Former NFL linebacker Junior Seau took his own life a few days ago, for reasons that are not clear even to his loved ones. It is believed that Seau suffered multiple concussions during his 13-year career in the NFL (not to mention playing football in high school and starting 3 years at USC), although no official diagnosis has been made that he had suffered long-term effects from his playing career. Long-term effects from his playing career might be at fault, since Seau's brain can soon be tested postmortem for CTE, or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, which may have affected him and his decision to take his own life; Seau may have known he was suffering in some way, because he shot himself in the chest, like another former NFL player, Dave Duerson, who is widely believed to have murdered himself in that fashion so that his brain could be tested for CTE.

Even if the late Junior Seau is diagnosed with CTE, it doesn't necessarily prove that he took his life due to his head trauma. I don't believe that question can ever be truly answered, but if Seau did suffer from CTE then there's no question in my mind that a class-action lawsuit of some kind will be filed against the NFL in the near future, on behalf of former players and the families of former players who maintain that a career playing football led to deliberating and permanent disorders like CTE, Parkinson's disease and early-onset Alzheimer's. I'm not going to how this is all going to play out, but I'm more than just a little certain that, when it comes to lawsuits involving brain trauma, the NFL and the WWE are in the same boat.

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Happy Wide-spread Disinformation Day, everyone! After months of waiting and rampant, feverish speculation, the NFL Draft is (depending on when you read this) merely hours away. After reviewing countless mock drafts and listening to all the experts and reviewing game tape, I've come to the conclusion that...Andrew Luck will be picked #1, and Robert Griffen III will be picked #2. Thank you General Managers, Head coaches, scouts, anonymous team sources and NFL draftniks; enough gossip, double-speak, innuendo and outright lies have flooded the airways and internet tubes -- if you still go to newspapers for your draft coverage, I feel sorry for you -- that I have cause to question every pick from #3 down to #253.

But you know what? If you can put all the draft chatter into its proper context, filter out all the obvious BS and break all these draft possibilities down to their most logical conclusions, there are a couple of certainties you can count on in this draft. Only a couple, because the Jaguars and Bills are still allowed to participate. Ugh.

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Not to confuse anyone, but I'm not referring to who gets the pinfall victory. That's important to some -- just as important as The Miz retaining the WWE Championship determines how we think about Wrestlemania 27 -- but at the end of the WrestleMania 28 pay-per-view (PPV) this Sun., April 1, 2012, at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Florida, what matters most is whose hand is raised in victory and whose theme music is playing.

I have no idea if The Rock or John Cena will be victorious this Sunday night, but it behooves the WWE that Cena, at the very least, earns Dwayne Johnson's respect and they celebrate in unison, not unlike the finish to the outstanding Rock vs. Hulk Hogan match a decade ago at WrestleMania 18.

Pro Wrestling is all about perception, and the perception is that today's wrestling is inferior to the ""Attitude Era" of the late 90's, and superstars like Cena and Randy Orton and C.M. Punk (and, until recently, Edge) are not nearly as over with the crowd as The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin were in their heyday. It could also be argued that the WWE'c current popularity and financial stability, along with the fall of chief rival WCW, is due to all the fans and attention the WWE received during that infamous period.

And I agree with that perception. At best the WWE has done an inconsistent job of training and promoting new wrestlers over the last five or so years, and just a cursory look at the Team Teddy vs. Team Johnny match for WrestleMania easily illustrates how barren the mid-card is. Also, the WWE hardly cares about gimmicks and storylines that last more than the three or four weeks in between most PPVs; for every CMPunk there's a bunch of Curt Hawkins' that are even more uninteresting in personality as they are in ring performance.

Finally, the march to turning the WWE into a PG Universe has neutered, to a certain degree, much of what made the WWE so wickedly entertaining to watch 12 or so years ago. Hey, I'm thrilled that wrestlers are taking less career-threatening risks in the ring, and less brain-destroying head shots, and maybe the PG rating has forced some more original and innovative crowd work.

But there is a bite missing from the industry today, and I think most wrestling fans (who can remember that far back) can feel it to, at least subconsciously.

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I envisioned an interactive mock draft where I use the GM of every team, yet the commenters here at MtD were my scouts, influencing my decisions.....it didn't quite turn out that way. I did visit the other SBN sites to try to determine who you want for your favorite team, and I hope I did an adequate job. If you think I did make a wrong decision, feel free to try to convince me to change my mind....

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I'll be honest: I'm a Seahawks fan, first and foremost. I love watching football -- and I certainly try to follow as much information on the game that I can find -- but a majority of my interest filters through my love of my favorite team. As a Seahawks fan, I have a decent idea who they'll draft at #12 (now that the QB position has been taken care of, WOO HOO), but I can't say I'm completely familiar with the wants and needs of the other 31 teams.

What I'm going to do is mock the first 12 picks in the 2012 NFL Draft -- and apologies in advance to fans of the teams picking ahead of Seattle -- and I invite you, fans of other NFL teams, to recommend in the comments who your team should pick....although I'd recommend you recommend more than one player, since a team ahead of you could pick that pick first. And in a few days (today being Sunday, March 18th) I'll update this Fanpost with the rest of OUR mock draft.

Note: Though I'll listen to all suggestion, bear in mind that it's not 100% guaranteed I'll use your recommendation. Let's get started!

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I don't know if the Seahawks should invest a good chunk of draft capital acquiring Robert Griffin III. I don't know if Pete Carroll and John Schneider would want to go so far out of their way to draft him, or if there's another QB that is (or could be available) that they would rather get. A lot can change between now and late April, and nothing is set in stone (other than Andrew Luck getting picked #1).

Assuming there isn't a devastating injury or outrageous scandal in the next three-and-a-half months, Griffin is the 2nd-best QB in the 2012 Draft, and will almost certainly be one of the first 10 players picked. Right now the Seahawks will either wind up with the 11th or 12th overall pick, and the chances that Griffin falls to us is probably less than 1%. So if the Seahawks want Griffin (and I am not certain they are, as I said), then they'll need to trade up for, arguably, the best QB the Seahawks could possibly hope to acquire this offseason.

And the path to the Heisman-winning QB out of Baylor University goes through The-City-That-Probably-Has-A-Nickname-But-I-Don't-Feel-Like-Looking-It-Up, Cleveland.

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Maybe there's already a link to this somewhere at SBN (hell, I might have wrote a similar FanPost on this very subject a year or two ago), but reading comments here lately I feel this information needs to be shared (once again).  This isn't in response to any one commentor, because it appears there are many people here struggling with links  So, as merely a helpful guide for those of you who don't quite have it figured out yet, here's a quick guide to inserting hyperlinks into a comment:

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Right now, there is very little talk on where Vince Young will end up (and right now, he's still on the Tennessee Titans roster).  There is even less talk -- or maybe none at all -- of Young coming to the Seattle Seahawks.  But if you consider all the quarterbacks that are likely to be available through trades or free agency, once the lockout is lifted, Young might be the smartest bet this team could make.

Right now Charlie Whitehurst is the only quarterback on the Seahawks roster and I'm neither displeased or overjoyed with that; it's a absolute fact that we will acquire 1 or 2 (or even 3) more QBs once the front office is allowed to do so.  The most likely scenario is that we re-sign the soon-to-be-36-year-old Matt Hasselbeck, a quarterback who has noticeably and precipitously declined over the past 3 seasons.  The Seahawks offered him $7 million to stay before the lockout began, so that shows the team is at least somewhat eager to retain his services.  But if not Matt, who?  Carson Palmer seems to be the best choice to take over, but Mike Brown has has said multiple times that no such trade will be made; it appears it will take a 1st round pick to acquire Kevin Kolb, and while Kyle Orton might come at a cheaper price, the Broncos might refuse to give him up.

To avoid rampant speculation, let's say no other quarterbacks were available via trade (and let's say there is a near-zero chance that free agents Peyton Manning and Michael Vick leave their respective teams), who else is there?  After reviewing a list of free agent QBs, the best options appear to be Matt Leinart, Tavaris Jackson and Matt Moore (and I personally like the idea of bringing in Drew Stanton, Bruce Gradkowski, Tyler Thigpen or Billy Volek in as a 3rd stringer).  I'm not sure what Moore has proved, other than being a slightly better option than Jake Delhomme; let's say he's not a realistic option.

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The Best Days of Spring are just around the corner -- the NFL Draft -- and there is a lot of speculation on who the Seahawks will draft at the #25 spot.  Ryan Mallett?  Jake Loker?  Mike Pouncey?  Jimmy Smith?  Someone else?  A lot of names are being bandied about these days, but it's hard to nail down who the Seahawks may be favoring, especially since there are 24 other teams picking in front of Seattle.  For all we know, a really good prospect no one thought would be available to the Seahawks might fall unexpectedly; one or two unexpected picks could throw this draft into chaos.

So, instead of wondering who the Seahawks will actually draft, I'm going to list the Unofficial Top 25 Players on the Seattle Seahawks Draft Board.  On Draft Day, I believe the highest-ranked player (or someone close to it) on this list not yet drafted will be taken by Seattle, assuming they don't trade up or down.

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I apologize in advance if some/most/all of you are tired of the "Bench Hasselbeck for Whitehurst" discussion, but I feel that this discussion is going to continue whether some of us want it to or not, so I figured, "If we're going to talk about this, we should do it right."  I still think the question of whether Matt should be benched or not is still open to debate (not that any of us have any say in the matter), but I do feel that the reasons WHY the transition should be made are fairly clear.

So here's a handy list of those reasons; some of these have already been discussed ad nauseum, but not everyone reads and memorizes every comment thread:

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1.) Rams - QB Sam Bradford

2.) Lions - DT Ndamukong Suh

3.) Buccaneers - DT Gerald McCoy

4.) Redskins - OT Trent Williams

Might be a shock to some, but I think Williams is a better fit for Shanahan's ZBS, and he won't be around long enough for the Redskins to trade down at take him.

5.) Chiefs - OT Russell Okung

I just don't see any team putting together a package big enough to trade up here and take Okung, Berry or Clausen.  I think KC will just sit here and be happy with what they get.

6.) Broncos - FS Eric Berry

Call it a hunch; Denver probably is more likely to trade with Seattle than a division rival, and with a second 2nd rounder might be willing to roll the dice and move up, to get (perhaps) the most talent player in this draft.  I bet Pete Carroll and John Schnieder are also looking to trade down and get more draft picks if they can.

7.) Browns - FS Earl Thomas

8.) Steelers - QB Jimmy Clausen

This is totally out of left field, but with Roethlisberger getting suspended 4-6 games, Pittsburgh may seriously start considering replacing him....and I think Oakland is crazy enough take him and move down to #18.  This makes so much sense, there is no possible way Al Davis actually does this.

9.) Bills - OT Bryan Bulaga

10.) Jaguars - DE Derrick Morgan

With Clausen off the board I don't see anyone interested enough trade up to this spot.

11.) Seahawks - RB C.J. Spiller

I'm a Seahawks fan, I have next to no idea what this team is going to do....but I do know that Anthony Davis and Bruce Armstrong are poor fits for the ZBS that Alex Gibbs runs, and it is much too early for Charles Brown.  Spiller reminds many of Reggie Bush, and Pete Carroll might want to feature such a player in the offense.

12.) Dolphins - NT Dan Williams

13.) 49ers - CB Joe Haden

14.) Seahawks - OT Charles Brown

To those who think the Seahawks need another DE, they already have one: Aaron Curry.  I do believe he'll be moved to the "Stand Up End" position in Carroll's version of the 4-3; the Seahawks have an abundance of linebackers to replace him, too.  I would prefer the Seahawks pull the trigger on Dez Bryant at this spot, so that means they'll draft Brown instead.  If they can trade down again they will, but I'm not sure anyone else wants to move up here.

15.) Giants - LB Rolando McClain

16.) Titans - DE Jason Pierre-Paul

17.) 49ers - OT Anthony Davis

18.) Raiders - OG Mike Iupati

Oakland gets the offensive lineman they want, and a suspended QB to boot!

19.) Falcons - DE Brandon Graham

20.) Texans - RB Ryan Matthews

21.) Bengals - SS Taylor Mays

22.) Patriots - WR Dez Bryant

With three 2nd rounders, the Pats roll the dice with the controversial receiver.

23.) Packers - CB Kyle Wilson

24.) Eagles - OC Maurkice Pouncey

25.) Ravens - TE Jermaine Gresham

26.) Cardinals - LB Sergio Kindle

27.) Cowboys - CB Kareem Jackson

28.) Chargers - NT Terrance Cody

29.) Jets - LB Jerry Hughes

Even if Jason Taylor comes back he's pretty old; the Jets would love it if this pass-rusher ended up here.

30.) Vikings - CB Devin McCourtney

31.) Colts - DT Jared Odrick

32.) Saints - DE Everson Griffen

Considering how deep this draft is, I don't see much trading up or down.  After the top of the draft the talent is spread pretty evenly, and I think many teams will be content to stay put.  The Eagles and Patriots have the ammo to move up, but is there anyone they'd want to get, which would be much better than who they can get at their current spots?  Who knows.

(UPDATE: I just now read Bill Simmons's poor excuse of a mock draft, where he discussed the idea of the Raiders trading for Ben Roethlisberger.  I did not steal this idea from him....you can only get so much blood from a turnip.)