Seattle Seahawks owner Vinod Khosla has once again found himself in some hot water online. Recently, Khosla gave remarks about any plans - or lack thereof - to move the Seahawks. Khosla's full comments to Axios were:
“I will never say never. Will this team be in Seattle 500 years from now? But I have no current plans to change anything about the team, including the coach, president, operation or Lumen Field. It all functions well.”
In a vacuum, Khosla's remarks not only make sense but are ojectively practical. However, you can certainly forgive the 12th Man for being more than a little concerned the new owner is even entertaining any conversation on any level when it comes to the topic of relocation. Yes, I suppose in a practical sense you can never
truly say "never." Can we say for certain the team will be here in 500 years? Will there even be a Seattle in 500 years? Can we guarantee we won't develop faster-than-light travel or The Rizzler won't be elected president in that time span? No, I guess we can't. "Never say never."
But he also could have said... nothing. Instead, he dipped his toes - ever so slightly - into a topic that is specifically engineered to trigger a trauma response among the Seattle faithful. This is a city filled with fans still deeply hurt by the Sonics leaving town. Any mention of "relocation" under any circumstances, especially about the crown jewel Seahawks, is guaranteed going to ruffle some feathers.
Khosla clearly seemed taken aback by the response to his ultimately benign comments, and once again took to social media to attempt to assuage concerns among the 12th Man. You can see the tweet itself here, but we at Seahawks Wire chose to publish his full comments below to avoid potentially cutting any off in the embedding process.
"To all @Seahawks fans and @12s, we have no plans to move the team, have never discussed it, haven’t even thought about it. End of story. I've said repeatedly we have no plans to change anything. Feel sad for the reporters looking for views and clicks who distort my answer out of context and sent an entire city into a spiral for no reason."
While the clarity and commitment to remaining in Seattle is deeply appreciated, I can't exactly blame fans for being frustrated with their new owner... nor do I think blaming reporters (again, but more on that later) is fair. Yes, we all know the media loves to twist comments out of context to drum up a juicy story. That is why you can't willingly give them a juicy nugget to chew on. It's not their fault for reporting on something you said to them! Especially about anything relocation related given the aforementioned Sonics context
I must re-emphasize it is the position of Seahawks Wire that we take Khosla at his word about there not being plans to relocate. We also stand by our previously published piece about him not saying he wanted to do that.
However, this is twice now that Khosla has sort of stepped in it with comments he probably wishes he could take back. When he had his introductory press conference shortly after the other NFL owners approved the sale of the team to him, Khosla mentioned how he is a Steelers fan who still watches all their games. The reason being he came to America in the 1970's when they were the reigning dynasty. Seattle fans predictably freaked out, and Khosla went to social media to issue an apology... but not before critiquing the reporters for reporting on something he said.
We aren't even two full months into the Khosla era of ownership and already it is a stark difference from the Allen regime. It feels like we have heard more from Vinod Khosla and his son Neal more than we ever heard from Paul Allen, and later his sister Jody, in the 30 years they owned the team. The Allens ruled quietly from the shadows. They were the "man behind the curtain," so to speak.
I still believe Vinod Khosla is well intentioned, and I have faith in his family's leadership. That being said, it is clear there is still much for him to learn about the history and culture of the city in which he has become an integral pillar.
This article originally appeared on Seahawks Wire: Seahawks owner Vinod Khosla addresses his comments about 'moving' team
