Doug Baldwin on end of Seahawks’ season: ‘It’s kind of like mourning right now’

RENTON – The Seahawks’ locker room looked and sounded Sunday like it usually does the day after a season-ending loss.

Players emptied out their stalls, exchanged signed helmets and jerseys and said their goodbyes, some of them audible without the music that’s normally blaring. Two large boxes accepted used cleats while team-issued tablets and the accompanying cords were collected on a cart. The two ping-pong tables, normally the sites of spirited games, were unoccupied.

Among the handful of players who spoke to the media, most did so quietly. That included wide receiver Doug Baldwin, who talked about how he was coping with the difficult reality that the Seahawks’ season is suddenly over after their divisional-round playoff loss to the Falcons. That process, Baldwin said, began with a game of “Madden” at 3:30 Sunday morning, not long after the team returned from Atlanta.

“The reason why I play ‘Madden’ is because in ‘Madden’ I can control everything, and in the game of life and the game of football, you can’t. It’s kind of like an outlet,” Baldwin said of the popular video game. “When I was sitting there visualizing about all that we’ve been through, it is hard. I don’t want to take away from anything anybody else does in this world or in this life, but to get to where we got to this year, it was difficult. It was extremely hard. It was exhausting, and then to now know everything ended so abruptly, now we have to start all over again.

“There’s some happiness in that because there were a lot of things we couldn’t fix during the course of the season that we can now work on because it’s the offseason, but it’s hard and it takes a toll on you, mentally and physically, more mentally than anything. That’s kind of what I was thinking about last night.”

Baldwin was one of a handful of Seahawks who spoke Sunday after the team held its final meeting. As it always does the day after a season-ending loss, Seattle’s locker room had a somber feel.

“It’s kind of like mourning right now,” Baldwin said.

The Seahawks aren’t due back at team headquarters until the offseason program begins in April. Plenty of time for reflection until then.

Baldwin has already started. He had another tremendous season, topping 1,000 yards for the second straight year after signing a massive new contract last summer. But he knows how success can be fleeting in the NFL.

“This is my sixth season now. I’m getting older, realizing that this is not forever and these opportunities that you get are few and far between,” he said. “I’ve been blessed enough to be on a great team, gone to the divisional (round) five years in a row or whatever it was, and that’s special. But not everybody gets an opportunity to do that, and you’ve got to cherish these moments when you get them. So realizing that we’re done now, that it’s going to all start over, that was the more difficult part, realizing that this late in my career.”

Baldwin said he’s not alone in feeling that way.

“I think for the team in general because we’ve been here so many times, and the older guys here, we all feel it now,” he said. “It’s like, yeah, we’ve been successful in terms of getting ourselves in a position to compete, but it’s so hard to do that, and it’s going to be difficult for the fans and the media to understand that and realize how difficult that is. But for us in here, it’s an overwhelming, unbelievably emotional part that goes into it to get to this point, and I think all of us felt it this time, just the gravity of not being able to finish.”

Seattle has won at least 10 games for five straight seasons, which, on a larger scale, is a remarkable run of consistency. But the team has shown some signs of decline, getting bounced in the divisional round the last two seasons after winning it all in 2013 then coming up just short the next year.

How many more chances will the Seahawks have to make it back?

“A lot of guys are young,” said defensive end Cliff Avril, who turns 31 in April. “I mean, I’m the oldest guy on the team going into 10 years I think. So I think especially with guys like Frank (Clark) and Jarran (Reed) and all those guys, I think the window is still open. I think we can make some things happen. But we’ve got to go make it happen.”

Here are some quotes and videos of other Seahawks who spoke Sunday:

• I chatted briefly with cornerback DeShawn Shead, who was on crutches and in good spirits after hurting his knee in Atlanta. The severity still isn’t known, but coach Pete Carroll said Sunday that it’s significant. “I’ll be back,” Shead said with a smile. He’s scheduled to become a restricted free agent.

• Quarterback Russell Wilson was his typically positive self, saying, “I’ll never be the type to get down.” He reiterated what he previously said about tight end Jimmy Graham being deserving of the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year award:

Russell Wilson was his typically positive self. “I’ll never be the type to get down.” Said Jimmy Graham should be comeback player of year. pic.twitter.com/21PdR8E2zZ

— Brady Henderson (@BradyHenderson) January 15, 2017

• Justin Britt talked on his first year at center, his third position in as many NFL seasons, and the future of Seattle’s offensive line:

Here was Justin Britt on his first season at center and the future of the Seahawks’ O-line: pic.twitter.com/hF9ymKbK9j

— Brady Henderson (@BradyHenderson) January 15, 2017

• Running back Thomas Rawls said he won’t need any procedures this offseason and that he won’t change his rushing style to protect himself from injuries. Here’s more of what he said:

Thomas Rawls said he won’t need any surgery this offseason and he won’t change his rushing style because of his injuries (not in video). pic.twitter.com/xjlh18iADH

— Brady Henderson (@BradyHenderson) January 15, 2017