ClutchPoints
The Seattle Seahawks may be reigning Super Bowl champions, but head coach Mike Macdonald is making sure his roster stays grounded in something larger than football.
On Wednesday, the 38-year-old coach altered the team’s mandatory minicamp plans. After running his squad through a two-and-a-half-hour session on Tuesday, Macdonald trimmed Wednesday’s workout to a short one-hour indoor walkthrough conducted in T-shirts. He then dispatched players and coaches in groups across the Seattle area for an afternoon of community volunteering.
The destinations included Seattle Children’s hospital, the Ronald McDonald House — a residential facility in Seattle’s Laurelhurst neighborhood where families of young patients receiving treatment nearby can stay at no cost — and the Veterans Affairs medical center in Seattle. Another group headed to the Family First Community Center in Renton, an organization launched by Doug Baldwin, the former Seahawks wide receiver and Super Bowl winner.
Within 90 minutes of the abbreviated practice wrapping up, defensive lineman Rylie Mills, running back Emanuel Wilson and tight end Lance Mason were among the players playing basketball with teenagers at the Family First Community Center, located around 15 minutes from team headquarters.
Community engagement is nothing new under Macdonald. He has previously taken the team to Joint Base Lewis-McChord to meet U.S. Army Special Forces, with Pro Bowl cornerback Devon Witherspoon chatting with soldiers atop a tank during a 2024 trip to the 1-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team. Elite military units have also attended practices at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center as VIPs. However, this was the first team-wide canvassing of local organizations under his watch.
Minicamp concludes Thursday, after which players get a six-week break before training camp opens July 25.
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