The Stark Truth

Here’s a crash-course on the 2013 NFL Draft, a three-day event which starts Thursday.

The schedule — Thursday, Round 1, 5 p.m. Friday, Rounds 2-3, 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Rounds 4-7, 9 a.m. TV: NFL Network and ESPN. Live Stream: NFL.com.

Claire Farnesworth, who covered the Seahawks for the Post-Intelligencer before being hired by the Seahawks, writes that other NFL teams now want to copy what the Hawks did in terms of bringing in big, physical cornerbacks  like Richard Sherman and Brandon Browner. I think it’ll be tough to duplicate what those two guys have done in Seattle the last two years. The stats tell the story: Sherman and Browner have combined for 213 tackles, 21 interceptions and 70 passes defensed during the 2011 and 2012 seasons.

Who do you think the Seahawks should take with their first pick in the NFL draft? They’ve got the 56th overall pick.

How about tight end Gavin Escobar from San Diego State? That’s the guess from Evan Silva, a Yahoo Sports correspondent.

SI.com suggests that this might be the first draft since 1963 that no running backs go in the first round.

Here’s some interesting draft trivia from NFLdraftscout.com. An example: Lawrence Okoye, a 2012 Olympian from England, has never played organized football but drew the attention of scouts at the Super Regional Combine in Dallas. At 6-6, 300, he ran a 4.84 40-yard dash. If the NFL doesn’t work out, the discus record-holder in Great Britain has deferred admission to Oxford Law to fall back on.

Seahawks don’t have a first-round pick, but they’ve made their hay in the middle rounds in the past, writes Jayson Jenks of the Seattle Times.

Russell Wilson’s story makes you wonder if there’s another sleeper QB out there that in this year’s draft.

Some bold predictions for the 2013 draft. Example: There will be at least 10 cornerbacks picked in the first two rounds.

Will the Seahawks pick another QB to battle Josh Portis and Quinn for the backup job? Here’s John Boyle’s take on that. By the way, the Hawks signed another QB, Jerrod Johnson, on Wednesday.

Seattle doesn’t have a first-round pick, but they’ve got a lot of You Tube videos of Percy Harvin, says GM John Schneider.

Here’s 15 potential steals heading into the three-day draft.

Enjoy the draft.

Richard Sherman threw out the ceremonial first pitch Thursday night at Safeco Field and it was a strike. The Seattle Seahawks’ cornerback was back in the news earlier in the week when he said that half of the NFL’s players were using Adderall. The Vancouver Sun in British Columbia reported that story. The NFL called Sherman’s comments “irresponsible” and “ill-informed.” Sherman later said he was misquoted, but The Sun is sticking to its story, and released video of the interview. Sherman made even bigger headline earlier in the offseason when he ripped Skip Bayless on ESPN’s “First Take.” Bayless had criticized Sherman, the Stanford grad took Bayless apart:  ”I’m better at life than you.” He called Bayless “a pompous, egotistical, arrogant cretin.” He said: “I’m gonna crush you in front of everybody.”

Has Sherman gone too far? Have you lost any respect for the guy, who is clearly one of the elite pass defenders in the NFL? Should Pete Carroll rope him in? Or is it all of his trash-talking simply fun and games and harmless? I’m kind of on the fence. I don’t mind a little rebellion once in a while, but it seems the more he puts himself out there, the less funny he becomes.

Havard Rugland, a Norwegian kicker, has been signed by the Detroit Lions to compete with David Akers for the job previously held by Jason Hanson. He’s been dubbed “Kikalicious.” Check out this video and you’ll understand why.

Jeff Garcia, the former NFL quarterback who now works as a quarterback instructor, says the Jets should release Tim Tebow sooner than later.

Why Brady Quinn? “He’s a pro,” said Carl Smith, the Seahawks’ veteran quarterback coach. Smith coached Quinn, who was signed to compete for a backup job earlier in the week, at Cleveland. “His best years are ahead of him,” Smith said.

No. 56. That’s when the Seahawks will pick in the NFL Draft. Claire Farnsworth of Seahawks.com. writes that the team once drafted Michael Jackson, a linebacker from Washington who led the Seahawks in tackles from 1980-82, with the 57th pick. They got cornerback Josh Wilson with the 57th 55th pick in 2007. They’ve never had a 56th pick. Who will it be?

A billion dollars for Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers? Teammate A.J. Hawk said whatever Rodgers gets, he’s worth every penny.

Jay-Z could help Victor Cruz land a big deal with the New York Giants. The rapper’s Creative Arts Agency recently announced that it had formed an athlete management firm called Roc Nation Sports. Yankee second baseman Robinson Cano was his first client.

Surprise, surprise, Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman is back in the news. The All-Pro corner went off on Skip Bayless, a co-host of ESPN’s First Take.

Sherman called Bayless “ignorant” and “egotistical.”

More Sherman: “In my 24 years of life, I’m better at life than you. I’m better than you.”

“Let’s not get personal,” said Bayless.

The ESPN show, featuring Bayless and Stephen A. Smith, is hardly must-see TV, but on Thursday morning, it was pretty entertaining.

More linkage …

Willie Bloomquist and Team USA opens the World Baseball Classic against Mexico on Friday ( 6 p.m., MLB.com) in Arizona. Bloomquist, a South Kitsap and member of the Arizona Diamondbacks, gives manager Joe Torre a lot of versatility. And he’s thrilled to be wearing the red, white and blue.

“It’s an honor, especially when you get a phone call asking if you’d represent your country,” he told MLB.com. “That’s about as good an honor as you can get. Obviously, I’m thrilled. Whatever role or capacity they want me to fill remains to be seen, but I’m excited to do whatever is asked of me.”

Former South Kitsap pitcher Jason Hammel struck out four in 2 1/3 innings on Thursday against Toronto as the right-hander appears to be right on schedule for the Orioles.

Dominic Boddie, a redshirt freshman walkon tailback from South Kitsap, is the only local player on the University of Washington’s spring football roster.

Central Kitsap grad Troy Kelly fired a 3-under 69 in the first round of the Puerto Rico Open and is tied for 28th heading into Friday’s second round. It’s the best start of the season for Kelly, who survived the cut in just one of his first six PGA Tour starts. Most of the world’s best players are playing in the Cadillac Championship at Doral, Fla., but the Puerto Rico Open has a solid field. The winner gets $600,000 and a two-year exemption.

Outfielder Aaron Cunningham, a South Kitsap grad who played for Cleveland a year ago, is 6-for-16 (.375) with three doubles and a home run for the Texas Rangers this spring. His home run came against the Mariners. Cunningham’s a non-roster invitee.

Bremerton’s Jarell Flora made a couple of starts for Seattle University in February and scored a career-high 18 points against UT-Arlington, but he’s been coming off the bench in recent games for the Redhawks (8-20, 3-14 WAC). Flora had seven points in a loss to UC Bakersfield Wednesday, and the 6-5 guard is averaging 5.9 points and 16.8 minutes per game. The redshirt sophomore is fourth on the team in steals (28).

Landon Cray (fr., Chimacum) and Nate Roberts (sr., Central Kitsap) hit 1-2 in the batting order for Seattle U (3-10) in a 4-2 baseball loss to Washington (4-8) on Tuesday at Husky Ballpark. Cray was 2 for 5 with a double and is hitting .289. Roberts tripled in 5 at bats and is hitting .208.

Let’s end it with some links about the Mariners:

This CBS blogger predicts another fourth-place finish for the M’s, which means they won’t finish in the bottom of the AL West for the third straight season. That honor should go to the Houston Astros. Yeah, in case you missed it, the ‘Stros are in the AL West.

Mike Morse is bullish on his new/old team, writes Greg Johns of MLB.com.

Moving the fences in should help Seattle. That’s the gist of this Sporting News report.

Three springs ago, they were writing that the M’s were ready to challenge the Angels. No kidding. In case you forgot, here’s the proof.

Name the Seattle Seahawks player who is in the news again?

Yep, Richard Sherman.

After two years in the NFL, the all-pro cornerback has already established himself as the best trash talker to put on a Seattle uniform since The Mouth himself, Gary Payton.

Sherman’s latest target is Darrelle Revis, the Jets’ Pro Bowl cornerback. They got into a pretty entertaining war of words on Twitter Wednesday.

Mouthy athletes aren’t appealing most of the time, but there seems to be a playful side to Sherman’s banter. He likes the attention, and the thing is, he’s been able to back up his talk thus far.

I can’t wait to hear what he has to say when his contract is up, or when he asks to re-do his contract. The dude’s gonna command a pretty hefty salary at some point, and I can’t imagine him putting on a muzzle during negotiations.

Here’s some of the Twitter madness that went down between Sherman and Revis, courtesy of ESPN 710 radio:

Sherman: ”one season u will get 8 picks…. But it won’t happen anytime soon… I did it in my 2nd season… So u have something to chase”

Sherman: ”Got off my flight to this hilarious convo. So I have 8 picks 3 ff and a sack. My season stats looking like Revis career stats”

Sherman: ”For the QB not throwing his way argument. In his 2nd year they were throwing his way. I still doubled his picks”

Revis: ”That’s like you saying your better then Deion Sanders & since he’s not playing no more he’s irrelevant for what he’s done.”

Revis: ”child please, lol!!! Your still taking baby steps son. Don’t get to a head of yourself.”

Revis: ”Hey everyone @rsherman_25 wants to be a lockdown corner. He wants to be in the talks of a lockdown corner. So follow him so he can become 1!”

Revis: ”This dude just interrupted my NBA 2k game cause he has draSms to be a lockdown corner!!! HAHA #keepdreaming”

Sherman: ”Remember that time the number of twitter followers mattered more than the production on the field? Me either”

Sherman: lmao he living off reputation right now… I’m living off performance. That’s why he’s mad…