“That seemed to me like a really simple and direct project.”
During training camp I started putting together a piece on Garry Gilliam, aimed at calling the aspiring Seattle Seahawks starting left tackle “the biggest X factor” for Seattle’s 2016 season. For me, Gilliam was a fascinating figure. His course from Penn State tight end to undrafted Seahawks NFC Championship game fake-field goal hero, to installing himself as a stable blocker on the right side, to becoming a playing-card catching prospect to replace Pete Carroll’s first-ever Seahawks draft pick, looked like a key illustration of much of Carroll’s and Seattle’s formula for channeling gritty, inexpensive players into superstars at premium positions.