Walter Jones’ unofficial retirement

Usually Super Bowl Sunday gets the nations attention either on the field (if you have the $800+ per ticket to fork up) or on that 1080 HD TV in the living room.

Either way you decide to watch the game about everyone in this country turns into watch the Super Bowl on Super Bowl Sunday.

Now most of the time there's not any other news that happens on Super Bowl Sunday other than on the two teams involved in the Super Bowl.

However Seattle Seahawks offensive tackle made an not so surprised announcement Sunday. He announced via Twitter that he was retiring from the game of football. Here's the two quotes from Jones' Twitter page.

"I have came to the concussion it is time for me to retire from football."
11:12 AM Feb 7th

"Sorry conclusion this phone just hep you spell to much but you understand."
12:55 PM Feb 7th

The second quote was because apparently Jones' cant' spell on Twitter but the man has worked his butt off the last 14 years so he doesn't have to spell.

If this is truly the end of Walter Jones' 13-year career then he is retiring that much quicker to be closer to the hall of fame which will be calling Walter Jones' name in 2015.

Walter Jones, a first round pick sixth overall in 1997 NFL Draft and has had one of the best careers in the NFL for an offensive tackle.

If Jones is officially retiring, which has not been confirmed by the Seahawks or Walter Jones' agent, he would be retiring with the following awards and accomplishments while only playing in a Seahawks uniform for all of his 13 year NFL career.

First team all rookie (1997)

9x Pro Bowler (99,01,02,03,04,05,06,07, 08)

6x all NFC (01-05,07)

4x First team all pro (01,04,05,07)

3x Second team all pro (02,06,08)

Listed on 2000's all decade team

Walter Jones is easily a first ballot hall of famer when his turn comes around in 2015, should this be his "official announcement" of retirement.

This past season Jones failed to record a snap because he could not recover from off season knee surgery, which could be the major reason why he would decide to call it a career.

Now the most important part of this fiasco is who will replace Jones as the cornerstone of the franchise at left tackle? Sean Locklear proved that he's not capable of being an NFL left tackle. Brandon Frye, who finished the season on IR after being a quick fill is also not the long term solution.

The Seahawks could look to free agency but with the CBA being in limbo no one knows who exactly will be restricted and unrestricted in terms of free agents. The Seahawks could also look at the draft with Russell Okung, Anthony Davis and others being available at No. 6 and No. 14 respectively.

Currently nothing is official on any Walter Jones retirement so if anyone looks into this from another site having it be breaking news that is incorrect information, nothing is official nor confirmed by any source.

I will keep tracking this for everyone and keep updates flowing if there happens to be any.

Seahawks Draft Prospects: OT Russell Okung

As today dons a new year and more importantly a new decade in Seahawks history. However they still have one little bit of 2009 left attached to them, that being their final regular season game this Sunday at home against the Tennessee Titans and C2k Chris Johnson.

After the Tennessee game this Sunday the Seahawks will go into full on off season mode, starting with the hiring of the teams new president/GM replacing Tim Ruskell who resigned in December.

Once that new GM is in place they will have a lot of work ahead of them to add talented to this depleted roster. The Seahawks new GM will have to attack some of those needs through free agency as well as the 2010 draft where the Seahawks have two first round picks (7th and 19th currently projected).

The Seahawks will be going into the off season needing to address the following needs.

Starting left tackle to replace Walter Jones immediately.

Starting left guard to finally replace Steve Hutchinson and give the Seahawks a real strong left side once again.

A young talented running back to give the Seahawks a true presents in the running department, something they haven't had since Shaun Alexander.

An aggressive, strong defensive end to give the Seahawks a real pass rush, something they have seriously lacked the last two years.

A tall, speedy, physical corner back to match up against some of the tall NFC West WR's like Larry Fitzgerald.

A tall, explosive play maker at wide receiver to complement TJ Houshmandzadeh over the middle, and a real No. 1 target for Matt Hasselbeck.

TALENT, TALENT AND MORE TALENT.

So where do you start? Well over the next next three to four months leading up to the 2010 NFL draft I'll be profiling a lot of possible draft selections for the Seattle Seahawks at the need positions I just listed above.

So with that being said, first on the list is Oklahoma State left guard Russell Okung.

Physical stature and Skills:

6-8, 300 lbs, long arms, quick feet, 34 consecutive starts, great agility, Patient and doesn't over extend

Character/Experience :

Leader on and off the field, hark working, consistency throughout his entire college career and has started all four years at Oklahoma State.

NFL comparison:

Joe Thomas-Great footwork, experienced and hard working along with all the intangibles.

ESPN scouts Inc Todd McShay has Russell Okung as the No. 1 offensive tackle in the 2010 draft and a top seven pick. Okung might have a hard time slipping by the Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions who will pick before the Seattle Seahawks, but do have a lot of other needs on their team as well.

On the Seahawks draft board Okung, with out any doubt will be the first player on their board. He could be the second behind Nebraska DT Ndamukong Suh who, baring a trade or miracle won't fall to the Seahawks between 5th and 7th overall.

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