Seahawks kicker Blair Walsh says he had a good reason for taunting the Vikings
The Blair Walsh revenge game got out of hand
By
John Breech
•
2 min read
When a kicker starts taunting his opponent, you know the NFL preseason is officially in full gear, and that's exactly what happened on Friday during the Seahawks' 20-13 win over the Vikings.
The taunting came from Seahawks kicker Blair Walsh, who was caught on video pointing at the Vikings sideline after he hit a 52-yard field goal in the third quarter.
Before we go on, this is the part where he tell you that Walsh actually has quite the history with the Vikings. The veteran kicker was drafted by Minnesota in 2012, and then spent 4 1/2 seasons there before being unceremoniously dumped during the middle of the 2016 season.
A big reason why the Vikings cut Walsh is because he shanked a 27-yard field goal against the Seahawks in the playoffs that allowed Seattle to escape Minnesota with a 10-9 playoff victory following the 2015 season.
— NOT Around The NFL (@NOTAroundTheNFL) August 19, 2017
Walsh never seemed to mentally recover from the miss, and his struggles continued into 2016.
After being cut by the Vikings, Walsh ended up signing with the Seahawks in February, and now here we are six months later with Walsh already taunting his old team.
Of course, Walsh would like you to know that the only reason he taunted his old team is because they taunted him first.
"I simply was just responding to getting taunted," Walsh said, via ESPN.com. "I didn't say anything. When you've got guys who were your teammates for five years yelling at you when you're trying to kick, it's just odd. And I hope they were in jest. And I hope they didn't mean it because I didn't mean anything with mine, but it was definitely not out of nowhere."
According to Walsh, the taunts from the Vikings were so mean that he wouldn't even answer the question when he was asked what the players were saying to him.
"Nothing I can repeat here. That's for sure," Walsh said.
Walsh also added that he never actually said anything and that he did all his taunting with his index finger.
"I felt like it was nothing that was serious or meant to be hurtful, but I wanted to let them know that it just wasn't going to roll off," Walsh said. "I didn't say anything though. Just looked at them."
Walsh went 2 for 3 against the Vikings with his only miss coming on a 53-yard kick that hit the crossbar int he second quarter.
The good news for Walsh is that the Seahawks definitely seemed to enjoy having a kicker on their side who's willing to taunt the other team.
After Walsh hit a second 52-yard field goal in the third quarter, Richard Sherman helped him out in the taunting department.
Replay shows Sherman ran on field to join with Walsh in saying a few words to the Minnesota sidelines.
— Bob Condotta (@bcondotta) August 19, 2017
It's probably also worth noting that Seahawks coach Pete Carroll definitely didn't have a problem with the taunting.
"I'm fired up for Blair," Carroll said after the game. "They were giving him a hard time. They were razzing him a little bit and all that. He was just having a little fun with it. He's a really good competitor. I like his mentality, and I think we are very fortunate to have him."
As long as he doesn't shank any playoff field goals, it sounds like Walsh is going to fit right in with the Seahawks.
