Pro Football: Leonard “Green Shoes” Weaver leads Seahawks to 2nd win in 7 games

Football should be fun and the Seattle Seahawks finally did just that by driving the San Francisco 49ers out of their home field on Sunday (10-26-08) behind Leonard “Green Shoes” Weaver’s catch-and-run explosion and the skill to steal passes. by Josh Wilson, winning 34-13.

On a day when Seattle’s defense not only appeared but played, Weaver converted two short catches from backup quarterback Seneca Wallace into touchdowns of 43 and 62 yards.

Just seeing Weaver running down the sideline in prominent lime green shoes was worth the price of admission. Weaver, the 6-foot, 242-pound fullback from Seattle, took high strides and great style as he took the stone home twice. Normally, Weaver is the primary blocker for running backs Julius Jones and Mo Morris.

Weaver’s green shoes are reminiscent of another, more famous athlete from the mid-1970s, Billy “White Shoes” Johnson. Johnson, a three-time All-Pro kick return specialist, wore white shoes when everyone else wore black shoes.

Johnson had great speed, and long before swagger became an end zone pastime in the NFL, he was one of the first players to throw scoring celebrations, initially doing the then-famous soul dance, the ” FunkyChicken.”

Josh Wilson, the Seahawks’ second-year defensive back and kickoff return specialist, spotted a fumble in last week’s 20-10 loss at Tampa Bay and was running for an apparent 96-yard touchdown when an official called the dead play.

It was no surprise on Sunday when Wilson intercepted a pass from JT O’Sullivan and took off on a 75-yard opening return to put Seattle up 20-3 with 31 seconds left in the first half. Coach Mike Holmgren saw Wilson’s steal as a tremendous boost for his

Seahawks.

The Seahawk defense had sacked O’Sullivan 8 times in their first meeting this year in Seattle, but the 49ers walked away with a 33-30 victory in overtime. They got to the San Francisco quarterbacks 5 times this time, but forced starter O’Sullivan to fumble two fumbles, and 6-foot-5, 272-pound defensive end Patrick Kerney picked up one of the fumbles and he ran 50 yards, creating a second field. Goal in the 1st quarter.

Seattle’s missing defense earlier in the season showed up in JT O’Sullivan’s backfield, putting so much pressure on O’Sullivan that new 49ers coach Mike Singletary replaced him with Shaun Hill. It didn’t seem to matter because Seattle left San Francisco on top this time.

The Seahawks, now 2-5 on the year, are tied for second in the weak NFC West with the St. Louis Rams. The Arizona Cardinals lead the division with a 4-3 record.

Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley