Was it really injuries that ended Doug Baldwin’s time with the Seahawks?

In the midst of the 2019 NFL Draft, while the Seattle Seahawks were busy selecting three wide receivers over the course of Day 2 and Day 3, reports emerged that Doug Baldwin’s career could be in jeopardy following a litany of injuries during the 2018 season. The team’s selection of three different receivers certainly did nothing to quell fears among fans regarding the truth of those reports, and late last week the bomb dropped when the Seahawks released Baldwin.

While it’s no secret that Baldwin has had multiple surgeries this offseason, Tuesday morning one prominent NFL reporter is at least questioning whether the end of Baldwin’s career is really being brought about by physical ailments.

Obviously, it takes all of a fraction of a second to recognize that the source for this particular idea, Richard Sherman, may or may not have an interest in painting the team in a bad light. Sherman had no problem going on the record following his release in the spring of 2018 and giving his side of the story, so grain of salt disclaimer and all that.

However, as many have noticed, in the series of tweets that Baldwin authored, multiple fans have noted that Doug failed to make mention or give thanks to several key members of the Seahawks organization.

The plot thickens further when perusing Baldwin’s like history on Twitter, as he took the time to like tweets in which he was tagged by former members of the team, including Ben Obomanu and Golden Tate, as well as current member Jarran Reed. In contrast, tweets from Russell Wilson, the Seahawks and several others went ignored, which one could use to further highlight the omission of any mention of Pete Carroll, John Schneider and Jim Harbaugh.

How deep one wishes to read into all of that is up to themselves. However, ADB did give fans a glimpse into the question of why he would be walking away if it isn’t injuries, and it has nothing to do with anything but himself and his wants as a person.

I’m not sure how much more clear Baldwin could be. “You will realize that the affirmation you receive from catching a football won’t suffice that little boy’s desire.” That’s about as simple and as straight forward as it can get – playing football doesn’t fulfill him emotionally the way other things in life do, or have the potential to.

In short, the time has come for Baldwin to move on to the next chapter in his life. What his feelings are towards specific other teammates and the organization remains unanswered, but the question of why seems to have been adequately addressed. Baldwin has reached a point in his life where there is more to it than football, and now he can devote more of his time and energy to those off field matters which do fulfill what he’s looking for from life.