Field Gulls
Surprisingly, we may have gotten the spiciest comments from the two Seattle Seahawks offensive players that have been interviewed on Making a Champion. Only if you believe in reading tea leaves.
The Seattle Seahawks’ exploration of perspectives from the people who made the 2025 team champions rolls along with starting tight end, A.J. Barner. Barner took over the role last offseason, making Noah Fant a free agent release. He made an impact in the passing game, as a strong run-blocker, as the resident Barn-Yard Tush Push specialist and as an aura farmer.
In discussing (with Jen Mueller and Bryan Walters) the increased physicality of the Los Angeles Rams matchups last year, he said: “People like to say, you know, ‘games aren’t different’, but I like to have a little more when we play division games.”
Still talking about the Rams matchup: “And the Rams got really good players. They got really good EDGEs, and those EDGEs are competitors too. I’m one of those people that, you know, I’m not really going to love up the EDGE’s. Some guys would be like, ‘man, you should be getting paid more’, or something like that… like, I like to get after it with those guys and let them know that I’m here to compete. And those guys are with that, so I have a lot of respect for them.”
That’s the type of strong and confident answer you want to hear from your stud TE, especially with the NFC West rival L.A. team acquiring All-Pro/legendary EDGE, Myles Garrett from the Cleveland Browns. Not only is Barner a warrior, but so is our franchise left tackle, Charles Cross. It’ll be tough, but we have guys that are up for the challenge.
Among many other answers that showed his personality, Barner also discussed what it was like going against an un-retired, future Hall-of-Famer in Philip Rivers. He explained: “I think it shows you that, you know, with that knowledge of the game, you can really make a lot of plays. Like you don’t have to be in your best physical shape; you don’t have to be moving light years ahead of everyone else. Like, if you know defenses and you know what you’re looking at and what you’re looking for— it can make a huge difference.”
Barner continued by saying, “as a young player, I think that’s one way to look at it. When you see a guy that’s been in the league for so long, it’s like, yeah, I mean, he just came right off the streets from five years. And it’s like, he knows what he’s looking for. So, I think that’s goes a long way.”
The players can tell who is good and why. Rewind with me one episode of this series for the tea leaves that you can call me crazy for or ponder along with me at the possibilities.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba, last episode, on his relationship with Sam Darnold: “I love building that relationship. I tend to be good friends...
