Doug Baldwin wasn’t completely ready to celebrate Sunday night after the Seahawks pummeled the Denver Broncos, 43-8, in Super Bowl XLVIII. Baldwin finished the most significant game of his career with five catches for 66 yards and a touchdown. He made time before the party to be “Angry Doug Baldwin,” the disrespected, undrafted wide receiver out of Stanford that takes all criticism and adds it to what he calls two “giant boulders” on his shoulders.
In Baldwin’s post-game press conference, he lived up to his nickname, chiding ESPN analyst Cris Carter, an eight-time Pro Bowl selection as a wide receiver in a 16-year NFL career that ended in 2002, for saying Seattle’s receivers were “appetizers” to a run-first offense.
“Ya’ll listen to me loud and clear,” Baldwin said to reporters surrounding his podium. “Y’all listening? You hear me? For all y’all who called the receiving corps ‘average,’ ‘pedestrian’ or ‘appetizers,’ I’m not going to say any names, but (Carter) knows who he is. I respect what you did on the field. But stick to football, stick to playing football, because your analytical skills aren’t up to par yet.
“You need to go back and do it not half-ass. You’re saying some stuff that really doesn’t make sense.”
The feud with Carter extends to Jan. 19, hours before Seattle beat San Francisco 23-17 in the NFC Championship. Earlier that day, Baldwin watched ESPN when Carter, a Hall of Famer who played most of his career with the Minnesota Vikings, and fellow NFL analyst Keyshawn Johnson blamed QB Russell Wilson’s late-season slump on the receivers.
Baldwin responded by piling up a season-best 106 receiving yards on six receptions, including a 51-yard catch in the first half, which helped kick-start Seattle’s offense.
“It irritates the hell out of me that we have guys that constantly want to talk about our receiving corps — talking about we’re average, we’re pedestrian,” Baldwin said following the win. “Well, I guess we’re going to walk our ass to the Super Bowl.”
After the Seahawks rolled in their second trip of the season to MetLife Stadium, Baldwin offered another jab at Carter.
“That dude that said we were appetizers told me to Google him,” Baldwin said, referring to Carter without naming him. “I did Google him. But I didn’t see any Super Bowl appearances, and I also saw two losses in conference championships. So I have a Super Bowl ring that I will gladly show to him. And if he doesn’t have time to come and see it, tell him to Google it.”
Carter fired back on SportsCenter when told of Baldwin’s comments.
“They’re Super Bowl champions. They deserve that,” he said. “They need to be concerned about (spring drills) when he’s back to being the third or fourth guy. Congratulations tonight.”
Baldwin is a restricted free agent this offseason, though a Pelissero story Monday in USA Today indicated that the club plans to re-sign him for 2014. Baldwin finished his third year in Seattle with 50 catches for 778 yards and a career-best five touchdowns despite receiving only 73 targets in an offense predicated on a power running game.
“I’ll take that,” Baldwin said after the NFC title game. “I’ll be an appetizer, but that’s a good-ass appetizer.”
7 Comments
Lame. Wilson didn’t have a slump, the running game was doing well. Can’t throw when Beastmode has the ball. And geez, anyone remember that Sidney Rice was lost to injury? And Carter’s comments sounds like he actually doubts that Baldwin will make the team next season. He needs to google Doug and realize that he’s a solid receiver. I love Baldwin’s assesment on Carter’s career. Makes me want the team to repeat even more.
Actually Wilson did have a slump in the last quarter of the season including the first two playoff games. It’s actually been well documented in animated gifs accompanying articles on fieldgulls, footballoutsiders, and elsewhere. He wasn’t making routine throws and was becoming too cautious and gun shy. But it had nothing to do with the receivers not getting open though, and for Carter and Keyshawn to make that claim is just laziness. They obviously didn’t do their homework, probably because they didn’t think they, as former NFL wide receivers, didn’t have to when they really do.
I guess it depends on the definitiion of the word “slump”. His QBR was solid in the playoffs. He wasn’t running that’s for sure but it seems to me that’s by design from the OC. I don’t believe he was as horrible as some analysts laid claim. And the routine throws…well, it goes both ways. It isn’t always on the QB.
I actually think the Seahawks receiving corps is a strength of the team. Maybe none of these guys is a Hall of Famer in waiting but as a unit, they’re pretty damned good…good enough to win the Super Bowl (which, as noted, Carter never won himself).
Relax, Doug, and try to enjoy the moment with your teammates and fans Wednesday. You’re a world champion now, and that’s something the Cris Carters and Tom Pelisseros can’t take away from you. You belong.
I just love it when smart-ass so-called “experts” are proven wrong. Sweet!!!
I’m glad the Seahawks got their day in the sun with the media. And I do mean day. By Tuesday I see and hear:
“The Broncos just had a off day.”
“There were holes in Seattle’s defense the Broncos could have exploited.”
And my fav: “That opening safety threw the Broncos off their game.” (Yes, the AFC champs were rattled by being down 2 with only 59:48 to play.)
Also: How dare Richard Sherman say the 49ers were the actual second best team, from analysts who said the same thing Sunday night.
And: The Seahawks won’t repeat, even as NFC West champs, because the other teams will be getting higher draft picks (as if the Hawks are built on high draft picks).
Add in dozen of tweets from people gleeful over Sherman ankle injury.
If you were worried the Hawks wouldn’t play with the same chip-on-their-shoulder, us-against-the-world, mentality next year, relax. We’ll always have people like Skip Bayliss, Cris Carter, and reporters unquestioningly repeating anything Colin Kaepernick says, for motivation.
Congrats, Doug! We love your play – period! We have a great set of receivers, just like we have a great set of secondary defenders, d-linemen, etc. A guy goes down and we reload. I honestly have never been impressed by Sidney Rice and prefer Baldwin over him any day. Just look at Doug’s catch ratio…. Regarding the so-called “slump”, things change when you face top ten defenses like were faced late in the season, and in the first two playoff games. Russ does fine, has great receivers, and our offense capitalizes on what they are given. Seattle Seahawks, Superbowl Champs!!!