Knox to Be Honored

This Sunday, The Seattle Seahawks play the comically misnamed Arizona Cardinals in another "battle of the birds" The Cardinals, perenially one of the NFL's weakest franchises, always seems to give Seattle a major battle in Qwest Field. The Seahawks will induct Chuck Knox into the "Ring Of Honor" the team's hall of fame.
In yesterday's Seattle Times, Sports columnist Steve Kelley sums up what Knox meant to the Seahawks and the community.
"This Sunday his name will be placed alongside Steve Largent, Jim Zorn, Dave Brown, Jacob Green, Dave Krieg, Pete Gross, Curt Warner and Kenny Easley on the Ring of Honor at Qwest Field.
"He should have been up there sooner," former Hawks defensive tackle Joe Nash said.
Knox is the football father to everyone on that ring. He raised them in the game. He made them better.
When Chuck Knox came to coach the Seahawks in 1983, the newness of NFL football was begging to wear off on Seattle. The city no longer was just happy to have a franchise. It was tired of losing. It was frustrated by three consecutive bad seasons. It wanted something more.
And from the day he arrived from Buffalo, Knox gave this town what it wanted. He changed the psychology of the franchise. He brought in veteran players who never accepted losing — Reggie McKenzie, Charle Young, Blair Bush.
"When he came we were, I don't want to say in disarray, but he brought a little more stability to the program," said Nash, who is a banker in South Boston. "He was the kind of coach who didn't take any guff. He brought a new feeling when he came in and brought with him a group of veterans who'd won before. He shook things up. By bringing in those guys he raised the bar for all of us."
Knox made Seattle into a winner. He didn't just get to the playoffs. He won playoff games, something no other Seahawks coach has done."
It has been about 20 years since Seattle's last play off win, maybe a little Chuck Knox can rub off on the team and start something that could put Mike Holmgren, and even Matt Hasselbeck in the that ring of honor someday.