Good morning, 12s. We are less than two weeks away from Seahawks football! Here's a look at what's happening today – Monday, Aug. 31 – for your Seattle Seahawks.
Seahawks Legends Join Draze For "Building Black Wealth" Episode
Just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Seattle-area hip-hop artist and entrepreneur Draze launched the Black Wealth Movement. It was an initiative for people to support Black-owned businesses, and he released the song "Building Black Wealth" in January. Later, Draze began "Building Black Wealth TV," where he interviews entrepreneurs and local Black business owners to highlight their work.
"This show is about taking a holistic view of the entrepreneurs in our community," Draze said.
The latest episode of "Building Black Wealth" was a Seahawks edition, with Draze interviewing Seahawks Legends about their post-football ventures and why all races should support Black businesses, among other things. In recognition of Black Business Month (August), the Seahawks decided to partner with Draze for the episode. Seahawks Legends Cliff Avril, Marcus Trufant, Justin Forsett and Jordan Babineaux joined Draze to discuss their business ventures and highlight a few local businesses.
First up, Draze spoke with Babineaux, who owns his own business, "Assure Ride." Assure Ride is a non-emergency medical transportation company with ambulatory and non-ambulatory services to ease transportation needs. Babineaux cited people who are aging, potentially with cancer or dialysis treatment needed, who utilize his service.
Next up was Forsett, who highlighted "Hustle Clean," a business he founded after his career ended. Hustle Clean sells disposable body wipes to clean either the face or other parts of the body and remove sweat. He said he hatched the idea while on the Seahawks and he realized he didn't always have time to wash up between workouts.
Third was Trufant, who discussed "Extra Space Storage, Inc." He became a partner with Extra Space Storage late in his NFL career and believed it was important because it's a steady, consistent business, similar to how he was on the field during his career.
Lastly, Draze talked with Avril about the Cliff Avril Family Foundation. Avril's foundation is a huge supporter in the Seattle community, including recently partnering with Safeway to donate money for food to families in need. In the interview with Draze, Avril discussed how his foundation is helping people with Type 2 diabetes in his family's home country of Haiti.
You can connect with episodes of Building Black Wealth through their social channels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. You can also watch the full episode of "Building Black Wealth, Seahawks Edition" below.
The next Building Black Wealth episode will feature Marshawn Lynch, so stay tuned for that on the Building Black Wealth YouTube channel.
Seahawks Player React To Tragic Death Of Chadwick Boseman
Legendary actor Chadwick Boseman died late Friday night at the age of 43 after a four-year battle with colon cancer. His cancer was unknown to the public, so his death came as a complete shock. Boseman prominently starred as Black Panther in multiple films, Jackie Robinson in "42," James Brown in "Get on Up" and Thurgood Marshall in "Marshall."
Seahawks players took to social media to remember Boseman and the inspiration he was to so many people.
Rest in peace, Chadwick.
Greg Olsen Joins NFL Network's "Inside Training Camp Live"
Late last week, Greg Olsen joined NFL Network's "Inside Training Camp Live" for an interview. Olsen discussed the Seahawks' challenging NFC West competition, having fun at practice in Seattle and how the pandemic has affected training camp. He also opened up about his relationship with the Metcalfs. Olsen is a current teammate of DK Metcalf, the Seahawks' second-year receiver, but he also played with DK's dad, Terrence, in Chicago from 2007 to 2008.
Below are some highlights from Olsen's NFL Network appearance.
On who the better Metcalf is – father Terrence or son DK:
"Every time someone brings it up it reminds me that I'm not a spring chicken anymore, I've been doing this a long time. I got to catch up with DK's dad Terrence, a former teammate of mine in Chicago, a couple weeks ago. DK and I ran some routes before we started back up and his dad was in town so he got to visit and spend some time. But that seems like a long time ago, 2007. I was a young rookie who didn't know anything, and he was the veteran, established offensive lineman. I was just trying to figure out which way to go. Here I am now playing with his kid. But it's a pretty cool thing, I take some pride in it knowing that it's not easy to stick around in this league for a long time. It's definitely a reminder that it's hard keeping up with these young guys."
On how training camp is different during the pandemic:
"This year, I think everyone around the league is just transitioning. We came in after we got through that COVID testing period and everybody was allowed back in the building. We had that eight-day stretch of just training with the strength and conditioning coaches. We kind of put our miniature offseason at the front end of training camp, so we did kind of an OTA-style phase one and phase two before we were able to put on pads and do a traditional training camp. I just think across the league things are different."
You can watch Olsen's full interview here:
Social Post Of The Day
Congratulations to Seahawks rookie Darrell Taylor on the birth of his daughter!
This is the second week in a row that a Seahawks player welcomed a child, as Jason Myers' daughter was born on Aug. 24.
More From Around The Web
Seahawks.com reporter John Boyle gives you an update on the Seahawks’ injury report after Sunday’s mock game.
Also on Seahawks.com, Boyle has takeaways and observations from Sunday’s mock game.
Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times gave his latest 53-man roster projection with less than two weeks until the season opener.
Ben Arthur of the Seattle PI wwrote about Jamal Adams’ comments on the support he has from Pete Carroll on racial inequity issues.
Joe Fann of NBC Sports Northwest analyzed the Michael Jordan-like trash talk that Jamal Adams displays at practice.
