When the Seahawks' career is over, expect the Doug Baldwin fire to be reoriented and not extinguished

Doug Baldwin did not leave Stanford University and carries this injustice (that's exactly what he perceived) as a permanent scar. It was a reminder engraved in his identity to work a little louder.

Baldwin burned with an inner fire that always seemed to be a bit warmer than everyone else, because he felt it. And if it had already felt like the flame was starting to blink, the embers fading, Baldwin would find a perceptible feeling to rally behind.

Doug angry, they called him, though it was not so much anger as survival. He drove Baldwin to a stellar career in the NFL as a wide receiver, which effectively ended Thursday with the announcement by the Seahawks that they were ending his contract, along with that of Kam's strong safety. Chancellor.

Baldwin would admit that this state of mind in moments of candor – which were all, because no one was more honest with his emotions than Baldwin – emanated from a dangerous obsession that he had to prove. This was born of an insecurity that developed as he rode two worlds growing up in Florida – between the wealthy and white families of his hometown, Gulf Breeze, who did not Had never really accepted and the more diverse and difficult world of Pensacola, on the other side of the world. Three-Mile Bridge, where Baldwin felt like a stranger.

Baldwin knew that this obsession, bordering on a neurosis, cost him relationships and friendships.

"It's sometimes very cold, but that's what I'm comfortable with," Baldwin told The Seattle Times.

And so, he was forced to burn, for the eternal benefit of the Seahawks. And now, finally, Baldwin can allow the fire to go out if he wishes. The Seahawks announced Thursday that Baldwin, like the Chancellor, had failed a physical examination, which led to the termination of the contract that essentially ended their career in Seattle.

With the Chancellor, it was a mere formality. He had been absent last season and had retired to all except his name, because of a spinal injury that had made him too dangerous for him.

But the acceleration of Baldwin's departure was more shocking. Although we know that he was hit hard by injuries last year – he went through "hell" in 2018, he said at one point – Baldwin always fought to return in the Seahawks playoff game against Dallas. He recorded what now seems to be the last three receptions of his career in agonizing loss.

One of them thought that Baldwin would do what he always did – work like crazy to find a way to overcome obstacles against him. But it was learned that he had been operated on three times this season. And on the second day of the NFL draft two weeks ago, it was reported that Baldwin was seriously considering retirement, a rumor that Seahawks' management would not have tried to shoot it.

And Thursday, with a simple press release, the hammer fell with a raw purpose. At 30, Baldwin still has a lot to accomplish and I sincerely hope that this brutal sport will not leave him the same physical trauma as so many former players.

And with respect to this fire, I think it will be reoriented and not extinguished. Baldwin has always been much more than football. A policeman's son, he had strong opinions on many outstanding issues, including social justice, which he supported through research and field visits to talk to people on all sides of the fence.

Baldwin occasionally lectured in the "Theory of Knowledge" class at Sumner High School under his "Mr. Worthy. He thought about a political career after the end of his life and it is easy to imagine it in Congress, if not in the White House.

Few local athletes have such an eclectic resume as Baldwin, a student of science and technology in society at Stanford, and football is just one aspect of it. Baldwin was once so unsure of wanting to stay in the NFL that he sent explanations to Dropbox about an interview the day before the last day of his rookie season, just in case.

However, by his tenacity, and the possession of skills that the Seahawks coveted even though they did not want to retrieve it, Baldwin became a receiver of the Pro Bowl. Early in his career, he promised to capture 500 more passes per day than was required. He set a franchise record with 14 touchdowns in 2015. Only Steve Largent and Brian Blades have collected more passes or accumulated more yards receivable for Seattle than Baldwin. He secured a ring of the Super Bowl. One day he will be in the Seahawks' ring of honor.

One by one, the extraordinary collection of personalities and talents that has marked the most prosperous era in the history of the Seahawks is going away. Marshawn Lynch. Richard Sherman. Michael Bennett. Earl Thomas. And now, officially, Chancellor and Baldwin. Only Russell Wilson, Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright remain of the golden age.

Baldwin is as indelible as any of them. He used his supernatural acceleration to separate himself from the defenders, reinforced by a computerized understanding of the opposing tactics and by an intensity and will that made him the antithesis of the "pedestrian" – the phrasing that fueled him. typically in Super Bowl preparation.

It's hard to imagine Doug Baldwin without a word to encourage him. But it's easy to think we have not heard it.