Are Seahawks 'Most Disrespected' Super Bowl Champions Ever?

Normally, when you are the defending Super Bowl champion, as the Seattle Seahawks are, the following year, you generally start as favorites for the title.

Having been the last team standing the year prior, until someone knocks you off that mantle, you have the right to be seen as the favorite, despite what transpires in the following offseason.

The Seahawks have lost a couple of starter/rotational pieces this offseason, but still boast one of the most well-rounded rosters in football, yet they aren't being talked about in the same breath as other teams.

Why? Your guess is as good as mine.

Perhaps it is due to the Los Angeles Rams going all in and signing Myles Garrett, Trent McDuffie, and Jaylen Watson this offseason. They have been the talk of the town.

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In fact, I don't think I've seen many people talk about the Seahawks at all, which is surprising in itself.

And for ESPN's Kevin Clark, he thinks the Seahawks are one of the most disrespected Super Bowl champions due to the lack of belief in Mike Macdonald's team.

“Normally, I would laugh at a ‘Nobody believes in us, I have a chip on my shoulder gimmick’ from a Super Bowl champion," Clark said. "In this case, it is incredibly valid. The Seahawks are on the shortlist for most disrespected Super Bowl champions of my lifetime.

"I think the Eli Giants are on that list, twice. I think the Von Miller/Peyton Manning Broncos are on that list. But it feels like the day after the Super Bowl, we started a new conversation about everybody but the Seahawks.”

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Is that a fair assumption? 

The Rams have clearly been the big topic of the offseason conversation in the NFC, so too the San Francisco 49ers, and the Seahawks have sort of been pushed into the background.

Granted, Macdonald would love that. Stay in the shadows, out of the limelight, and go about your business in a quiet manner.

But as the Super Bowl champs, the Seahawks should be seen as the team to beat until they aren't, right? Yes, the Rams have improved, but they won't meet Seattle until Week 16.

So maybe there just isn't much confidence that Seattle can repeat as champs or even be as good as it was last year. Maybe it's due to the loss of Klint Kubiak or Kenneth Walker.

Either way, it does feel like the Seahawks are being disrespected as Super Bowl champs, but inside that building, I'd imagine they won't care one bit.