The Decline of Shaun Alexander
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by Behbigben15
After I saw SS Reporters' Lockerroom article, "Go Figure", and he pointed out that the Seahawks have won 5 straight games in which Alexander sat out, I decided to look deeper into the decline of a back who was Pro Bowl material just a few short years ago. The high of Alexander's career was back in 2005, when his Seattle Seahawks went to the Super Bowl, and lost to my Pittsburgh Steelers, 21-10 in 2006. The following year, Alexander was featured on the cover of John Madden's NFL video game "Madden NFL '07", and, as you all know, their is a "Madden Curse". The curse was kept alive, as Alexander missed 6 games due to injury, and his rushing yard total went from 1,880 in '05, to just 896 in '06, and his 27 TD's went down to just 7. His YPC average went down dramatically, as well (5.1 to 3.6).
From 2001-2005, Alexander to the Pro Bowl three times, won the Offensive POY, and the NFL MVP Award (2005), as well as the Bert Bell Award (2005), and two ESPY's (Record-breaking Performance, and NFL Player in 2006). Alexander was a dominant force, and was considered one of the best back's in the NFL, he was even thought to be an a future Hall of Famer. But, after he struggled with injuries, and battled the Madden Curse after the SB loss in '06, many have said he is 'soft'. Which, I don't believe is necessarily true, lots of players suffer from multiple injuries, and have bad times, that doesn't mean their so-called 'soft'. I haven't heard people call guys like Donavan McNabb, Steve McNair, and Fred Taylor, who have all battled many injuries throughout their long career.
Alexander never missed a game, and rushed for over 1,000 yards for FIVE consecutive years ('01-'05). He played in every game in his Rookie year, but didn't start much, and carried the ball just 64 carries, for 313 yards, and 2 TD, since he was behind the future HOFer Ricky Watters. If Alexander was a regular starter in '01, he would have been well over 1,000 yards, probably at around 1,500 yards, and 10+ TD's.
Alexander is projected to finish this year off with 716 Rushing Yards (career-low), 3 TD, and a 3.3 YPC average (Career-low), on just 217 carries. He has already missed 3 games this season, and is Questionable for this Sunday's game v.s. Philly.
Here is Alexander's Career Stats:
2000 (R)- 16 G, 64 ATT, 313 Yds, 2 TD, 4.9 YPC
2001- 16 G, 309 ATT, 1,318 Yds, 14 TD, 4.3 YPC
2002- 16 G, 295 ATT, 1,175 Yds, 16 TD, 4.0 YPC
2003- 16 G, 326 ATT, 1,435 Yds, 14 TD, 4.4 YPC
2004- 16 G, 353 ATT, 1,696 Yds, 16 TD's, 4.8 YPC
2005- 16 G, 370 ATT, 1,880 Yds, 27 TD's, 5.1 YPC
2006- 10 G, 252 ATT, 896 Yds, 7 TD's, 3.6 YPC
2007- 8 G, 149 ATT, 492 Yds, 2 TD, 3.3 YPC
BOLD - Career-high
Career Stats- 114 G, 2,118 ATT, 9,205 Yds, 98 TD, 4.3 YPC
Average/Season- 14 G, 265 ATT, 1,150 Yds, 12 TD, 4.3 YPC
Average/Season ('01-'05)- 16 G, 330 ATT, 1,500 Yds, 17 TD, 4.5 YPC
