Second Thoughts

So much for having team of nice people

Former Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett (right) thinks the team lost some “swagger” after running back Marshawn Lynch decided to retire.
Former Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett (right) thinks the team lost some “swagger” after running back Marshawn Lynch decided to retire.

The Seattle Seahawks were once one of the biggest and baddest teams in the NFL. Watching a team play in Seattle may have been a frightening experience for some, especially at night.

But things have changed over the past few seasons, and they figure to change a lot more now that many prominent members of the "Legion of Boom" defense are gone. In an interview on The Bill Simmons Podcast, defensive end Michael Bennett said the team's swagger was lost when running back Marshawn Lynch decided to retire.

"Oh yeah, man. Marshawn's personality is so big and he's such a -- he's one of those dudes, he's really like [singer/songwriter] Nina Simone: He's just misunderstood," said Bennett, who is now with the Philadelphia Eagles. "People misunderstand him all the time. He's such a great guy when it comes to doing community [service work]. He's such a great teammate. He shows up to everybody's thing. He plays hard. When he practices, he practices hard. So when he left, you could feel it. He was just that guy that had swag that made the Seahawks feel like a different type of team."

Bennett went on to explain that a team, in any sport, needs a handful of players like Lynch in order to be good.

"You don't want a bunch of Russell Wilsons. You gotta have three or four Marshawn Lynches on your team," Bennett said. "At any moment, you never know what they're going to do. Whether they're going to come to work or dropkick the coach. You know, [former NBA player] Latrell Sprewell. You just never know.

"You can't have a whole bunch of nice people on a sports team. You need one good guy that does everything right, you know, prays and does all the stuff then goes, 'Yeah! Let's go play!' Then you need some thugs. That's just how it goes."

Costly punch

He may have landed the punch, but former major-league pitcher Greg Reynolds was the one who was hurt the most.

That's the decision a California jury came to earlier this week, awarding Reynolds more than $2 million after his baseball career was derailed following an incident where he punched a naked man on LSD who was trying to break into his home in 2015, according to The Mercury News.

Reynolds will receive a total of $2.3 million from the man Reynolds said he punched in self defense.

Reynolds, the No. 2 overall pick by the Colorado Rockies in 2006, spent parts of three seasons with the Rockies before attempting to resurrect his career in Japan. Shortly after returning to the United States in search of another major-league opportunity, he was attacked in January 2015 by then-19-year-old Domenic Pintarelli, who was trying to destroy Reynolds' mailbox before being confronted. Pintarelli then attacked Reynolds, who ran into his home but shortly came back outside and punched Pintarelli in the face. When the police arrived, they determined Pintarelli had been using LSD.

The punch resulted in "multiple fractures" to Reynolds' pitching hand, which he argued affected his pitching ability and, in turn, curtailed his career. Despite later signing a minor-league deal with the San Diego Padres, Reynolds was released in 2016 and has not pitched professionally since.

Sports on 03/23/2018

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