Editor’s note: Singleton was cut two days after interviewing with Skyline Sports for this story.
As Alex Singleton walked into the Seattle Seahawks facility, the predictable apprehension of a undrafted free agent rookie pulsing through him, Richard Sherman looked him square in the face.
The Seahawks All-Pro cornerback is one of the most outspoken and vibrant personalities in all of professional sports. Singleton, who just wrapped up an outstanding career at Montana State, wasn’t sure what to think. Then Sherman put him ease.
“What’s up, Bobcat?!” Sherman asked Singleton. “I heard you were coming. My brother (Branton Sherman) played at Montana State.”
The exchange put Singleton at ease. Since signing with Seattle moments after the NFL Draft in May, Singleton has spent the last months participating in mini camps and OTAs. He’s playing for the two-time reigning NFC champions on a defense with stars like Sherman and Kam Chancellor. He sees NFL golden boy Russell Wilson each day he goes to work. He admits that he was nervous at first but now the awe has given way to a sense of belonging.
“After the first day, they aren’t these big celebrities any more,” Singleton said following the first day of training camp the last week of July. “They are your teammates and you see them in the locker room every day. You become a team and you start to fit in with the team. You go to work with them every day. You learn from them. Veterans are just like older seniors who have put in the time.”
It’s an interesting transition, one most college standouts go through. Singleton was one of the big men on campus and in the Big Sky Conference. Last season, he earned first-team All-Big Sky and All-America honors after making 136 tackles, 81 of them solo and 15 more behind the line of scrimmage. Now he’s one of three rookie linebackers competing for respect and a roster spot on arguably the NFL’s most fearsome defensive unit.
“It’s pretty on par with what I expected,” said the 6-foot-3, 238-pound Singleton. “It’s not anything I didn’t expect. I knew it was going to be faster. I knew guys would be more physical, stronger and that’s what it is. I’ve prepared myself for what it’s going to be like. I believe that I am here for a reason and that’s because they believe I can play at this level.”
Singleton grew in Thousand Oaks, just north of Los Angeles. The 22-year-old was a kid during Southern Cal’s reign of dominance over college football. For most of his life, he dreamed of one day playing for the Trojans and particular for their charismatic head coach Pete Carroll. Now he’s living out that dream and earning a pay check in the process.
“This is beyond my dream,” Singleton said. “Growing up I always wanted to play for Coach Carroll. When he went to the NFL, I still thought that. Now it’s real. I can’t really even believe it.”
The Seahawks play with a unique enthusiasm and have one of the best home field advantages in the NFL. From Carroll’s reputation as a demanding players’ coach to the college-like atmosphere cultivated during practice and on Sundays, the transition to the Seahawks has been surprisingly easy despite the fact he’s still battling for his job each day.
Seattle captured the Super Bowl title two seasons ago. During their title defense last season, they fell to the New England Patriots, 24-21. Coming up just short is a common driving factor during football off-seasons across the country. Singleton said his new team is certainly hungry, but that hunger might be a uniting factor even if the team had earned a ring last winter.
“That’s what (Carroll) instills in his players,” Singleton said. “I don’t even think it’s hungry that they lost (the Super Bowl). The character they draft, these are guys who are coming in hungry every single day. Around the league, people always talk about how this is the toughest place to practice and play because every day is game day. Practices are game days here. That’s how I’ve always practiced so it works. I think that’s why I fit in here because here, every day you have to show up to play.”
Singleton has a little bit of his college rivalry right in front of him at practice each day as well. Brock Coyle, a second-year Seahawk who as an All-Big Sky middle linebacker for the Montana Grizzlies, is competing for a roster spot with his former college rival.
“If me and Brock are with each other, people will be like, ‘Oh, the Bobcats and the Griz are hanging out again!’ People respect the Cat-Griz rivalry out here and they respect the FCS as a whole now I think,” Singleton said.
Coyle and Singleton are two of five former FCS players competing for a roster spot. Former Portland State cornerback DeShean Shead, former Norfolk State safety Keenan Lambert and former William & Mary quarterback R.J. Archer are the others.
Singleton made a living playing with a high motor and an aggressive, flush style that helped him become the first Bobcat to notch back-to-back 100-tackle campaigns since Bobby Daly. Montana State relied heavily on Singleton as its primary playmaker at the Will position that also yielded 2012 Big Sky Defensive MVP Jody Owens. Now he’s learning how to play middle and strong-side linebacker for the Seakhawks. He said he doesn’t care where he cracks the lineup or the roster from, he just wants to play. Learning multiple positions has helped him diversify his skill set, a key to staying in the league.
Since arriving the Emerald City, Singleton and his teammates have been living in the brand new Hilton hotel in downtown Bellevue. He hasn’t had time or the desire to find a place of his own yet. He has spent numerous hours in meeting rooms thus far learning the intricacies of Seattle’s defensive scheme and the vast new world of combo blitzes, diversified coverage and pre-snap adjustments. When he spoke with Skyline Sports, he’d just competed a two-and-a-half hour installation meeting for rookies.
“I’m sure if I was an older guy, it would be terrible to sit through but just learning and picking up all the small things to the defense is so beneficial,” Singleton said. “And knowing in the back of my head that it’s so beneficial to what I’m trying to accomplish, I suck it up and take as many notes as I can.”
Over the next five weeks, Seattle will have to whittle its roster down to the NFL limit of 53. Singleton will likely have to beat out three or four linebackers for a roster spot. He will have to cut his teeth on special teams and figure out a way to keep gaining traction any way he can. The always positive and gregarious former Bobcat wouldn’t have it any other way as he cuts his teeth playing alongside some of the best defensive football players in the world.
“You are learning from the best,” Singleton said. “It’s not intimidating. I’ve always wanted to learn from the best. I’ve always wanted and aspired to get to this level so now that I’m here and I get these opportunities, it’s great to learn from these guys who do it day in and day out and get better from these guys. I’m not the older guy anymore. I’m back to being the youngest, looking around and going, ‘Oh my God, this is it.’”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez, who can be reached at Brooks.nuanez@gmail.com.
