Former Thunder receiver signs 2015 deal with Seahawks

[Kasey]

Feb. 4 - Douglas McNeil III, who spent over half of last season with the Portland Thunder, is one of 11 players who have signed contracts for 2015 with the Seattle Seahawks. He spent the end of the season on the Seahawks practice squad.

While it's early in the off-season process, the signing will give McNeil an opportunity to compete for a roster spot for the defending National Conference champions. The Seahawks lost Super Bowl XLIX, 28-24, to the New England Patriots on Feb. 1.

McNeil caught 66 passes for 858 yards and 18 touchdowns in 11 regular season games for the Thunder in 2014. He added 10 catches for 106 yards and 5 touchdowns in the Thunder's playoff loss against the Arizona Rattlers. He was the intended receiver on a Kyle Rowley pass which could have given the Thunder the lead with less than 15 seconds left, but the ball was under thrown and intercepted.

McNeil reflected the following during his exit interview with the Thunder in August:

"I'm really proud of how we progressed and played through the season, even in the adversity. We fell short this year, but I felt like as the season grew on, we became stronger and stronger, and bonded as a team and a family. I'm excited about what we did this year, but even more excited for the years to come."

The Seahawks also signed RaShaun Allen (TE), Dion Bailey (S), Demitrius Bronson (RB), Nate Isles (G), Drew Nowak (G), Justin Renfrow (T), Ryan Robinson (DE), Jimmy Staten (DT), Julius Warmsley (DE), and Mike Zimmer (LB).

- MKM


To comment on this thread and others on this forum, please login or register.
 

[DiamondThief]

Here is a great piece about McNeil in the Baltimore Sun. It talks about his road from high school to this opportunity with the Seahawks. I will throw out a couple of quotes from the article, then the link:

"It's definitely been a long journey, coming from high school to college to the Arena League to get to this point," McNeil told The Baltimore Sun in a telephone interview. "Joining an organization like Seattle, I already knew about Pete Carroll and the kind of coach he was before I got there. I really like Pete Carroll. He really gets his guys ready to play."

"The Arena Football League is very different, but you still compete at a high level," McNeil said. "I knew, going into the Arena League, I had to get some good film to be relevant. I came to (the Thunder's) camp and really battled, and it all worked out."

To read the entire article, click: Football odyssey for New Town's Douglas McNeil III leads to Seahawks contract.

[bsquared]

Best of luck to Dougie and hopefully he'll see the field some next year (although really the Seahawks need to get some weapons in the draft for that offense, and that would make it harder for him to get a roster spot).

Well, at least he was already familiar with a late-game interception dooming chances for glory in the playoffs before the Super Bowl. Sigh.

[DiamondThief]

Feb 10, 2015 19:43:54 GMT -8 bsquared said:

Best of luck to Dougie and hopefully he'll see the field some next year (although really the Seahawks need to get some weapons in the draft for that offense, and that would make it harder for him to get a roster spot).

Well, at least he was already familiar with a late-game interception dooming chances for glory in the playoffs before the Super Bowl. Sigh.

I am still not over that late-game pick against the Rattlers. Doug was so wide open. That one play would have changed the whole playoffs outcome. I had hoped that he would be able to come back to the Thunder, but I think he has a good shot at making it in the NFL. If not with the Seahawks, but with someone else who might be able to see him play in tryouts. Like you, I wish him luck. He seems like a very motivated guy.

[Kasey]

i hope can earn a roster spot. you never know how much player movement there might be so this really could be a great opportunity for him.

[bsquared]

Feb 10, 2015 20:45:55 GMT -8 DiamondThief said:

Feb 10, 2015 19:43:54 GMT -8 bsquared said:

Best of luck to Dougie and hopefully he'll see the field some next year (although really the Seahawks need to get some weapons in the draft for that offense, and that would make it harder for him to get a roster spot).

Well, at least he was already familiar with a late-game interception dooming chances for glory in the playoffs before the Super Bowl. Sigh.

I am still not over that late-game pick against the Rattlers. Doug was so wide open. That one play would have changed the whole playoffs outcome. I had hoped that he would be able to come back to the Thunder, but I think he has a good shot at making it in the NFL. If not with the Seahawks, but with someone else who might be able to see him play in tryouts. Like you, I wish him luck. He seems like a very motivated guy.

So I talked with the guys after the season when I was doing the season wrap-up interviews - it wasn't Kyle's fault. Doug was supposed to run straight across. When he saw that Arizona's DB was sitting on that route and would have had it covered, he adjusted to get himself open. Unfortunately, Kyle wasn't in a position where he could see the same thing or Doug's adjustment - he was throwing under duress and threw to where Doug was supposed to have been running to.

So both Sauk and Kyle said it was technically Doug's fault, but really it was a good route cut-off by Floyd and good pressure from the Rattlers that made it happen. I'm not a fan of the blame game, using that one or the Seahawks one - Butler just made a great play there. The only part of that play I don't like was the rationale later about wanting to kill clock - if you don't want it caught, roll Wilson out and have him throw it away. Don't throw the fastest route in football into the field of play.

[DiamondThief]

Feb 14, 2015 14:37:19 GMT -8 bsquared said:

Feb 10, 2015 20:45:55 GMT -8 DiamondThief said:

I am still not over that late-game pick against the Rattlers. Doug was so wide open. That one play would have changed the whole playoffs outcome. I had hoped that he would be able to come back to the Thunder, but I think he has a good shot at making it in the NFL. If not with the Seahawks, but with someone else who might be able to see him play in tryouts. Like you, I wish him luck. He seems like a very motivated guy.

So I talked with the guys after the season when I was doing the season wrap-up interviews - it wasn't Kyle's fault. Doug was supposed to run straight across. When he saw that Arizona's DB was sitting on that route and would have had it covered, he adjusted to get himself open. Unfortunately, Kyle wasn't in a position where he could see the same thing or Doug's adjustment - he was throwing under duress and threw to where Doug was supposed to have been running to.

So both Sauk and Kyle said it was technically Doug's fault, but really it was a good route cut-off by Floyd and good pressure from the Rattlers that made it happen. I'm not a fan of the blame game, using that one or the Seahawks one - Butler just made a great play there. The only part of that play I don't like was the rationale later about wanting to kill clock - if you don't want it caught, roll Wilson out and have him throw it away. Don't throw the fastest route in football into the field of play.

Wow, I didn't realize that about the route. I remember Kyle being pressured, but I wish he could have seen the adjustment. I don't want to blame Kyle (or anyone else), though it is a little difficult to avoid it. Kyle was a huge reason we were in it right until the end. I have been taught to look at things from a big picture standpoint. Still, what if?!

The same thing applies to blaming the play call for the Seahawks' late interception. After Lynch got it to the one, they had three plays to get into the end zone and it would have had to be a pass on second or third down. I would have liked to see Lynch run it on second, but that is just because I like how he runs which is hard-nosed. I try look at it this way: If Lockett can make that catch from Wilson, instead of Carroll being criticized for the play call, he poaly would have been anointed as a genius in that situation.