The Seahawks are champs, but now that their bellies are full, are they about to be a lesser version of themselves in 2026?
The Seattle Seahawks will enter the new NFL season as the champs, and for Mike Macdonald's team, the desire to repeat is real.
Of course, given that just two teams over the past two decades have done it, Seattle faces an uphill climb.
But we also often see teams that win the Super Bowl suffer what many call a Super Bowl 'hangover,' which can manifest in different ways.
With the locker room now having their bellies full after climbing the mountain, maybe they don't lift that weight a couple of more times, don't push themselves to do that last rep, or even not able to withstand every team's best shot the following season.
Not to mention starting the offseason period later, and playing more football than most of the league, that can have both a physical and mental impact as well.
So, all of that can add up to what we know to be the "hangover," and it brings us to whether or not the Seahawks could suffer the same fate as nearly every team over the last 20 years.
But for analyst Michael Bumpus, who was on Seattle Sports' Bump and Stacy, he doesn't think there will be a hangover in Seattle.
“Whenever a team has won a Super Bowl, they are talked about (like) they are gods, how they are destined to at least get back to the big game,” Bumpus said. “And the Hawks just haven’t gotten that. And (when) we’ve asked questions to these players about how you feel about that, they’ve expressed their frustration and whatnot.
“That’s why there’s going to be no hangover.”
So there is a desire to not be part of history in Seattle, and we have already seen nearly 100 percent attendance at OTAs and then minicamp, so that is a good start.
Training camp is roughly over a month away, so players have some downtime before getting back into the swing of things, but now is when their work should increase.
To be able to hit the ground running and have a smooth training camp will give the Seahawks the best chance at starting the season well.
Because there is one way to keep that "hangover" crowd quiet, and it is to win football games, and win them early.
Do that, and you hold off the hangover narrative for a little longer.
