, it it really came up. He really brought it up himself. It it was. At the very end of ah a kind of longer response to a question, he brought up that he was still actively A Steelers fan.
Tristan Amundson: And. um You know. He's a really smart guy, obviously, a multi -multi -billionaire. Knows a lot more than me about almost everything.
Tristan Amundson: But I would have recommended not bringing that up. uh in the press conference just would have been number one to me And number two, I think... i I also would have responded to it by not trying to get into a beef with an article about it from Barstool Sports.
Tristan Amundson: I wouldn't have recommended that either. I would have recommended... If you did have to say it in a press conference that you're an active Steelers fan. I think the way that you follow up is you.
Tristan Amundson: You film a skit with Blitz. uh the mascot there's some sort of uh You know, there's some sort of Steelers helmet he has in his office that Blitz, you know, steals and then replaces with the Seahawks helmet.
Tristan Amundson: <unk>s That's just one man's idea about how to... ah you know, make lemonade out of lemons here. I don't... But. um i This isn't what you wanted to happen out of day one. It was a bit of an unforced error.
Tristan Amundson: And. um We'll see what happens. It... it It's an interesting moment because it... It obviously doesn't really matter. but But it is just a little bit of a...
Tristan Amundson: well Well, why would you say that? And then why would you double down on it afterwards? um Anyway. This moment can be definitely swept out under the rug as the ownership tenure continues and more substantive decisions have to be made. but ah A bit of a slipping on a banana peel moment that came out of nowhere there.
Tristan Amundson: The very next day. August 27th. Unbeknownst to us, even though that even though we're behind the scenes with the cameras with hard knocks, we... Didn't really have an inkling about this. We see Leo Williams.
Tristan Amundson: Get signed to an extension for three years. and $90 million. Leah was scheduled to be a free agent next spring at the conclusion of this season.
Tristan Amundson: He is in the middle of wrapping up a three -year... 64 .5 million deal that the team signed him to shortly after the trade. So this new deal.
Tristan Amundson: Three years, 90 million. Big pay raise. That will cover ages 33 through 35 for Leo. That's years 2027 to 2029.
Tristan Amundson: That's... Pretty old. to be not a quarterback and making that much money in the NFL. That's a thought I had but... ah The other thought I had was, I remember when the Seahawks first made this trade. It was Tristan and I, our first year doing this podcast. and I had a lot of doubts about the draft capital.
Tristan Amundson: given up in order to acquire Leo Williams, which... Was the wrong take. I've definitely been proven wrong there. Leo Williams. infinitely more valuable than the second round pick or whatever it was don't even remember that was given up in order to get him just an absolute.
Tristan Amundson: franchise cornerstone of a player so i'm just gonna trust this one here since I went wrong by not trusting you before. I think we see this as an athlete who keeps himself in incredible shape.
Tristan Amundson: He's missed seven games in his 11 years of play. And I think this is a position where. where And he's also playing the best football of his career right now. He's been named to an All -Pro team each of the last two years.
Tristan Amundson: That's for the first time in his career. so This could be the very rare NFL player. And it is it is true so far where his 30s are even better. than his 20s that's what's happened with leo williams two all pro years in his first two years of his 30s And. Here's too many more.
Tristan Amundson: The Seahawks. And continue. August 28th, the last preseason game. Third out of three. on the road against the Kansas City Chiefs. I did wonder if we would have a one drive moment. of seeing the first stringers. Coach Mack went the opposite way, even deeper.
Tristan Amundson: Into the bench, we have Jalen Milrow playing the entirety of the game. And pretty much everybody who was in there actually played the entire game on both offense and defense.
Tristan Amundson: We did get both the ups and the downs of the Trayvon Diggs experience. He's a very... boom or bust player. In the first quarter, we saw a really...
Tristan Amundson: difficult. whiff on a missed tackle of Travis Kelsey. It may be. It was just... Maybe didn't even get close enough for it to get called a missed tackle, but we know.
Tristan Amundson: It was a missed tackle by Trayvon Diggs as Kelsey got some yardage. Follows that up a few drives later with a really strong interception where he... He reads the ball like the wide receiver, and he is just completely.
Tristan Amundson: He's by himself as he's making a nice... Interception. I noticed that. but Main thing here. for me, was Jalen Milrow. This was definitely his best game of the preseason. There were There were just a lot of drives where the ball was moving a lot of big chunk completions as well.
Tristan Amundson: What? ah While we were... Excited still? After last preseason. I have to say, I am feeling pessimistic. As the body of work grows larger.
Tristan Amundson: So here's the numbers for Jalen Milrow. across all three preseason games. Again, this entire third one and the... the the second halves of each of the first two games.
Tristan Amundson: We've got a total of 20 drives. And we've got two offensive scores, both coming here against Kansas City. One field goal, one touchdown. Total passing numbers are 27 of 45 for 311 yards.
Tristan Amundson: that That's pretty strong. it's It's kind of across two games, though. It's like 311 yards over two games. It's not really. That distributed. He only had 88 passing yards after the first two preseason games.
Tristan Amundson: So almost all those yards are coming in this one. Anyway, the 88 over the first two games what was a pretty rough number. We've also got two interceptions in there.
Tristan Amundson: And we've also got two fumbles. It didn't feel that painful because the Seahawks did end up. recovering both fumbles, but That was a big problem last preseason. It was a big problem in his handful of snaps in the 2025 regular season.
Tristan Amundson: And. um The problem hasn't been solved. To have two fumbles in that short amount of time. even if the team did end up recovering it. that That's the ball going going everywhere. that's That's four turnovers.
Tristan Amundson: Four turnover -worthy plays in total. The wheels, the rushing yards. 13 attempts for 72 yards. That's pretty good. However... It almost all comes back when you take into account the sack. the sacks and the sack numbers.
Tristan Amundson: Six sacks for 59 yards lost so that those almost even each other out. I... Wish. It was going better. I'm ready to get excited next August when we see Jalen Milrow again. but You know, the...
Tristan Amundson: These rookie... Last year, it felt like we had the the entire horizon. in front of us, but this is... You know, we're in year two of the four -year rookie deal.
Tristan Amundson: And suddenly it feels like the clock is ticking a little bit. And it just it just would be nice, especially, you know, in the... the second half of this game against some other backups to to just just really smoothly go through a few touchdown drives.
Tristan Amundson: We saw that. We saw Drew Luck do... Uh... Drew Locke, do that. a handful of times this preseason. We never really saw just like a totally smooth drive all the way in for a score.
Tristan Amundson: From Jalen Milrow. I... If. if something happened to sam darnold and let me You know, knock on wood here. But if something happened to Sam Darnold and Drew Locke was called in as the starter.
Tristan Amundson: I do kind of feel like the Seahawks would go elsewhere to somebody on the, a veteran on the street to to bring them in as the. the two behind Jude Locke. That is kind of how I ultimately, if we're being real about the situation and how the Seahawks are looking at the roster for 2026.
Tristan Amundson: I just kind of think that would be their play. and it would be It would be tough to hand Jalen Melrose the keys at this point in time. Um,
Tristan Amundson: But you can see from the from hard knocks the support around him is great if that The attitude is great. So hopeful hopefully it clicks in in year. at some point in the future here but To be honest, that it hasn't happened yet. it It just hasn't happened yet. The other red flag from this preseason.
Tristan Amundson: Unfortunately have to call it out here. It's Jason Myers. Three for seven overall on the kicks. This is coming out. ah His last competitive game, the Super Bowl, went five for five.
Tristan Amundson: and had one of some of the most field goal kicks ever in an NFL season last year. No idea what is happening. but This is officially a problem. three Three for seven, that's enough kicks.
Tristan Amundson: gone wrong that that we've got a problem on our hands. Hopefully that's just. That's just ironing things out for the preseason and we forget about this by the end of September But as things are right now that That that was pretty tough.
Tristan Amundson: The next few days for the Seahawks, that it doesn't stop the... The content and the events within the building. So I'm recording this afternoon, August 29th, later tonight.
Tristan Amundson: NFL, in that in case there wasn't enough. documentaries about the Seattle Seahawks. The NFL Network releasing their annual kind of hour -long special about the Super Bowl winner.
Tristan Amundson: That series is titled America's Game. That debuts on NFL Network tonight and will be replaying throughout the week. Hopefully it's on NFL Plus as well. Looking forward to seeing that. Although maybe...
Tristan Amundson: we We are maybe reaching a tipping point of behind the scenes Seahawks content Tomorrow, Sunday, August 30th, it's roster cut down day. The 53 -man roster does have to be official by 3 p .m.
Tristan Amundson: We'll be back to talk about that next week. if If things are surprising or not surprising or just how that goes. Always some surprising things happen around the league. ah but When it's time to get down to 53 and do the hard math.
Tristan Amundson: Two days after that. September 1st. The finale of Hard Knocks, the fifth and final episode. Of the series. And then ah you get that you get a little break.
Tristan Amundson: there's always that there's that extra week now that that starts to feel really long Until Wednesday, September 9th. Seahawks kick off the entire NFL regular season. The first game played.
Tristan Amundson: The only game that night. Hosting. the New England Patriots. Alright, folks. Thanks for listening today. A lot happening in the Seahawks world. There's so many people.
Tristan Amundson: I think about Torrey Horton and his comeback from injury. I think of Rashid Shaheed and his... His, ah you know, the the work he did in the offseason with Sam Darnold. I think of Ty Okada, who is...
Tristan Amundson: you know, a locked in starter for this team now and in his development. These are all guys we haven't seen on Hard Knocks. Haven't seen their hard work just yet. A lot of guys still kind of behind the curtain on the stage after this preseason where.
Tristan Amundson: we We didn't see a lot of starters play hardly at all. Very excited. It'll be very exciting to finally see it all happen and finally see football that really matters. In the meantime...
Tristan Amundson: Go steal. Oh, um. Go Hawks.
